• Country: Nairobi, Kenya
• No of vacancies: N/A
  
• Salary: N/A 
• Organization: WHO
• Gender: Both
• Deadline: 2024-02-08

Purpose of the Position

In the context of the WHO Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Directorate, the incumbent will lead the regional effort on workforce development for emergency response. He/she will establish, adapt, and consolidate the WHO initiative on the “Global Health Emergency Corps” at the regional level and align it with the regional emergency workforce efforts under the Joint Emergency Action Plan (JEAP). The primary aim is to strengthen a globally and regionally coordinated health emergency workforce centred in countries. He/She will work closely with other units within the EPR program, Africa CDC, and other regional institutions, as well as the global GHEC coordination team and relevant health emergency networks to build a robust emergency workforce. The aim is to increase the probability of stopping the next pandemic, promote greater solidarity across countries for health emergency preparedness and response, and ensure enhanced predictability and quality in the surge support and expertise that is provided across countries and regions.

Objectives of the Programme and the immediate Strategic Objective
The mission of WHO’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Programme is to help countries coordinate international action, prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies.

Organizational context 
Reporting to the EMR Team Lead at the Hub Level and under the overall guidance of the Emergency Management Support (EMS) Team Lead, the incumbent will work closely with counterparts within the Hubs, regional office, the WHO Country Office (WCO) and HQ. Externally, the incumbent will work with a wide range of stakeholders, in particular national and regional public health agencies, Governments, including ministries of health and other relevant government ministries, non-governmental organizations, regional and international inter-governmental organizations, the academic sector, and donors. The incumbent will lead the development and adaption of the Global Health Emergency Corps initiative in the region, in alignment with the regional emergency workforce efforts under the Joint Emergency Action Plan. The Global Health Emergency Corps is designed to act as a collaboration platform between established health emergency networks and institutions to coordinate efforts in strengthening the response workforce, surge capacities and connected leadership.

Summary of Assigned Duties 
1. Support AVOHC-SURGE initiative on workforce development and coordinate with partner capacity development efforts at the country and regional levels focusing on rapid response capacities and leadership strengthening.
2. Lead the development and regional adaptation of the Global Health Emergency Corps initiative in the region, in alignment with the regional emergency workforce efforts under the Joint Emergency Action Plan, including by developing, updating and monitoring progress in implementing a regional work plan.
3.Oversee the strategic coordination between the network secretariats and partners to ensure alignment of work in accordance with the strategic priorities.
4. Provide regular update reports on the emergency workforce in the region.
5. Analyze and make recommendations for updating/developing SoPs for activation and deactivation of surge response teams between different networks and mechanisms.
6. Coordinate engagement with countries in the conceptualization and setting up of a health emergency leaders’ network as part of the GHEC and, as it evolves, act as secretariat to the emerging network.
7. Organize and lead regional network and partnership calls and face-to-face meetings to foster collaboration and joined-up work.
8. Conduct assessments for WHO, WCO, and partner skills capacity gaps and develop a schedule for capacity building.
9. Perform any other related incident-specific duties as required by the functional supervisor.

Functional Knowledge and Skills

▪Strong skills in the area of developing and establishing polices and strategies
▪Excellent skills and ability in managing diverse teams.
▪Good skills in mobilizing resources and coordinating with a wide range of partners.
▪Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment and take initiative
▪Excellent analytical and negotiation skills

Competencies
▪Producing results
▪Moving forward in a changing environment
▪Ensuring the effective use of resources
▪Communicating in a credible and effective way
▪Fostering integration and teamwork

Education Qualifications experience and skills

Education
* Essential: A Masters’s degree in public health, emergency/crisis management, Business administration and management, Business, or related to the functions of the position.
Desirable: Professional training in emergency management and/or events management; PhD or Post-graduate degree or studies in one of the above fields.

Use of Language Skills
Essential: Excellent knowledge of English.
Desirable: Working knowledge of French and another WHO official language.

Experience
Essential: At least seven years of related experience, at the national and international levels, emergency management
Desirable: Prior emergency disaster and health outbreak response or humanitarian working experience in the field level, with WHO/UN, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organizations or with an
international nongovernmental organization.

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