Epidemiologist

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.

As in others countries of the world, Niger has been facing the COVID-19 pandemic since 19 March 2020, the date of the first case notification.at 24 January 2022, the country had recorded 8,592 positive cases of COVID-19 and 296 deaths with a lethality rate of 3.44%. To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, several control measures have been taken to stop the spread of the virus, including vaccination. Niger has joined the COVAX mechanism led by the GAVI Alliance, WHO and CEPI, which aims to guarantee and accelerate the equitable provision of effective vaccines against COVID-19 to all countries. To enable optimal and equitable deployment of COVID-19 vaccine stocks, the Government of Niger, with the support of its technical and financial partners, has developed a National Vaccine Deployment and Vaccination Plan (NVDP) against COVID-19, This plan, validated at the ICC on 28 January 2021, estimated the target population for vaccination at 10,318,339 people (population aged 18 and over), Vaccination in Niger started on 29 March 2021 in Niamey and on 04 May 2021 in the other 7 regions of the country. This immunization activity is being implemented in a campaign format with routine immunization sessions. on 31 January 2022, 1,025,649 people aged 18 years and over had been fully vaccinated represent 4.3% of the country's total population, and 1,798,088 people aged 18 years and over had received their first dose. This result did not make it possible to reach the global objective of vaccinating 40 % of the total population by the end of December 2021 and remains far from the objective of vaccinating 70% by the end of June 2022.

Under the direct supervision of the WHE Focal Point, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Support the coordination of COVID-19 response and COVID-19 roll out
• Support the strengthening of COVID-19 surveillance
• Support COVID-19 data management taking in account continuity of essentials services
• Organize IMC meeting, develop and share reports
• Participate to COVID-19 coordination team meetings at the ministry of Health
• Prepare briefing notes on COVID-19 response and vaccination roll out for the WR
• Monitor the activities of consultants in the field of COVID-19 response
• Develop dashboard to follow up COVID-19 surveillance activities in the field
• Supervise COVID-19 vaccination in the field

Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Empowering Others ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Judgement and Decision-making ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☒ Leadership ☒ Managing Performance ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity

• health program management.
• Flexible mindset & ability to adapt quickly, focusing on value creation. • Applies a timely and pragmatic approach with critical lens to make judgments & effective decisions. • Champion evidence-based and data-driven decision making • Critical thinking, problem-solving and creative mindset. • Proactive identification, reporting and resolution/mitigation of issues and risks; • Systems-thinking, with macro-understanding of global and country context and interdependencies

Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa, located between 11° 37 and 23° North latitude and between the Greenwich meridian and 16° East longitude, 700 km north of the Gulf of Guinea, 1,900 km east of the Atlantic coast and 1,200 km south of the Mediterranean. The country covers an area of 1,266,491 km². It is bordered to the east by Chad, to the west by Mali and Burkina Faso, to the north by Algeria and Libya and to the south by Nigeria and Benin. Three quarters of the country is desert and the remaining quarter is a Sahelo-Sudanese zone in the southern part. The main permanent watercourse is the Niger River, which crosses the country in the extreme west for 550 km. Niger has three seasons: the cold season from November to February; the hot season from March to May and the rainy season from June to October. Each season has its own particular type of disease: in the cold season, respiratory infections predominate, while the hot season is characterized by diseases such as measles, meningitis and skin diseases. In the rainy season, there are significant cases of malaria, but also diarrhoea diseases such as cholera. The basic drugs are available in pharmacies, but it is recommended to bring specific prescription drugs. There are few banks in Niamey, but they do not have USD or foreign currency accounts. The current security level is 3 (moderate) in Niamey. The selected UN Volunteer will be expected to follow and complete all UN/UNV mandatory trainings and briefings.