Associate Public Health Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org). The UNHCR operation in Sudan serves different refugee groups, including people from South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, CAR, Chad, Yemen and Syria, but also internally displaced people, asylum-seekers and stateless individuals through a network of sub- and field offices as well as its Representation in Khartoum. UNHCR focuses on the protection and assistance to these groups in close coordination with national authorities and in partnership with UN and non-UN agencies as well as the civil society.

Context

• The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on the job training when working with (including supervising) national staff or non-governmental counterparts, including implementing partners. • Reports and inputs as stated above are submitted regularly and on-time. • Other tasks assigned are completed in a timely and accurate way. • Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated, and documented in all activities throughout the assignment • A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in, and capacities developed

Task description

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of Head of Sub office , the UN Volunteer will perform the following: • Take the lead in the assessment and analysis of the public health needs of persons of concern by implementing methods like: participatory assessments such as the Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective or joint assessment missions; as well as utilizing objective tools like the multi-indicator nutrition, health and WASH survey; health indicators from the Health Information System and Balanced Scorecard approach; and health facility assessments to serve as the basis for planning to effectively address health issues of public health importance, based on the principles of Public Health and Primary Health Care. • Ensure that public health programme interventions are reflected in implementing partner agreements in a timely manner; regularly monitor and report on compliance with established guidelines and procedures. • Pursue collaborative, consultative partnerships to ensure quality public health planning and sustainable service provision for refugees in all camps. • Take the lead in monitoring and evaluating public health programme implementation in the field, in accordance to work plans co-developed with partners. • Oversee the implementation of the Health Information System from training of health workers on data collection, examination of quality of data collected, and providing supervisory support and guidance to partner health coordinators. • In collaboration with partners and local authorities, ensure adequate preparedness, early detection, and effective response to disease outbreaks. • Ensure comprehensive primary healthcare (PHC) programmes are implemented according to national guidelines by health partners in the refugee camps. This will include ensuring that nutrition, mental health care and reproductive health / HIV interventions, are well integrated into the PHC services at camp level. • Oversee and ensure medical referral activities from the secondary to tertiary level as per the UNHCR Medical Referral Guidelines. • Establish an efficient drug management system that encompasses assessment of essential medicine needs for the refugee operation based on drug consumption, procurement, storage, distribution, and rational utilization at the camp health facilities. • Assess training needs of State Ministry of Health and NGO partner staff; ensure that health staff undergo capacity development activities relevant to their posts. • Implement capacity development interventions with refugee / host community volunteers utilizing participatory approaches. • Support UNHCR Nutritionist in the conduct of the annual nutrition survey • Monitor the implementation of the nutrition programme as per the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) approach and the best Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) best practices. • Advocate with government line ministries for the transfer of operational responsibility of the health sector from the NGOs to the line ministry (MOH). • Collaborate with UNHCR / MOH / Health Partner’s engineers on the implementation of projects for upgrading of health infrastructure in the camps or host community areas. • Participate in the evaluation of possible health financing schemes to ensure sustainability of health services in the camps. • Contribute to UNHCR’s advocacy efforts on the inclusion of refugees into the national health system to ensure the sustainability of health services delivery through health facilities managed by State Ministry of Health. 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 take 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.