Democratic Republic of the Congo: Senior Regional Public Health Officer

Duties and Qualifications

Senior Regional Public Health Officer

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Senior Regional Public Health Officer will ensure that UNHCR¿s health and nutrition programmes meet minimum UNHCR and international standards and minimise avoidable mortality and morbidity among populations of concern. The incumbent plays a crucial role in programme coordination, planning, monitoring including data analysis and evaluation, promoting capacity-building of UNHCR personnel and partners, and advocacy, information and communication on public health and nutrition-related issues.
The Senior Regional Public Health Officer liaises with UNHCR country offices, Public Health and HIV Section, Regional Bureau/Desk. S/he supports and provides guidance to the network of UNHCR health and nutrition focal points and officers as well as to Implementing and Operational Partners, National Governments, Ministries of Health, UN agencies, and refugee and other persons of concern to UNHCR¿s communities.

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT

Accountability

• UNHCR¿s country operations in the region are technically sound and thus better able to meet the needs of refugees.
• Immediate respond to refugee emergencies is ensured.
• Public Health programs provided to refugees and other PoCs are based on UNHCR and internationally recognised and most up-to-date standards and policies.
  Responsibility
• Support the prioritization of the Primary Health Care strategy focusing on preventive and essential curative health, including mental health, reproductive health, HIV and nutritional components.
• Ensure that there is a viable standard Health Information System in place for data collection, analysis and interpretation to serve as evidence base for planning and interventions.
• Ensure nutritional survey and other assessments for food and nutrition are adequately conducted and implemented.
• Guide and support country offices in developing up-to technical programmes, based on international and UNHCR standards for quality public health programming.
• Provide technical assistance to UNHCR country offices and partners in development, integration and mainstreaming of appropriate and cost-effective public health, reproductive health and HIV prevention, treatment and care, mental health and nutrition.
• Ensure technical standards are being met in country operation and where required, support development of multi-year country sector strategies and programme plans adapted to the context.
• Undertake direct monitoring and quality assurance missions to ensure that sector programming is sound and cost-effective.
• Ensure active involvement in all aspects of programme monitoring and evaluation with a main emphasis on checking levels of implementation and impact vis-à-vis resource inputs to measure cost-effectiveness and re-orient the programme as appropriate.
• Support UNHCR country staff in co-ordinating Public Health and HIV activities in line with UNHCR¿s role as UNAIDS co-sponsor and ensure that decisions are implemented as agreed upon.
• Work closely with UNHCR programme, field and protection staff to identify priority health issues and key data requirements for programme planning and monitoring to ensure that minimum UNHCR and international standards are being met.
• Update and disseminate good practices on public health, nutrition, mental health, HIV and reproductive health among partners.
• Ensure implementation of UNHCR health information systems and support countries with analysis of public health data.
• Support linkages of public health to WASH programmes in the region.
• Share relevant guidelines and information materials on refugee HIV, reproductive health, general health and nutrition with local and international partners.
• Support country-level health focal points to promote the establishment of Refugee Committees to enable their active participation in the process of health planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
• Ensure effective coordination with regional bodies, governments, UN partners and represent UNHCR in regional fora related to refugee health and nutrition.
• Deliver training, capacity building, coaching for UNHCR and partners to strengthen response in emergencies, support synergies and integration into national health, water services and deliver technically sound programmes.
• Ensure that UNHCR is meeting the role as UNAIDS co-sponsor by coordinating and advocating for HIV and refugee issues with National AIDS Control Programmes, UN Joint Teams on AIDS, and major HIV donors.
  Authority
• Enforce regional compliance with UNHCR Global Public Health Strategies, protocols and guidelines.
• Approve recommendations and advice on the technical capacity required of UNHCR and its partners in the region.

• Be the first point of call for emergencies and respond adequately.

• ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

• A clinical background (nurse or MD) with postgraduate training in Public Health or Social Science.

• Minimum 10 years of previous job experience relevant to the function and in national/multinational organizations.

• Knowledge of public health, nutrition and HIV in humanitarian emergencies and development context including at least 5 years experience with an international humanitarian organization dealing with large scale emergencies or displaced/refugee situations

• Exposure to UNHCR mandate, its priorities and principles.

• Proficiency in basic computer software such as MS Word and Excel.

• Excellent knowledge of English and French (written / oral / comprehension).

• Advanced drafting skills in English and French.

Operational Context

The candidate should have solid experience in the various aspects of PH in refugee and other settings. S/he should also have strong communication and negotiation skills. Flexibility, innovativeness are also required qualities for the position. Training skills and high reporting skills are mandatory for this post.
The applicant should have ground experience in the Central Africa Region, be fluent in French and have good working knowledge of English.

The Role of Senior Regional Public Health Officer is not limited to the geographical area covered by the Kinshasa Regional Office. In addition to DRC, RoC and Gabon, the SRPHO takes the overall responsibility of planning, supervising and supporting Public Health Programs in Cameroon, Rwanda, Burundi, CAR and Chad.
In refugee camps, UNHCR provides full range of public health services including: all elements of primary health care (PHC); WASH; nutrition, and patient referrals for secondary and tertiary care. UNHCR have competent implementing partners that provide those services in the camp with acceptable national, International and UNHCR standards. Refugee camps exist in Rwanda, Burundi, CAR and Cameroon.
In non-refugee settings such as the IDPs and return zones, the SRPHO works with country team to collaborate PH activities with the MoH, Health Cluster and other stakeholders.
The key challenge is to supervise and support projects in the hugely diverse area where the access and provision of logistical support is not an easy task. Operations in target countries are also variable in terms of national standards, level of resources available and competency of the IPs. The tense security situation and the high incidence of outbreaks and epidemics in most countries of the region represent a risk on staff safety and continuity of operations. The common unavailability of designated PH officer for many of the countries adds to the difficulty of the task as the SRPHO has to fill such gaps and work with the IPs to implement activities directly. Despite the ongoing discussion on the subject, the Regional Office still has no clear strategy for supporting regional staff when they carry out activities outside the regional office target countries.

The SRPHO is based in Kinshasa and oversee all PH activities in the region. Key tasks includes: helping countries with planning PH activities and identify appropriate strategies; Provide technical support to UNHCR staff and IPs including training, access to resource materials and stocks of medical supplies; creating a link between HQ and countries of the area to ensure flow of information and availability of resources; evaluate and build capacity of the IPs; and coordinate activities at the regional level particularly those related to the donors and other regional offices of UN agencies.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the third largest country in Africa, and as a result is quite diverse. Living conditions therefore vary between UNHCR duty stations, with all usual amenities present in the capital Kinshasa, but only very basic conditions in remote duty stations in the provinces, where, for instance, there may be no guarantee of public power supply nor running water. Accommodation is very expensive in Kinshasa. There are several Supermarkets in town but consumer items are generally very expensive (as everything is imported). For food, local markets offer a much cheaper alternative. Kinshasa is considered family duty station effective 1 January 2015, despite the fact that most facilities and amenities are still basic.
The unit of currency is the Congolese Franc. The US dollar is the other preferred currency. It may be impossible to exchange traveller¿s checks away from the capital city. Credit cards are usually accepted in major hotels only in Kinshasa. In larger towns and cities (e.g. Kinshasa, Goma, Bukavu, Kisangani), it is recommended to open US Dollar bank accounts, while in other places, banks may be absent (including ATMs) and payments will be processed in cash.
In addition to French, there are four major spoken languages in DRC, namely Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba and Swahili.

Kinshasa is a security level 2 duty station. But in the country our operation is active in areas where security is a strong concern; therefore planning operation with a security lens is necessary and the incumbent must be proficient with operation risk assessment.

Strong written skills are requested both in French and English.

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