Pan American Health Organization
Purpose of the Position:
To promote and uphold the humanitarian and public health principles by leading a coordinated and
effective health sector response together with the national and international community, with specific
attention to vulnerable and marginalized populations, through effectuating WHO’s commitment to
work within the framework of the Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) and the cluster approach.
The incumbent will be responsible for performing a dedicated coordination, health needs assessment,
strategy development and resource mobilization, supporting the implementation and, monitoring the
joint incident management system and advocacy function.
Job Description
Objectives of the Program and of the immediate Strategic Objective
The mission of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program (The Program) is to help countries, and to
coordinator international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from
outbreaks and emergencies.
Organizational context (Describe the individual role of incumbent within the team, focusing
on work environment within and outside the organization) Under the general supervision of the PAHO/WHO Representative and the direct supervision and technical guidance of the Advisor, Emergency Preparedness and Response, the incumbent is expected to discharge WHO’s lead role in the health cluster and to impartially represent the interests of the members of the health cluster, including the provision of active support – as applicable – to subnational clusters or working groups of the cluster which may be coordinated by other agencies.
The Cluster Coordinator leads an interagency team in an environment that requires high standards of accountability and demonstrable leadership, coordination, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills, and in which the principles of partnership, collaboration and collective results are essential.
The health cluster coordinator plays a strong role in promoting agreed national and international standards in all areas of healthcare and strives for the best attainable health status for the populations served by the cluster. S/he identifies and engages with health sector stakeholders and utilizes existing coordination mechanisms, including national health authorities, national and international organizations and civil society; represents the health cluster in inter-cluster coordination mechanisms and oversee the representation of the health cluster in other relevant sectors/clusters such as WASH, logistics, nutrition, protection, maintaining neutrality vis-a-vis all partners including WHO.
Summary of Assigned Duties (Describe what the incumbent has to do to achieve main objectives; include main achievements expected):
During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified, based upon the technical needs of the Program.
Needs assessment and gap analysis
1. Manage, coordinate and be the overall lead within the health cluster or at inter-cluster level for rapid health needs assessments, as well as participatory assessments (multi cluster/sector initial rapid assessments and humanitarian needs overviews, post-event risk assessment post disaster/post conflict needs assessment); be familiar with and ready to choose from existing tools to confirm that the health cluster covers all identified humanitarian health needs of the affected population.
2. Collect information from all health partners on Who’s Where, since and until When, doing What (4Ws), and regularly feed the database managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA). Provide consolidated feedback to all partners and the other clusters.
Strategic planning
3. Lead the development, in cooperation with the health cluster members, of the health sector components of the humanitarian needs overview (HNO) and humanitarian response plan (HRP) as well as contingency planning for potential new events and other interagency planning, ensure proper linkages with the incident management system, disaster risk reduction, relief and recovery to complement national health sector preparedness/response plans.
4. Ensure full compliance with national and international norms and standards, oversee that cross-cutting issues are mainstreamed in the health cluster response and implementation plans, taking into account the need for local adaptation.
Facilitate health partner coordination and involvement in health and other related sector assessments (e.g. nutrition, WASH), planning, information, interventions, monitoring and quality assurance, and regularly report on health services delivered to the affected population.
6. Identify urgent technical gaps and training needs in relation to technical standards and protocols for the delivery of key health services to ensure their adoption and uniform application by all health cluster partners; identify opportunities for capacity building in collaboration with partners.
7. Ensure appropriate links among humanitarian actions and longer-term health sector plans, incorporating the concept of “building back better” and specific risk reduction measures.
8. Convene and facilitate consultative and results-oriented meetings in line with the principles of partnership. Organize and conduct joint support missions to field operations.
9. Oversee the development of a functional Information Management strategy and mechanism for the health cluster to facilitate information sharing as well as monitoring and reporting; ensure that the health cluster produces and disseminates to partners, donors, government and other stakeholders regular updates, technical reports, bulletins and briefings on the health status of the affected people, response activities, resources mobilization, achievements, challenges and the remedial actions when necessary.
Resources mobilization and funds allocation
10. Support resource mobilization efforts by providing relevant information on Health Cluster partners needs and gaps to the Project Support Specialist of the WCO Emergency Program.
11. Establish clear and transparent prioritization criteria for vetting partners’ projects for inclusion in consolidated appeals and pooled funds processes.
Monitoring and evaluation
12. Coordinate the development, adaptation and implementation of an indicators’ monitoring framework to ensure adequate implementation of the health cluster plans; empower partners’ active involvement in joint monitoring of individual and common plans of action for health interventions. Promote peer exchange of experiences and lessons learned within the cluster partnership.
Advocacy
13. Identify core advocacy concerns for the Health Cluster through a consultative process: develop joint cluster/ inter-cluster initiatives to ensure regular and consistent advocacy is conveyed to the RC/HC and humanitarian country team. Advocate for collective action, collective results, and collective accountability.
14. Represent the health cluster in inter-cluster coordination mechanisms at country/field level, contribute to jointly identifying critical issues that require multisectoral responses, and plan the relevant synergistic interventions with the other clusters concerned.
15. Advocate for priorities in the health sector, including protection for health workers and health facilities and the highest possible integration of the health related activities in the humanitarian agenda.
Perform any other cluster related incident-specific duties, as required by the functional supervisor.
Recruitment Profile Competencies: Generic
Describe the core, management or leadership competencies required – See WHO competency model – list in order of priority, commencing with the most important ones.
1. Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond
2. Teamwork
3. Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
4. Creating an empowering and motivating environment
5. Communication
Functional Knowledge and Skills
* Describe the essential knowledge and the skills specific to the position
• Demonstrated knowledge of the rapid response operations and their implementation in emergencies as related to public health, complemented by demonstrated ability to identify and manage difficult situations, to lead and direct multidisciplinary and multinational staff.
• In-depth knowledge of emergency relief policies and practices within the UN, other UN specialized agencies, donor agencies, national and international NGOs.
• Sound knowledge and experience about disaster prevention and preparedness program and the incident management system.
• Excellent negotiation skills and ability to convene stakeholders and facilitate a policy process among UN, NGOs, national health authorities and donors.
Education Qualifications
Essential
An advanced university degree (Master’s level or above) in public health, medicine, international health, management or social sciences or related field
At least seven years of relevant experience at national and international level, in developing and promoting collaborative partnerships in emergency and humanitarian relief operations, including experience in managing and coordinating health programs in chronic and acute, sudden-onset emergencies.
Desirable
Specialized training in emergency management, international aid, humanitarian principles, health system recovery, and health cluster coordination.
Relevant work experience in WHO, other UN agencies, health cluster partners, relevant nongovernmental or humanitarian organizations.
Duration of position: Six (6) months
Other Skills
Excellent knowledge of French and English. Working knowledge of another WHO official language would be an asset (depending on the country of assignment).
Knowledge of Microsoft Office software applications. Excellent prese
Monthly Fees
5166.00 (Minimum) – 6273.00 (Maximum) USD
How to apply
Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online at the following address, [email protected] no later than December 02, 2023.
All applicant must include the job title in the subject line, otherwise the application will be rejected