Fresh Jobs at World Health Organization - 2 Positions

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME
The incumbent will report to the Team Leader of the UHC/LC Cluster under the general guidance of the Head of the WHO country office. Within the delegated authority and in collaboration with other specialists at AFRO, HQs and in other offices the officer will undertake independently under broad guidance of the supervisor, Vaccine Preventable Diseases and Immunization programmes in the country including establishing/ maintaining good relations with national counterparts, multiple stakeholders from professional agencies to United Nations agencies, from development banks and other donors and funding agencies to establish collaborative and consultative models of policy dialogue and resource mobilization for projects

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

• Provide Technical support to the NDOHin developing, implementing and evaluating national Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) strategies at national and provincial levels in updating and adapting relevant guidelines, materials and tools, and in performing training needs assessments, organizing and implementing training activities;
• Support the National Department of Health or other related stakeholders in planning and organizing vaccination campaigns and routine immunization
• Support the National and provincial Departments of Health (DoH) in implementing projects on vaccinations, including support to provinces in capacity-building activities;Develop joint actions with NDOH counterparts,such as working groups, roundtables, meetings to facilitate the implementation of EPI and VPD programmes at national and province levels, with emphasison documenting experience for later review;
• Liaise with professional and general service staff on unit activities, follow-up on administrative actions, programme /project reviews to ensure timely implementation;
• Provide Liaison between the WHO country offices,facilitating partnership and coordination between the National Department of Health and partners involved in the EPI;
• Facilitate smooth information flow of activities between NDOH and other involved institutions and partners (UNICEF particularly) through sharing of reports, meetings etc;
• Advise on national policy and guidelines in the area of immunization in line with WHO recommendations;
• Draft/write regular reports and provide updates to the WHO Representative and to the WHO Regional Office;10.
• Provide assistance inother areas of immunization programme and VPD as needed;11.
• Conduct any other duties asassigned by the supervisors

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education

• Essential: First university degree in Medicine or Public Health or other related medical field from a recognized institute
• Desirable: Advanced degree in Medicine or Public Health or other related medical field from a recognized institute.
• Specialized training in Vaccines or surveillance related areas

Experience

• Essential: At least five (05) years of experience in planning, developing,and implementing policies and strategies for expanded programme on immunizationand disease surveillance at the national and or provincial level. Demonstrated experience of working withdiverse health stakeholders and government DOH for monitoring & evaluation,capacity building, developing standard operating procedures and rolling outtools and systems for vaccination, cold chain, surveillance, adverse event following immunization (AEFI).
• Desirable: Relevant work experience with WHO and/or UN agencies, health cluster partners; experience working in relevant non-governmental or humanitarian organizations

Skills

• Interpersonal skills using tact, patience and courtesy.
• Excellent knowledge of Expanded Programme on Immunization and vaccine preventable disease surveillance.
• Provenability to coordinate and manage projects, build strategic partnerships and work in a fast-paced environment
• Sound critical thinking skills with ability to communicate complex ideas in a lucid manner
• Excellent report writing and interpersonal communication skills. Teamwork, leadership and time management skills

Closing Date: 21st, April 2022

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Purpose  

In the context of the WHO Emergencies Preparedness and Response Programme, the incumbent will manage the Emergency Response  activities at the national level, will support the prevention and control of high threat diseases of pandemic & epidemic potential through coordinating the forecasting, characterization of diseases and/or infectious risks and the implementation of evidence-based strategies to manage infectious hazards.

Objectives of the Programme
The objective of this programme is to support the South African government in Emergencies Preparedness and Response,  to help to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies.

 Technical Supervision

The incumbent will report directly to  the WHO Emergencies Preparedness and Response (EPR) Lead and under the leadership of the WHO Country Office Representative. He/she will  support and act as an advisor to the WHO emergency team on Emergency Response activities, enabling the development of strategies and plans that maximize the individual and collective impact of WHO throughout the full cycle of the emergency nationally.  

Expected Assigned Duties/Work to be Performed

The incumbent will perform several Emergency management functions indicated below:

Coordination Functions

• Support the development of strategies, contingency and or response plans for an effective response to public health emergencies
• Support implementation of the emergency response strategies and plans and ensure that all deliverables are achieved
• In Consultation with the EPR Lead plan and schedule IMT meetings and or Teleconferences with relevant parties
• Coordinate and plan the regular WHO country office IMT meetings during a response.
• Consolidate information from a broad range of health sectors, analyzing and recommending actions and guidelines for the elaboration of  plans  and strategies, including consolidating health data in trends and trends assessment, with particular attention to surveillance, monitoring, and early warning.
• Coordinate the planning and facilitation of Intra-action reviews (IAR), development of timebound action plans and tracking implementation of the recommendations 
• Support day-to-day operations of the WHO country office IMT and PHEOC and ensure effective information sharing during emergencies
• Contribute to the efficient running of the IMT and EOC (if established) by ensuring all Response plans/ Incident Action plans are periodically reviewed as the event evolves 
• Ensure documentation of all WHO IMT processes and track implementation of all decisions/actions
• Support activation and operationalization of the Incident Management systems (IMS) at national and provincial level.
• Under the guidance of the EPR lead and Incident Manager support activation of the Response plan and track key indicators of the response.
• Support the development, improvement, and dissemination of procedures, guidelines, policies, and other standard operating procedures (SOPs) on response
• Design and conduct monitoring, evaluation, and quality assurance tools needed to ensure that emergency response deliverables are on track and adhere to ERF performance standards, donor, and key stakeholder requirements
• Support synthesis of lessons learnt and best practices in the response as well as generation of end of outbreak report.
• Perform any other related duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

Competencies

• Teamwork
• Technical Competence
• Building and Promoting Partnerships Across the Organization and Beyond
• Producing Results
• Communication          

Functional Skills and Knowledge

• Demonstration of good written communication skills
• Demonstrated knowledge of infectious diseases, particularly in those areas critical for promoting a public health perspective and approach, such as infectious disease epidemiology, prevention or control, clinical management,
• Proven ability to coordinate and manage projects, build partnerships with multiple partners in the context of health emergencies.
• Sound tactical thinking with ability to formulate clear comprehensive strategies and plans.
• Demonstrated organizational skills with ability to multi-task and produce results under pressure. 

Education (Qualifications):

• Essential: Medical degree OR Advanced university degree (Master’s level or above) in  public health, or health related field from an accredited/recognized institute.
• Desirable: Specialized training in epidemiology.  Specialized training in emergency/humanitarian response.

Experience:

Essential:  

• At least 5 years General Public Health experience which includes 2 years of experience in working with emergencies OR 5 years professional experience in public health the control and prevention of public health event or health emergencies.

Desirable: Relevant work experience in WHO, other UN agencies, SA Department of Health,  , non-governmental organisations .

 Languages:

• Excellent knowledge of English.

IT Skills

• Excellent  computer skills and knowledge of most  commonly used software.. 
• Place of assignment
• Incumbent will be based in Pretoria, South Africa  at the WHO Country Office with travel to the provinces and districts of the country as required

Closing Date: 14th, April 2022