Community-Based Surveillance and Village Health Team Coordinator

Volunteering Medical & Health

Overview

Provide technical and operational support for community-based surveillance in Angola.

You have:

• Minimum of three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in public health, disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness and response, community health, health systems strengthening, or emergency preparedness programmes.
• Experience supporting community-based surveillance (CBS), event-based surveillance (EBS), Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR), or similar public health surveillance systems.
• Experience working with government institutions, particularly Ministries of Health and subnational health authorities.
• Demonstrated experience in planning, coordinating, and delivering training and capacity-building activities for health workers and community health volunteers.
• Experience supporting outbreak investigations, emergency response operations, risk communication, or public health emergency preparedness initiatives is an asset.
• Experience working with UN agencies, international NGOs, donor-funded programmes, or development partners is desirable.
• Knowledge of disease surveillance systems, public health emergency preparedness and response, and outbreak management.
• Understanding of International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), One Health approaches, and global health security frameworks.
• Knowledge of community health systems, community engagement strategies, and community-based surveillance models.
• Familiarity with digital health platforms, electronic surveillance systems, data collection tools, and health information systems.
• Knowledge of epidemic-prone diseases and public health threats, including Ebola, cholera, measles, polio, yellow fever, malaria, dengue, and Mpox.
• Ability to analyze surveillance data and prepare technical reports, dashboards, and presentations for decision-making.
• Proficiency in standard MS Office applications; familiarity with database management; familiarity with office technology equipment.

Contract

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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, safe drinking 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.

Angola has achieved notable progress in child survival over the past decade, with the under-five mortality rate declining from 68 to 52 deaths per 1,000 live births between 2015 and 2024. These gains demonstrate the positive impact of investments in primary health care, immunization, maternal and child health services, and disease control programmes. Nevertheless, progress remains fragile and uneven, with significant geographic, socioeconomic, and gender disparities continuing to limit equitable access to essential health services, particularly in rural, remote, and underserved communities.

Despite improvements in child survival, key maternal, child health, and nutrition indicators have stagnated. Approximately 40 per cent of children under five suffer from stunting, 5 per cent experience wasting, and full immunization coverage remains critically low at 29.4 per cent. These indicators reflect persistent systemic bottlenecks, including inadequate access to quality health services, shortages of skilled health workers, weak referral systems, insufficient community engagement, and limited last-mile service delivery. The uneven coverage of preventive and promotive health interventions continues to leave vulnerable populations at increased risk of disease, malnutrition, and preventable deaths.

The country also faces recurrent public health emergencies that place additional pressure on an already constrained health system. Frequent outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDP2), cholera, measles, Mpox, yellow fever, malaria, dengue, and neonatal tetanus continue to challenge national response capacities and disrupt the delivery of routine health services. These emergencies often divert scarce human and financial resources away from essential health programmes, highlighting the need for stronger preparedness, surveillance, and response mechanisms.

In addition, Angola's extensive land borders, increasing population mobility, urbanization, and vulnerability to climate-related shocks heighten the risk of cross-border transmission of epidemic-prone diseases and public health threats. Strengthening the country's capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks in line with the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) remains a national priority.

To address these challenges, there is an urgent need to strengthen integrated disease surveillance and early warning systems, expand community-based surveillance, enhance workforce capacity, and improve coordination between communities and the formal health system. Investing in community health workers, event-based and case-based surveillance, digital health solutions, and emergency preparedness mechanisms will be critical to building a resilient health system capable of responding effectively to current and future pandemic threats while safeguarding gains in maternal, newborn, child health, and nutrition outcomes.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Health Specialist Public Health Emergency (P-3) and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Community-Based Surveillance and Village Health Teams (VHT) Coordinator will provide technical and operational support to strengthen Angola's preparedness, detection, and response capacities for public health emergencies. The assignment will contribute to the implementation of the Pandemic Fund project and support compliance with the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), particularly the development of core capacities for surveillance, risk assessment, reporting, workforce development, and response coordination.

The UN Volunteer (UNV) will lead efforts to strengthen community-based surveillance systems and the engagement of Community Health Workers (ADECOS), ensuring effective linkage between communities and the national public health surveillance system. The UNV will support the establishment of integrated Early Warning and Early Action Systems (EWEAS) for timely detection and response to outbreaks and other public health threats.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Strengthening Community-Based Surveillance, Early Warning and Early Action Systems

- Provide technical support to the National Directorate of Public Health and provincial health authorities to design and deploy integrated surveillance systems in accordance with IHR (2005) and One Health principles. - Support the design, implementation, and scale-up of community-based surveillance and event-based surveillance (EBS) systems for early detection, verification, reporting, and response to priority public health events. - Strengthen linkages between communities, health facilities, and municipal surveillance structures to ensure timely reporting and coordinated response. - Coordinate the deployment, supervision, and performance monitoring of Community Health Workers engaged in surveillance and outbreak preparedness activities. - Develop and roll out standardized surveillance tools, reporting forms, job aids, alert management protocols, and referral mechanisms for community-level detection and reporting. - Support the development of dashboards, surveillance performance reports, and analytical products to inform public health decision-making. - Facilitate the use of community-generated surveillance information to support risk assessment, rapid response, and emergency preparedness planning. - Contribute to preparedness activities for high-risk diseases, including Ebola Virus Disease, cholera, measles, polio, and other epidemic-prone diseases.

2. Capacity Building and Workforce Development

- Develop and implement capacity-building plans for community health workers, surveillance officers, and public health staff at national and subnational levels. - Organize and facilitate training programmes on community-based surveillance, event-based surveillance, outbreak investigation, case detection, alert reporting, infection prevention and control, and emergency preparedness. - Coordinate the development and dissemination of training materials, guidelines, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and operational manuals related to surveillance and public health emergency preparedness. - Support the development and deployment of digital and online learning packages on outbreak preparedness and response through national learning platforms. - Strengthen supervisory systems and mentorship mechanisms to improve the performance and retention of community surveillance personnel.

3. Monitoring and Reporting

- Serve as a focal point for community-based surveillance activities supported under the Pandemic Fund project. - Coordinate with government counterparts, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and community structures to ensure harmonized implementation of surveillance activities. - Monitor implementation progress against agreed work plans, indicators, and targets. - Document lessons learned, best practices, and innovations in community-based surveillance and emergency preparedness. - Support preparation of technical reports, donor reports, presentations, and periodic updates for stakeholders. - Contribute to simulation exercises, after-action reviews, and other processes related to monitoring national IHR capacities.

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 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.

• Professionalism: demonstrated understanding of operations relevant to UNICEF; technical capabilities or knowledge relevant or transferrable to UNICEF procedures and rules; discretion, political sensitivity, diplomacy and tact to deal with clients; ability to apply good judgement; ability to liaise and coordinate with a range of different actors, especially in senior positions; where appropriate, high degree of autonomy, personal initiative and ability to take ownership; resourcefulness and willingness to accept wide responsibilities and ability to work independently under established procedures;

• Integrity: demonstrate the values and ethical standards of the UN and in daily activities and behaviors while acting without consideration of personal gains; resist undue political pressure in decision-making; stand by decisions that are in the organization’s interest even if they are unpopular; take prompt action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behavior; does not abuse power or authority;

• Teamwork and respect for diversity: ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries; excellent interpersonal skills; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, mixed-gender environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity; sensitivity and adaptability to culture, gender, religion, nationality and age; commitment to implementing the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of UN operations;

• Commitment to continuous learning: initiative and willingness to learn new skills and stay abreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to adapt to changes in work environment;

• Planning and organizing effective organizational and problem-solving skills and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities;

• Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations, articulate options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommendations; ability to communicate and empathize with staff (including national staff), military personnel, volunteers, counterparts and local interlocutors coming from very diverse backgrounds;

• Flexibility: adaptability and ability to live and work in potentially hazardous and remote conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort; to operate independently in austere environments for protracted periods; willingness to travel within the area of operations and to transfer to other duty stations within the area of operations as necessary;

• Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement, which includes solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self-reliance; and commitment towards UNICEF’s mission and vision, as well as to the UN Core Values.

• Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines.

• Have affinity with or interest in UNICEF’s mandate and volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System.

• Minimum of three (3) years of progressively responsible experience in public health, disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness and response, community health, health systems strengthening, or emergency preparedness programmes.

• Experience supporting community-based surveillance (CBS), event-based surveillance (EBS), Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR), or similar public health surveillance systems.

• Experience working with government institutions, particularly Ministries of Health and subnational health authorities.

• Demonstrated experience in planning, coordinating, and delivering training and capacity-building activities for health workers and community health volunteers.

• Experience supporting outbreak investigations, emergency response operations, risk communication, or public health emergency preparedness initiatives is an asset.

• Experience working with UN agencies, international NGOs, donor-funded programmes, or development partners is desirable.

Technical Competencies and Areas of Expertise

• Knowledge of disease surveillance systems, public health emergency preparedness and response, and outbreak management.

• Understanding of International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), One Health approaches, and global health security frameworks.

• Knowledge of community health systems, community engagement strategies, and community-based surveillance models.

• Familiarity with digital health platforms, electronic surveillance systems, data collection tools, and health information systems.

• Knowledge of epidemic-prone diseases and public health threats, including Ebola, cholera, measles, polio, yellow fever, malaria, dengue, and Mpox.

• Ability to analyze surveillance data and prepare technical reports, dashboards, and presentations for decision-making.

• Proficiency in standard MS Office applications; familiarity with database management; familiarity with office technology equipment.

Angola is classified as a “B“ Duty Station. This is a scale that assesses the difficulty of working and living conditions, with A being the least and E, the most difficult. Categories are arrived at through an assessment of the overall quality of life. In determining the degree of hardship, consideration is given to local conditions of safety and security, health care, housing, climate, isolation and level of amenities/conveniences of life.

The UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials, as well as their transportation to and from work. While on mission outside Luanda they will be entitled to usual UN DSA. UN Volunteers are part of the malicious insurance plan.

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Potential interview questions

Added 4 days ago - Updated 7 hours ago - Source: unv.org