Emergency Officer

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme (The Programme) is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. The WHE Response division (WRE) is responsible for rapidly detecting and responding to health emergencies while leveraging relevant national and international partnerships, ensuring that emergency-affected populations in acute and protracted emergencies have access to essential health services and that systems are maintained and strengthened in fragile, conflict and vulnerable settings while implementing at scale, proven prevention strategies for priority pandemic/epidemic-prone diseases. The HEI Department is responsible for ensuring that emergency-affected populations have access to timely and effectively health services, ranging from humanitarian interventions, Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Fragile, Vulnerable and Conflict Affected Settings (FCVs) to key high impact epidemic diseases including Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers(VHFs), Yellow fever, Meningitis and Cholera. The HEI Department prioritizes support to the most vulnerable and low capacity settings.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Under the direct supervision of the FCV Unit Head:

• Provide technical and operational support to countries responding to humanitarian emergencies and recurrent acute crises in fragile, conflict affected and vulnerable settings.
• In particular, the incumbent is assigned the following duties: Coordinate technical and operational support to WHO Regional and Country Offices in response to humanitarian emergencies, including health risks and needs assessment, implementation, and monitoring of response operations in affected countries.
• Collaborate, with technical leads and other teams, in the development, implementation and monitoring of the technical, operational and HR work plans.
• Prepare monitoring and progress reports, briefings, proposals, reports and communications required for strategic decision making.
• Assist in assessing the technical need of the country teams in a participatory manner.
• Follow up on action points in a timely manner, ensure that the projects are regularly monitored and reported on.
• Provide relevant information and consolidated feedback to the team members.
• Assist in coordinating and facilitating improved information sharing and knowledge management with key stakeholders for the purpose of monitoring and evaluation,organizational learning and reportingUndertake duty travel to emergency locations to support humanitarian response, when necessary.
• Contribute to the development and revision of guidelines related to humanitarian health response,building on best practices and lessons learned from other emergencies Contribute to a professional and effective working environment, performing all duties in a manner characterized by effective teamwork, collegiality, and mutual respect.
• Perform other duties as required.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: First level university degree (Bachelor’s) in public health or public health-related discipline or management or health policy/planning or international relations or social sciences from an accredited academic institution.
Desirable: Master’s degree in Health sciences, public health, social sciences including political sciences, international relations or sciences of the earth.

Experience

Essential: At least five years’ experience in the development or implementation of emergency health programmes in humanitarian settings, project management, developing key performance indicators and monitoring deliverables.
Desirable: Relevant experience in WHO/UN or other INGO; experience in health systems or primary health care support in addition to emergency response.

Skills

Demonstrated skills in the development of reports and persuasive documents.Demonstrated organizational skills, high ability to organize logistics for events or conferences.Strong analytical skills and ability to analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources and conduct independent research

WHO Competencies

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Producing results
• Moving forward in a changing environment

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French. Intermediate knowledge of Other UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

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 64,121 (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 4692 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 and/or an asynchronous video assessment may be used as a form of screening.
• In the event 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 http://www.whed.net. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.
• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and E-Manual.
• The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
• The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce . Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int
• An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) into practice.
• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of short-listed candidates.
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• WHO also offers wide range of benefits to staff, including parental leave and attractive flexible work arrangements to help promote a healthy work-life balance and to allow all staff members to express and develop their talents fully.
• The statutory retirement age for staff appointments is 65. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.
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• Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with WHO and an underlying premise of the international civil service.
• Candidates appointed to a fixed-term position in the Professional category with WHO are subject to mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world.
• Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at shws@who.int.
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