Detection, Verification, and Risk Assessment Officer

Volunteering Crisis & Emergency Response IT & Telecom

Overview

Support PHI team in Nairobi Hub for event-based surveillance and risk assessment.

You have:

• Expert knowledge of English required for communication and documentation.
• Intermediate knowledge of French desirable for potential collaboration.
• 5 years experience in public health/disease surveillance at international, national or subnational level.
• Proven track record of working in multidisciplinary teams across cultural contexts.
• Superior organizational skills with ability to multi-task and produce results under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to communicate clearly and effectively.
• Strong information management skills including proficiency with digital tools to analyze large datasets.
• Experience with advanced statistical software packages such as R, STATA, SAS for epidemiological analysis.
• Training or equivalent experience in field epidemiology such as FELTP or EPIET.
• Working experience on public health emergencies in Africa is desirable.

Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

The mission of WHO’s Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Programme (WHE) 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 Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment (HIR) Programme area of the EPR focuses on four major streams of work: i) enhancing public health intelligence for early detection and risk assessment of health events; ii) strengthening public health surveillance (PHI) and epidemiology based on the IDSR framework; and iii) modernizing information management systems and data analytics; and iiii) supporting countries in laboratory diagnostics and genomic surveillance.

The WHO in the African Region has been implementing the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy for the past two decades as a platform for public health surveillance. The IDSR framework achieved major milestones over the years, with huge surveillance infrastructure established in 45 Member States in the African region. None-the-less, implementation of IDSR also encountered several challenges. These gaps became apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic when IDSR structures and systems were overwhelmed, with no capability to adapt. In the bid to strengthen public health surveillance in the African region, WHO AFRO developed the Transforming African Surveillance Systems (TASS) Flagship Initiative to consolidate progress and address gaps in IDSR implementation in all Member States in the region. The TASS project will focus on fully implementing the IDSR strategy including leveraging new technologies to reduce the time to identify and control public health threats

WHO AFRO has opened Regional Emergency Hubs to support countries more effectively, in close cooperation with partners and the broader United Nations ecosystem. The Nairobi Hub covers 21 member states in the Eastern and Southern African region and accordingly, supports crucial HIR and PHI activities in these countries. The primary objective of this position is to support the PHI team in the Nairobi Hub, including event-based surveillance, rapid risk assessment, and other information products to promote information sharing across WHO and Member States.

This position involves working in close collaboration with the WHE Programme, WHO HQ, Regional and Country Offices and with a broad range of partners, to provide technical expertise and promote information-sharing.

The UNV will build interactions with a broad range of external partners, UN and UN Agencies, national and international institutions to exchange findings and promote information sharing, experience and lessons learnt.

Under the general supervision of the HIR Programme Area Manager and on-site supervision of the HIR Team Lead, the PHI Officer tasks may encompass the following activities: • Conduct routine activities for early detection of acute public health events, including but not limited to event-based surveillance; indicator-based surveillance; verification and risk assessment. • Daily monitoring, and information-sharing on events that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern. • Maintain a database of ongoing and historical events reported in the region. • Organize and manage of data and information required for evidence-driven risk assessment. • Contribute to documentation of standard operating procedures and tools for epidemic intelligence. • Perform data analysis to assist in the development of briefing documents and materials, situation analyses, and risk assessments • Ensure ongoing data entry into WHO tools for PHI activities, including Event Management system (EMS), Event Information System (EIS), and DHIS2-Tracker. • Support as needed on the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) platform initiative • Monitoring and evaluation of the performance of epidemic intelligence tools and processes. • Support the development of critical information products and reports on best practices and lessons learned on the implementation of event-based surveillance and indicator-based surveillance in the region. • Contribute to the development of training materials and capacity building in the areas of early detection and response to acute public health events. • Perform any other related responsibilities as assigned, including backstopping for others as required

• Teamwork • Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences • Communication • Promoting innovation and organizational learning • Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond

Public health/disease surveillance at international, national or subnational level. • Superior organizational skills with ability to multi-task and produce results under pressure • Excellent interpersonal with proven ability to communicate in a clear and effective way, with tact, diplomacy and courtesy. • Strong information management skills (including with digital tools) and ability to distill large datasets into concise presentations • Proven track record of working in multidisciplinary team, including across cultural contexts. • Advanced proficiency in spoken and written English.

Desirable: • In-service training in field epidemiology such as Field Epidemiology (and Laboratory) Training Programmes (FELTP), the European Program for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service programme, or equivalent experience. • Practical working use of advanced statistical software packages (e.g., R, STATA, SAS) for epidemiological analysis during emergencies • Working experience on public health emergencies in Africa • Experience of working with WHO or other UN agencies

Other Skills: Computer literacy. Project management skills. Good understanding of web and mobile applications

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

The Republic of Kenya, a lower-middle-income country located in East Africa. To the north lies Ethiopia, with South Sudan to the northwest, Uganda to the west, and Tanzania to the south. To the east, Kenya borders Somalia, while its southeastern border meets the Indian Ocean, providing a strategic coastal location. Kenya is known as East African regional hub and has faced economic challenges due to global shocks like COVID-19 and inflation but maintains resilience. With a GDP per capita of $2,257 in 2022, urban areas like Nairobi and Mombasa offer better infrastructure, while rural areas face development gaps. Electrification stands at 75 percent, with disparities between urban and rural access. Housing in cities, particularly Nairobi, is costly, and security is generally stable, though border regions may face challenges. Kenya’s rich cultural diversity is shaped by over 40 ethnic groups, with "harambee" symbolizing community spirit. Offering natural beauty and urban dynamism, Kenya requires adaptability to navigate infrastructure issues and varying living conditions.

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Potential interview questions

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unv.org