Consultant, Response Operation Coordinator (P4)

Purpose of the Position

Since the outset of the Sudan crisis, WHO South Sudan has been responding to the health consequences of Sudan crisis supporting the refugees and returnees. Refugees and returnees are crossing to South Sudan through 21 POEs and 83.7% of them are crossing to Renk with Joda-Renk POE.

Since the outset of the conflict, WHO CO has established an office in Renk and staffed with critical staffs and has been supporting health partners coordination, technical support, providing drugs and supplies to partners and responding to disease outbreaks.

The Sudan crisis was graded as grade3 emergency where IMST was established in the CO and Operational IMS in Renk.

Hence, WHO need to have a dedicated coordinator who will be based in Renk to coordinate the overall WHO Renk health operation, both health and nutrition health cluster coordination, health operation support and working with other UN and implementing partners and country health Dept.

Job Description

Objectives of the Programme and of the immediate Strategic Objective

The WHO Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Programme in South Sudan aims to enhance the capacity of the health system to effectively prepare for, detect, and respond to health emergencies. Key objectives include improving surveillance and early warning systems,

strengthening health infrastructure, enhancing coordination among health stakeholders, building local capacities, and promoting community engagement in emergency response efforts. The immediate strategic objective of the EPR Programme focuses on reducing health-related mortality and morbidity by ensuring rapid, coordinated, and effective response activities during emergencies. This involves not only immediate relief and disease prevention efforts but also a strategic enhancement of the overall emergency response mechanisms to establish a more proactive and resilient health response system.

Reporting to the EPR Team Lead and IM and under the guidance of the WHO Head of Country Office, and in collaboration with CO IMST, the incumbent serves as coordinator for the Renk WHO response operation of the Sudan crisis.

Summary of Assigned Duties:

·Manage operational planning and implementation of WHO’s incident management system at the district level, coordinate the technical, normative, and operational inputs, in cooperation with district team members, ensuring fulfilment of WHO’s critical functions.

·Manage the team, guide, and ensure implementation of the response plan. Set standards and norms, develop and disseminate technical guidance and validate training, resource mobilization and communication materials.

·Inform, and monitor strategic decision making, planning and implementation through the health sector/cluster response

·Support of national and local health authorities’ identified priorities.

·Support the systematic and regular identification and monitoring of health risks and needs and the planning and implementation of the most effective prevention, control and response measures. This includes the dissemination of risk communication messages, the strengthening of early warning and surveillance systems, the delivery of quality health services and the undertaking of operational and scientific research to improve interventions as needed in response to affected populations, at the district level.

·Co-develop and co-implement a relevant monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning processes.

·Guide the WHO’s field support team on a continued self-assessment and reflection on planning, budgeting, operational service delivery.

·Make recommendations on WHO response staffing needs; liaise with WHO country office to ensure timely mobilization of the required human resources.

·Provide the WHO country office with briefings, situation reports and event management information; to enable the overall continuous monitoring and planning process would feed into WHO’s communication and advocacy products, situation reports, etc. Bring issues and concerns to the attention of the Incident Manager with a recommended course-of-action.

·Contribute to building the national capacity through need identification, development, operationalization and implementation of a capacity-building and training plan.

·Conduct regular and frequent coordination meetings with all district health and other sectors’ partners, convene internal meetings to monitor and evaluate programme implementation, district work plans, facilitation of resource mobilization, prioritization, accountability of all stakeholders and effective decision-making.

·Engage with other relevant local authorities and civil society to facilitate and ensure the smooth implementation of the agreed strategy.

·Perform any other incident-specific related duties, as required by IM/EPR Team Lead//WR.

Recruitment Profile

Competencies:

·Teamwork.

·Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences.

·Communication.

·Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond

·Creating an empowering and motivating environment

·Promoting WHO’s position in health leadership

1.Functional Knowledge and Skills

·Demonstrated skills in and knowledge of the rapid response operations and their implementation in emergencies as related to public health, complemented by demonstrated ability to identify and manage difficult situations.

·Proven skills to manage multidisciplinary and multinational staff.

·Comprehensive knowledge of the theory, principles, methods and techniques of public health, communicable diseases and health service delivery

2.Education Qualifications

Required

·First university degree in medicine or public health from an accredited/ recognized institute with second degree in public health, epidemiology, health systems, or related field.

Desirable

·Specialized training in emergency management; specific training in humanitarian response.

3.Experience

Required

·At least seven years of related experience, at the national and international levels, in health operations, with proven experience in managing outbreaks and health emergencies. Related experience in managing human and financial resources.

Desirable

·Relevant work experience in outbreaks and/or health emergency management.

·Related experience in development and implementation of strategies and action plans within WHO and/or UN agencies.

·Experience working in relevant nongovernmental, health cluster partners or humanitarian organizations.

4.Use of Language Skills

·Excellent knowledge of English. Working knowledge of another WHO official language would be an asset.

Additional Information (For HR use only):

·This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• For information on WHO’s operations please visit: http://www.who.int.

·The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits workforce regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.

The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply for WHO jobs.

Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to[email protected]

·An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) into practice.

• 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 short-listed candidates.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority.
• WHO shall have no responsibility for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.
• Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at [email protected].
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