Health Officer (Children with Disabilities), NOB, Beirut Lebanon, Temporary Appointment up to 364 days (Lebanese Nationals Only)

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

BACKGROUND
Persons with disabilities are among the most marginalized groups in Lebanon. Although the Law 220/2000 on Rights of Persons with Disabilities addresses the rights of people with disabilities to proper education, rehabilitation services, employment, medical services, sports and access to public transport and other facilities and stresses the right to participation, most of its provisions are not being implemented[1].  Social norms and attitudes are further hindering the activities and participation of children and youth with disabilities. In the emergency context of Lebanon, given the colossal number of affected population, the specific needs of refugees with disabilities have been largely overlooked. Refugee children and youth with disabilities have extremely limited access to services, and there are no systematic interventions addressing their needs. 
 
In the Country Programme Document 2017-2020, UNICEF committed “to work across program outcomes to gather robust data and mainstream the needs of children and youth with disabilities, planning evidence-based specific interventions to address their needs”.  Objectives targeting disabilities were incorporated in the Annual Work Plans of all program sections. To operationalize this commitment, disability was addressed in CPD and the Strategic Notes of all UNICEF programs. Furthermore, during the Annual Work Planning process of 2017, all program sections discussed programmatic entry points, as well as output level indicators that will become a part of the overall M&E framework of UNICEF Lebanon country office.  As a general framework, twin track approach is adopted: on the one hand, mainstreaming disability in regular programs, and disability-specific measures that empower the children to address their specific needs. To be able to ensure that the Country Program is able to reach these objectives, a senior program specialist will be required to lead and drive the office’s strategy in terms of inclusion of children with disabilities.

 
PURPOSE OF THE JOB
Under the supervision of the Chief of Health & Nutrition section, the staff member will provide technical support to UNICEF’s Lebanon Country Office programme targeting children with disabilities and developmental delays in Health Section, based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as main frameworks. The staff member will drive UNICEF's efforts in mainstreaming disability throughout health policies, practice and programming through joint collaboration with colleagues in all the program sections and field offices in Health and Nutrition Section. In Particular, the Staff Member will provide technical support for the development of Early Identification and 
Intervention Strategy and the Prevalence Study of Developmental Delays and Disabilities. The staff member will be responsible for building key partnerships with the aim to strengthen relationships, synergies and coordination with relevant national and international partners. Working with PRIME section, the staff member will facilitate knowledge management and capacity building among staff and promoting networking and collaboration efforts with partners for information sharing as well as documenting lessons learned and good practices on children with disabilities in UNICEF supported programs.
KEY END-RESULTS
Technical support and capacity building for inclusive programming for children with disabilities in all LCO CPD program priority areas:
• Technical support to health system analysis on early identification and intervention services.
• Technical support to Assessment of Developmental Delays and Disabilities among 0-3 year olds
• Technical Support to Development of Early Identification Strategy and tools
• Capacity building of Ministry of Public Health on disability issues
• Capacity Building of Health Workers on early identification and intervention
• Capacity Building of National and field Staff of UNICEF H&N section on disabilities
• Technical support to Parental education programme for parents of children with disabilities
• Support to annual work planning processes
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES and DUTIES & TASKS 
Within the delegated authority and under the given organizational set-up, the incumbent may be assigned the primary, shared, or contributory accountabilities for all or part of the following areas of major duties and key end-results.
1. Technical support to health system analysis on early identification and intervention services.
 
Oversees the analysis of the health system of Lebanon vis-à-vis early identification and intervention of developmental delays and disabilities. Reviews the methodology of the assessment and the report.
 
2. Technical support to Assessment of Developmental Delays and Disabilities among 0-3 year olds
 
Oversees the assessment of developmental delays and disabilities among 0-3 old children – Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian. Supports the implementing organization on the development of methodology and tools. Reviews assessment report.
 
3. Technical Support to Development of Early Identification Strategy and tools
 
Oversees the development of National Strategy for early identification and intervention strategy and tools by the task force led by MOPH, with a focus on intersectoral cooperation.
 
1. Capacity building of Ministry of Public Health on disability issues
 
Develops and implements a plan on how to build the capacity of MOPH on disability and developmental delays, with a particular attention to intersectoral cooperation.
 
2. Capacity Building of Health Workers on early identification and intervention.
 
Develops and oversee the implementation of a plan on the training of health workers (pediatricians, nurses) on early identification and intervention.
 
3. Capacity Building of National and field Staff of UNICEF H&N section on disabilities
 
Supports the staff of H&N section in the national and field offices to get a better understanding on disabilities and developmental delays.
 
4. Technical support to Parental education programme for parents of children with disabilities
 
Supports to the development of a parental education programme for parents of children with disabilities (developing a plan, orientation sessions for outreach workers)
 
5. Support to annual work planning processes
 
Supports to the development of annual work plan of H&N section.
 
9. Other assigned duties and responsibilities are effectively accomplished.
     Performs any other duties and responsibilities assigned as appropriate to the purpose of this post, and delivers the results as required.
 
 
QUALIFICATION and COMPETENCIES  (indicates the level of proficiency required for the job.)
• Education
 
-University degree in a related technical field, e.g. Public health, special education, psychology, child development, disability studies, social work, rehabilitation.
 
-Advanced university degree an asset.
• Work Experience
 
- Minimum 2 years of relevant work experience in working on issues of children and disabilities, early identification and intervention.
-Strong understanding of child development, developmental delays and disabilities
-Strong understanding of rights-based approach to disability
-Strong understanding of the public health system of Lebanon
• Direct field and community level experience in program execution is desirable
• Language Proficiency 
-Fluency in English and Arabic. Knowledge of French is an asset
• Competency Profile (For details on competencies please refer to the UNICEF Professional Competency Profiles.) 
i)   Core Values (Required)
     .Commitment                  .Integrity                  .Diversity and Inclusion
ii)  Core Competencies (Required)
• Communication [II]
• Drive for Result  [I]
• Working With People [I]
 
            iii)  Functional Competencies (Required)
  •  Formulating Strategies and Concepts [I]             •  Analyzing [II]                                      • 
  •  Applying Technical Expertise [II]                          • Learning and Researching [II]
  •  Planning and Organizing [II]
 
iv)  Skills and Knowledge-  The successful candidate will demonstrate:
- Communicates effectively to varied audiences, including during formal public speaking.
- Ability to work effectively in a multi-cultural environment.
- Sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves project goals.
-Good leadership and supervisory skills; co-ordinates group activities, ensuring that roles within the team are clear.
-Analytical thinking that integrates potentially conflicting numerical, verbal and other data from a number of sources.
-Translation of strategic direction into plans and objectives.
- Negotiation skills effectively by exploring a range of possibilities.

-Quickly builds rapport with individuals and groups; maintains an effective network of individuals across organizational departments.
-Contributes and tries out innovative approaches and insights.
 
 UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization.
• Experience in working with Ministry of Public Health or Ministry of Social Affairs is an asset.