Health Officer

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.

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. Equity accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

After 5 years of the influx in August 2017, the Rohingya refugees’ response has shifted to protracted crisis. The UNICEF Humanitarian Health Strategy (Response to the Rohingya Crisis) is not only to reduce the risk of communicable disease outbreaks and their consequences among refugees and host communities, and to improve access to lifesaving interventions through the strengthening of systems to provide comprehensive primary and secondary health services for crisis affected population for both refugees and host communities, using government systems where possible. The quality service provided must be equitable and leave no one behind.

This includes routine immunization activities in the camps to prevent and control vaccine preventable disease outbreaks; providing lifesaving and comprehensive primary health care services with special focus on newborn and Integrated Management on Childhood Illness and referral services to provide access of Rohingya babies to specialized neonatal care; preparedness and response to communicable disease outbreaks (cholera/acute watery diarrhoea, measles, diphtheria etc); reproductive health; gender-based violence medical services; reporting and monitoring through the Health Management and Information System (HMIS); and monsoon/cyclone preparedness and response. The Health Officer will work to ensure that these activities are undertaken in adherence to agreed minimum standards, and to link the reality on the ground to programme and policy development for UNICEF, its implementing partners and government counterparts.

The Health Officer will also provide support to the host communities through strengthening the health systems, including providing technical support to the Upazilas in Cox's Bazar, regular monitoring to maintain the quality and adherence to the agreed standards, and coordinate with the implementing partners on the ground.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Health Specialist or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UNV Health Officer will:

• Provide capacity building and supportive supervision of service providers at health posts, primary health centres, diarrhea treatment centres, field hospitals, Upazilla health complexes, union health and family welfare centres and community clinics with particular attention to adherence to agreed guidelines and standards • Monitor routine immunization sessions and ensure all antigens given as per the schedule, with safe injections and adverse event following immunization monitoring is established as per guidelines. Support vaccination campaigns/supplementary immunization activities as required. • Ensure medicines and renewables are managed as per standards (First Expired, First Out) • Capacity building and monitoring partners in the roll out of early essential newborn care and Integrated Management on Childhood Illness in the camps and host communities • Support the implementation of Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response in the camps, and part of the MPDSR committee • Capacity building of health managers and statisticians of the PHCs on quality, completeness, timeliness of MIS data and use of these data for local level planning, monthly review meetings and tracking progress on MNCAH/EPI. • Support data quality improvement through data triangulation, data audit, analysis and use of data in review meetings and evidence-based planning and budgeting for MNCAH/EPI • In case of floods and/cyclone, participate in organizing mobile teams and other relief interventions as needed • Support the supervision and/or enumeration of key surveys, assessments, and studies on the situation of children in the camps, and contribute to the development of analysis and results • Provide inputs to the Programmatic Visit Draft contributions to donor reports and proposals • Responsible for coordination with other health team member in Cox’s Bazar for the field mission • Regular field monitoring report as part of AAP • Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Results/expected outputs:

• As an active UNICEF team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNICEF and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including: o Quality of health services improved in UNICEF-supported facilities and through outreach and campaigns (as required) in camps and host communities. o Medical treatment guidelines followed by 100% medical and paramedical staff, and no medicines expire (up to date stock of essential medicines) o All health facilities supported by UNICEF report in a timely manner to DHIS2 o Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance Review rolled out across UNICEF-supported facilities. • Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment • A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed

• Accountability • Adaptability and Flexibility • Building Trust • Client Orientation • Commitment and Motivation • Commitment to Continuous Learning • Communication • Ethics and Values • Integrity • Planning and Organizing • Professionalism • Respect for Diversity • Working in Teams

• professional work as clinician or medical doctor in public health or managing maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health (MNCAH) programmes. Experience in emergency response is an advantage; • Experience in monitoring and evaluation is desirable. • Excellent oral and written skills; excellent drafting, formulation, reporting skills; • 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 MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.) and email/internet; familiarity with database management; and office technology equipment; • Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines; • Sound security awareness; • Have affinity with or interest in children’s rights, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System.

Cox’s Bazar is a district of Bangladesh, and it is famous for fishing port and tourism. It is one of the most-visited tourist destinations in Bangladesh. The beach in Cox’s Bazar is an unbroken 120 km (75 miles) sandy sea beach with a gentle slope, making it the second longest sea beach in the world. The climate of Cox’s Bazar is similar to the rest of the country. The climate of Bangladesh is generally determined by its location in the tropical monsoon region: high temperature, heavy rainfall, generally excessive humidity, and distinct seasonal variations. It is further characterized by the location in the coastal area.

Historically Cox’s Bazar, like other parts of Bangladesh, is a safe place to live. Since August 2017, with the large scale Rohingya influx from Myanmar, Cox’s Bazar is seen as a district with a humanitarian crisis. Culturally Cox’s Bazar is very diverse and well-known for its traditional heritage. The communications systems in Cox’s Bazar are well developed and the district is well-connected with other cities. All the national mobile networks are operational in Cox’s Bazar. Walking within Cox’s Bazar city is only allowed during daytime. Travel by rickshaw is also permitted within Cox’s Bazar only during daytime. Cox’s Bazar has a domestic airport and is currently classified as a family duty station (Security Level 3-moderate; Hardship category-D).