Health and Nutrition Assistant

Volunteering Admin Medical & Health Communications & PR

Overview

Support Health and Nutrition programme planning and implementation

You have:

• Experience in planning processes and elaboration of progress reports.
• Strong organizational and project management skills required.
• Proficiency in documentation tools and content management systems needed.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills are essential.
• Experience working in UNICEF or other international organizations is a plus.
• Graduates from the science field or medical background preferred.
• Ability to work in a challenging environment, flexibly and collaboratively.
• Cultural sensitivity and ability to work inclusively with diverse partners required.

Contract

This is a UNV National Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Specialist contracts.

Health and Nutrition section of UNICEF Sri Lanka country office has activities under 6 key intervention areas as below.

· Improving the quality of care and use of community and facility based antenatal, intra natal and postnatal services to effectively prevent maternal anaemia and Low Birth Weight (LBW).

· Improving the quality of nutrition-specific interventions and nurturing care practices in early childhood to prevent all forms of malnutrition among children.

· Strengthening the quality of care and use of community and facility based routine services for early detection and treatment of children with wasting.

· Ensure that children and women have continued access to essential health and nutrition services during emergencies.

· Strengthening multisectoral nutrition advocacy, communication, and coordination for enhanced commitment to translate policy into action.

· Scaling up nutrition-sensitive interventions in social protection and on the food system to facilitate access to healthy diets.

The main government partners are the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment, Ministry of Education etc. All other UN Agencies, many Civil Society Organizations and Non-Government Organizations also work as very close partners with the health and nutrition section.

The UNV will be expected to support the Health and Nutrition section with the planning, reporting, monitoring, documentation and information management of the health and nutrition programme under the guidance of the relevant Programme Officers.

The assignment will be based mainly in Colombo, mission travel for monitoring, and documentation of the programme implementation at district level might be expected minimally at least once or twice a quarter.

Under the direct supervision of the Health and Nutrition Officer and as part of the Health and Nutrition Section, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

1. Support the Health and Nutrition section in planning, reporting, monitoring, documen-tation and information management of the health and nutrition programme. The Health and Nutrition programme work in the following areas:

· Preschool health promotion setting development.

· Caring for the caregiver package implementation

· Maternal care guide development

· Infant and Young Child feeding Promotion.

· Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation

· Immunization programme

· Adolescent and school health promotion

· Digital Health and data reporting systems

· Multisector Action Plan for Nutrition implementation

· Local production of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food

2. Collaborate with various government and non-government partners and UNICEF pro-gramme sections for knowledge management.

3. Provide support – as required – to the Health and Nutrition section in the planning, monitoring and implementation of the ongoing health and nutrition programmes.

· Support the Health and Nutrition section in planning, reporting, monitoring, documen-tation, assessment, and information management.

o Support elaboration of reports, including donor reports and annual reports.

o Support elaboration of project proposals for donors.

o Support in the planning process of the section, including elaboration WPs with IPs, and in the monitoring of progress.

o Support in the monitoring of programmes, including programmatic visits.

o Support development of programme document with IPs.

o Information management of data related to the health and nutrition sector.

· Knowledge Management and Documentation of programme outcomes based on the Health and Nutrition section’s requirements and meeting UNICEF’s quality standards.

o Comprehensive plan developed and implemented for dissemination of the documented products if required.

o Documented products available in different formats for different audiences (briefs/presentations etc.) to facilitate knowledge sharing and targeted advocacy.

o Information and data collected on product dissemination, reach and use.

o Content management system in place for storing and retrieving knowledge as-sets.

Accountability Adaptability and Flexibility Building Trust Commitment and Motivation Commitment to Continuous Learning Communication Creativity Ethics and Values Integrity Knowledge Sharing Planning and Organizing Professionalism Respect for Diversity Self-Management Technological Awareness Vision Working in Teams

planning, implementing, and monitoring programmes required.

· Experience in planification processes, and elaboration of progress reports.

· Strong organizational and project management skills

· Proficiency in documentation tools and content management systems

· Excellent oral and written skills; excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills.

· Accuracy and professionalism in document production and editing.

· Experience working in the UN or other international organizations.

· Graduates from the science stream or/and having prior experience in working in a medical back ground are added advantages.

· Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including grassroots community members, religious and youth organizations, and authorities at different levels; familiarity with tools and approaches of communications for development.

· Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel.

· Solid overall computer literacy, including proficiency in various Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, among others), email, and internet; familiarity with database management and latest technology tools.

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

· Sound security awareness.

· Have affinity with or interest in health and nutrition, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN system

Sri Lanka is an island nation located off the south coast of India. An estimated population of around 21 million people is sheltered in this multi-ethnic, multi- cultural and multi- religious country. Colombo is situated in the Western Province of Sri Lanka and is the commercial capital of the country. The city is located on the west coast of the island, adjacent to the administrative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. Bandaranaike International Airport is located 35km from Colombo and is served by the main international airlines. Sri Lanka is a tropical country with moderate temperature and high humidity all throughout the year. Average temperature in Colombo ranges between 27 and 30 degrees Celsius.

The island experiences two main monsoon seasons, where heavy rainfalls occur, from May to August and October to January. Rice and curry comprise the main dishes. Sri Lankan cuisine tends to be quite spicy. There are hotels and other types of accommodation options available in Colombo. Supermarkets, banking and medical facilities are present within the city. Telephone and Internet service is widely available. Phone plans and data are inexpensive; however, it should not be expected that the internet services work consistently or at a high speed. At present Sri Lanka is undergoing high inflation and an economic crisis. The public unrest and protests are common. The prices of common commodities fluctuate on a daily basis and shortages can also be experienced. Main health advisories are related COVID 19 and Dengue, which is also highly prevalent in Sri Lanka, especially after the rainy seasons. Mosquito repellent is available in all local drug stores. Sri Lanka is a unique country and UN is providing unique humanitarian operations in Sri Lanka. It provides for an interesting and enriching environment, but also requires a mature level of cultural awareness, as well as more resilience and commitment than elsewhere to make life comfortable and affordable. Therefore, flexibility and the ability and willingness to live and work in challenging conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort, are essential. As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials. National UN Volunteers are part of the malicious acts insurance plan.

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Potential interview questions

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