Details

Mission and objectives


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.

Context

This United Nations Volunteers (UNV) assignment is embedded within the WHO Health Operations Team, contributing to the Health Emergencies and Recovery Programme. In this capacity, the role supports WHO’s global mandate to assist countries and coordinate international efforts in preventing, preparing for, detecting, responding to, and recovering from public health emergencies and disease outbreaks. The position operates within a complex, high-risk environment requiring strong operational leadership, strategic coordination, and adherence to international standards.
In the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), the programme is focused on ensuring sustained and equitable access to life-saving medical supplies, maintaining critical health operations under severe access and movement constraints, and safeguarding the continuity of essential health services. This is achieved through the establishment and management of robust, compliant, and resilient supply chain and logistics systems.

The Country Office logistics team, based in Jerusalem plays a central and strategic role in enabling programme delivery across Gaza and the West Bank. It oversees end-to-end supply chain operations, ensuring the timely, efficient, and accountable delivery of medical commodities. This includes leading coordination with national authorities and relevant stakeholders on complex administrative processes, importation requirements, and customs clearance procedures, while ensuring full compliance with host country regulations and United Nations protocols. The role also contributes to risk mitigation, operational continuity, and the optimization of logistics performance in a highly constrained and dynamic context. The UNV Logistics Expert has a senior advisory/expert role and reports to the OSL Team Lead in Jerusalem.

Task description

• Ensure full compliance with WHO rules, regulations, and global supply chain standards by advising and leading on comprehensive demand forecasting and supply planning processes. In close coordination with UN partners (including WFP and the Logistics Cluster), design and oversee end-to-end supply chain strategies to guarantee the timely, efficient, and accountable delivery of quality-assured medicines, equipment, and consumables in support of health emergency operations.

• As an expert advisor to the OSL Team Lead in Jerusalem, provides strategic oversight of importation and logistics processes, including high-level engagement with relevant authorities to facilitate customs clearance, reception, transportation, storage, and last-mile distribution of critical supplies to affected populations, ensuring efficiency, compliance, and risk mitigation in highly constrained environments.

• Design and implement policies and systems to strengthen t the management of WHO warehouses and inventory systems, establishing and enforcing robust stock control, tracking, and reporting mechanisms in line with international best practices to ensure accuracy, transparency, and accountability.

• Lead the planning and maintenance of operational stockpiles for emergency response, including incident management equipment (e.g., deployment kits, telecommunications, and IT assets), ensuring operational readiness and rapid deployment capacity.

• Design and implement policies and systems to oversee the strategic management of the WHO fleet, including planning, allocation, and monitoring of fleet movements, as well as ensuring preventive maintenance, optimal utilization, and adherence to safety and security standards.

• Provide expert technical and operational analysis, recommendations and implementation of systems and policies in the establishment and support of WHO-assisted health facilities, including mobile and outreach services, ensuring that logistics and infrastructure requirements are effectively planned and delivered.

• Ensure the implementation and monitoring of water, sanitation, and infection prevention and control (IPC) standards across all supported health facilities, aligning with WHO guidelines and international health standards.

• Conduct regular field missions and operational assessments to evaluate supply chain performance, stock management, storage conditions, and service delivery effectiveness, identifying risks and implementing corrective actions as needed.

• Deliver timely, analytical, and solution-oriented reporting to the Incident Management System (IMS) team, highlighting operational gaps, emerging needs, and bottlenecks, and proposing evidence-based recommendations to enhance response effectiveness.

• Undertake additional incident-specific responsibilities as required, demonstrating flexibility, leadership, and the ability to operate effectively in a dynamic emergency context.

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