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Qualifications

Background 

Purpose of the Position

In the context of the WHO Health Emergencies programme, at the country level, the incumbent will support the health emergencies preparedness in districts, coordinate and implement technical activities directed towards public health readiness and response, surveillance of outbreaks and health emergencies, scale up the implementation of evidence-based interventions, facilitate policy and decision making processes through improved health information coverage, analysis and quality throughout the full cycle of the incident response based on innovative approaches that utilize available and affordable technologies. The incumbent will advise national actors on public health issues related to emergency preparedness and response and liaise with other sectors in providing a public health response during emergencies and consequent outbreaks. 

The mission of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme is to help countries, and to coordinate international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies

Organizational Context

Support national or district efforts towards emergency preparedness and response for outbreaks and natural disasters through technical assistance at the national or subnational level in the country of assignment. Under the direct supervision of the EPR Team Lead and the incumbent will perform the required duties within the framework of WHO program and policy documents.

Deliverables

Reporting to the Team Lead, and the WHO Head of Country Office, collaborating with counterparts at the Ministry of Health (MoH), respective regional office and HQ based on priorities set by the Preparedness and IHR programme towards strengthening global health security, the incumbent will work in close collaboration with relevant technical officers at the national level and subnational levels.: 

1.    Provide substantive support and facilitate the development, implementation and evaluation of strategies and work-plans pertaining to health emergencies preparedness and response, ensuring compliance with WHO’s organization-wide strategies.

2.    Track the status of technical and financial outputs within the programme, the development of action plans to prepare for, detect and mount a rapid and effective response to public health emergencies.

3.     Provide guidance and training to counterparts of sub-national authorities to develop critical core capacities, pertaining to the local area of responsibility.

4.     Support the implementation of policies, norms, standards and guidelines to support the development of critical core capacities for global health security.

5.     Liaise on multi-disciplinary and cross-cutting approaches and activities with key partners at the district level, to ensure the successful implementation.

6.     Prompt deployment to districts affected with disease outbreaks and or acute events of public health concern.

7.     Co-develop the guidelines, tools and indicators for effective health emergency management.

8.     Promote the effective coordination for rapid assessment, surveillance and response activities for epidemic-prone diseases in consultation with Country Office, as well as MoH and other health partners including UN agencies and NGOs.

9.     Analyse, systematize, and disseminate scientific and evidence-based technical information and knowledge; support the development of the regular and ad-hoc surveillance reports.

10.   Undertake field supervision visits to assess and evaluate the implementation of the emergency preparedness and response activities, identify gaps and recommend corrective actions based on key performance indicators.

11. Perform any other incident-specific related duties, as required by the functional supervisor. 

Qualifications

Essential: University degree in medicine from an accredited/recognized institute.

Desirable: Advanced university degree in public health, post-graduate certification in public health, tropical medicine, database management or health-related training in communicable diseases.

Experience

Essential: At least two (2) years’ related experience at the national or international level in epidemiology, outbreak investigation and health emergencies preparedness and response. 

Desirable: Prior working experience at field level with MoH, WHO, other UN agencies, health cluster partners, NGOs or recognized humanitarian organizations with expertise in disaster and outbreak response. 

Use of Language skills:

Essential: Excellent knowledge of English

Desirable: Knowledge of the local language(s)

Other Skills (e.g. IT):

·         Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.

·         Working knowledge of online data collection applications and statistical analysis packages. 

Competencies: 

1. Producing results

2. Communication

3. Building and promoting partnerships across the Organization and beyond

4. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

5. Teamwork.

Functional Skills/Knowledge

·    Ability to produce and deliver quality results, is action oriented and committed to achieving outcomes.

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           Ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, which includes willingness to try, understand and be tolerant of       different opinions.

·         Proven ability in public health management of disasters, infection control and/or epidemics/outbreaks.

·         Proven ability to apply emergency preparedness approaches (e.g., IHR) for capacity strengthening of the countries.

·        Knowledge of the economic, social and political context of health emergency preparedness in countries of SEA region as well as globally.

·         Excellent writing ability, as reflected in publications and technical documents.

·         Ability to work, negotiate and manage / lead in a multi-cultural environment, and

·         Experience with WHO/UN or other multi/bilateral development agencies would be an asset

·         Good interpersonal, oral and written communication skills with fluency in oral and written English

·         Good negotiation and diplomatic skills and ability to work in multi-cultural settings and culturally sensitive communities.

·         Energetic and able to work and live in insecure and hardship conditions in the field

·         Time management and ability to prioritize multiple tasks

·         A self-motivated person able to work without close supervision

·         Able to work effectively in a diverse team environment

Additional information

•        WHO has zero-tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates. 
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco