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Technical Officer

Dakar

  • Organization: WHO - World Health Organization
  • Location: Dakar
  • Grade: Mid level - P-4, International Professional - Internationally recruited position
  • Occupational Groups:
    • AF/UHP Universal Health Coverage/Healthier Population
  • Closing Date: Closed

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The overall objective of the Nutrition and Food Safety (NUT) Programme is to provide leadership and action to promote the national adoption, adaptation, implementation and monitoring of global and regional standards towards universal access to safe, healthy and sustainable diets by people of all ages in the WHO African Region through effective nutrition actions and services. It supports Member States to develop, implement and monitor integrated, evidence-based policies, strategies, multi-sectoral action plans, and programmes to prevent disease and promote health and wellbeing through access to high-impact interventions throughout the individual's life course. These focus on the prevention of undernutrition, overweight/obesity, diet-related noncommunicable diseases and foodborne diseases. In collaboration with the AMR Unit, the NUT Unit conducts surveillance on antimicrobial resistance in foodborne bacteria by facilitating collaboration between the agriculture, animal health, human health, and environment sectors to deal with food safety aspects of antimicrobial resistance. It promotes preparedness for, and response to, foodborne and nutritional disease outbreaks/emergencies, including in humanitarian settings. The Unit, further: assists in the generation and use of data for effective programme management and service delivery to address all forms of malnutrition; promotes effective monitoring, evaluation and implementation research for programme strengthening; and ensures the fostering of strategic partnerships and integration with (a) other teams within the organization to enhance people-centred, service delivery and (b) with global and regional partners to ensure harmonized support for nutrition and food safety to Member States

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

The incumbent will be expected to perform the following duties:--> Provide the required expertise to translate scientific guidance in nutrition for application in the African Region;--> Provide technical guidance for country adaptation and integration of essential nutrition actions into health service delivery packages for maternal, child, adolescent, adult, and elderly care;--> Adapt global training packages for application in the Region, facilitate their adoption by Member States, and support capacity building for their country-level utilization;--> Design approaches for integrating evidence-based nutrition content in preservice training curricula for physicians, nurses, midwives, dieticians, nutritionists, and public health specialists; --> Engage with researchers, academics, and policy makers in the Region to promote evidence-generation and utilization to address known and emerging nutritional problems; --> Support Member States to develop, implement and monitor evidence-based policies, strategies, action plans and programmes that increase population access to high-impact interventions for disease prevention and promotion of health and wellbeing throughout the life course; --> Support country capacity building for age-appropriate nutritional assessment and the prevention and management of wasting, other forms of malnutrition and diet/nutrition-related diseases in stable and humanitarian settings; --> Develop innovative approaches and tools to deliver essential nutrition care to persons with special needs and vulnerable/fragile/marginalized populations;--> Support the development and strengthening of strategic partnerships, including drafting proposals, to increase resource mobilization for nutrition activities and interventions;--> Support the development of related work-plans and budgetary proposals, as required within the framework of WHO staff Rules and Regulations; financial rules and AFRO accepted procedures;--> Contribute to resource mobilization for the Cluster's programmes, in collaboration with EPG, ORD and WCOs;--> Perform other related responsibilities, as assigned, including replacing and backstopping for others as required.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: Postgraduate degree in Nutrition or public Health.
Desirable:

Experience

Essential: A minimum of seven years' experience managing the development and implementation of national nutrition programmes and activities, including management of severe acute malnutrition, nutrition monitoring and surveillance, nutrition in emergencies, especially in the African Region; Track record of delivering nutrition actions in routine health care services;
Desirable: Work experiences that are diverse, incorporating private sector, NGOs, other UN, or governmental Health related agencies will be an advantage.

Skills

--> Expert knowledge and ability to provide training in the management of malnutrition with medical complications; --> Proven experience in nutrition in emergencies; --> Capacity to translate scientific evidence for clinical and public health application--> Proven experience in multisectoral action

WHO Competencies

Teamwork
Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Communication
Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond
Driving the Organization to a Successful Future

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English. Intermediate knowledge of French.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of Portuguese.
The above language requirements are interchangeable.

REMUNERATION

WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 73,516 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 2291 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level
  • Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
  • A written test may be used as a form of screening.
  • In the event that your candidature is retained for an 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.
  • Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.
  • Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.
  • WHO is committed to workforce diversity.
  • WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
  • WHO has a mobility policy which can be found at the following link: http://www.who.int/employment/en/. Candidates appointed to an international post with WHO are subject to mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world.
  • Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
This vacancy is now closed.