Technical Officer (Communicable Diseases), NPO

Contract

This is a NO-B contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 2 years of experience, depending on education. More about NO-B contracts.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The Division of Country Health Programmes (CHP) assists country efforts to reduce the burden of non-communicable and communicable diseases and address the social, economic and environmental determinants of health, and promotes policies and actions for health through stewardship of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network. It focuses on health promotion measures; communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, and vector-borne and neglected tropical diseases; elimination and control of vaccine-preventable diseases and advocacy for increased use of vaccines; containing and controlling antimicrobial resistance; addressing existing and emerging environmental health risks and supporting violence and injury prevention. A determination to ensure universal access to people-centred quality health services across the continuum of care is matched by enriching the evidence base for policy design and interventions using social, cultural and behavioural approaches, to drive implementation of innovation at national, regional and local levels.Through the lens of the European Program of Work 2020-2025 (EPW) and with the commitment to leave no one behind, the Joint Infectious Diseases unit will identify opportunities and innovations within and beyond health with the aim to direct health policies towards the most effective country tailored interventions and to accelerate progress towards the targets of Sustainable Development on eliminating TB, ending AIDS and malaria, and combating viral hepatitis. The unit will foster innovation through conducting operational research for the fast uptake of new technological advances, seeking new perspectives and identifying new approaches to unlock country specific bottlenecks to ensure that needs of the most vulnerable and hard to reach populations are met and that provision of affordable quality health services for TB, HIV/STI and viral hepatitis do not incur in catastrophic expenditure. It will also seek synergies to better define the links and develop a response between climate change and expansion of Vector-Borne Diseases in the Region. To ensure patient-centered quality care, the unit will work across the Division of Country Health Programmes, Division of Health Policies and Systems and with relevant Geographically Disbursed Offices, WHO Collaborating Centres, regional platforms, partners, community-based and civil society organizations towards ensuring that elements of decentralization and simplification of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of TB, HIV/STI and hepatitis are part of and delivered through Primary Health Care and community platforms. The WHO country office works with the National Authorities to achieve the highest standard of health as a fundamental human right, based on equity and on SDGs principle of leaving no one behind. WHO actions are engrained in the WHO 13th General Programme of Work with its 3 prong objectives of promoting healthier populations, keeping the world safe through addressing health emergencies, and protecting the vulnerable through Universal Health Coverage. WHO's mandate revolves around six core functions: (i) providing Global Health leadership; (ii) shaping the health research agenda; (iii) setting norms and standards; (iv) articulating evidence-based policy options; (v) providing technical support to countries; and (vi) monitoring and assessing health trends. The WHO Country Office is an integral part of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. Its main role is to facilitate and coordinate all WHO activities at country level and to implement the European Programme of Work 2020-2025 -“United Action for Better Health in Europe” which sets out a vision of how the WHO Regional Office for Europe can better support countries in meeting citizens' expectations about health. WHO at country level delivers this through practical, actionable and country focused solutions to health challenges, keeping in perspective that achieving health and well-being is a whole-of-society endeavour; This is done through facilitating the implementation of the Biennial Collaborative Agreement with the country and its corresponding workplan. The WHO Country Office maintains good working relations and ensures information exchange between the country and WHO, policy and strategic guidance on Health issues to all national and international partners in the country, provision of direct technical expertise when needed and aims at more community engagement and participation, and to promote health equity.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

To coordinate, manage and provide technical support to the Ministry of Health of Belarus in implementing activities to support national TB and MDR-TB, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections responses as well as other relevant communicable diseases within the overall framework of the Biennial Collaborative Agreement (BCA) between the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the Ministry of Health of Belarus and as part of the WHO Country Office in Belarus. The incumbent will function as the focal staff for prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of HIV, hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis, and more specifically drug resistant tuberculosis, in the context of strengthening communicable disease prevention, care and elimination efforts and health systems. More specifically, the incumbent will carry out the following duties: Provides and facilitates overall technical support to the Ministry of Health on national TB, HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care policy in line with relevant WHO strategies and action plans;Liaises with the Ministry of Health and other government agencies and works closely with relevant national and international partners in the country to strengthen human resources capacity for implementation of specific TB and HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and STI programmes;Supports the MOH in performing training needs assessments. Organizes, implements and supervises educational activities and training programmes for key communicable disease staff (including laboratory personnel) at central, regional and district levels;Develops and adapts training curricula and organizes programmes of workshops and training courses on priority communicable diseases in collaboration with national and international partners, in line with WHO standards, rules and regulations; discusses participants' expectations and solicits feedback from participants and the faculty on training courses and workshops, prepares reports of the training and workshops organized;Facilitates interventions of the WHO Regional Office and WHO Headquarters to assist Belarus;Assists in developing national communicable disease strategic documents and recording and reporting systems in line with WHO recommendations and definitions;Coordinates together with MOH counterparts, joint actions such as working groups, roundtables, meetings to facilitate the implementation of communicable disease programmes at national and regional level;Facilitates smooth information flow of BCA activities between MOH and other involved institutions through sharing of reports and meetings; Prepares regular technical reports on the progress of implementation of assigned projects;Assists with the technical preparations of the relevant WHO missions and events;Performs other relevant duties as required by the supervisors.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: University degree (Bachelor's level) in medicine. Desirable: Post graduate trainingin public health, communicable diseases or related subject.

Experience

Essential: Minimum two years of experience in communicable diseases programmes (such as TB, HIV, viral hepatitis and/or STIs) or other relevant public health programmes. Desirable: Experience in the implementation of HIV/AIDS,TB and/or other communicable diseases control programmesand experience in working with WHO or other international organizations. Demonstratedexperience in developing training programmes and facilitating training courses.

Skills

Demonstrated good knowledge of communicable diseases control, including tuberculosis, HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs. Strong negotiation and communication skills. Skills in formal report writing. Computer literacy. Excellent presentation skillsEmotional awareness: the ability to identify and harness one's emotions and apply them to tasks; and the ability to manage emotions, which includes both regulating one's own emotions when necessary and helping others to do the same.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences Communication Producing results Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English. Expert knowledge of Russian. Desirable:

REMUNERATION

Remuneration comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 34,998 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable) and 30 days of annual leave.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

• A written test may be used as a form of screening.

• In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.

• According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.

• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.

• The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.

The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its staff. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion)are strongly encouraged to apply for WHO jobs. Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int - An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.

• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.

• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

• WHO also offers wide range of benefits to staff, including parental leave and attractive flexible work arrangements to help promote a healthy work-life balance and to allow all staff members to express and develop their talents fully.

• The statutory retirement age for staff appointments is 65 years. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.

• This is a National Professional Officer position. Therefore, only applications from nationals of the country where the duty station is located will be accepted. Applicants who are not nationals of this country will not be considered.

• In case the website does not display properly, please retry by: (i) checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefox); (ii) clearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browser); or (iii) retry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click the link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates