Health System Recovery Specialist

The WHO Office in the occupied Palestinian territory is the principal technical adviser to the Palestinian Ministry of Health providing advice and support to strengthen health services, ad-dress public health issues and promote research for health. WHO is also lead
of the humanitarian Health and Nutrition Cluster, coordinating the assistance provided by international and local partners to the health sector.

WHO employs approximately 45 staff at its offices in West Bank and Gaza, including international and local professionals with expertise in medicine, public health nursing and other specialties. As the lead health agency, WHO works with many partners, including United Nations agencies, donors, nongovernmental organizations, universities and the private sector to sup-port the Palestinian Authority to reach their national health development
goals and to ensure that efforts of all these organizations are coordinated.

The health system in Gaza faces significant challenges following prolonged conflict and disruptions to health services and infrastructure. Health system recovery requires coordinated efforts to assess damage and capacity, strengthen service delivery and governance functions, and support the transition from emergency response to recovery and longer-term system strengthening.

Under the supervision of the WHO Health Systems team and in coordination with the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE), the UN Volunteer will support health system recovery and transition activities in Gaza. The assignment will focus on supporting health system assessments, strengthening monitoring and evaluation of recovery efforts, and supporting planning and implementation of health system recovery initiatives.

Under the direct supervision of the Health System Specialist, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

Health system assessment and analysis

• Support health system assessments by identifying potential recovery needs, service gaps and system capacity following conflict-related disruptions.
• Assist in the collection, compilation and analysis of baseline and post-conflict health system indicators.
• Contribute to analysis of health system performance and recovery trends to support informed and evidence-based planning and decision-making.

Health system recovery planning

• Support the development and implementation of health system recovery and transition plans through coordination with national authorities and partners.
• Assist in identifying priorities for health system strengthening, including service delivery, workforce, infrastructure and governance functions.
• Draft technical documents, policy briefs and recovery plans related to health system strengthening.

Monitoring and evaluation

• Assist in tracking progress against agreed indicators and reporting on implementation of recovery initiatives.
• Draft reports, analytical summaries and technical documentation related to health system recovery.

Coordination and partnership support

• Collaborate with WHO technical units, national authorities and partner organizations involved in health system strengthening, activities and recovery programmes.
• Participate in technical working groups and coordination mechanisms related to health system recovery.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and taking active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Provide annual and end of assignment self- reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible;