Emergency Specialist

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Description

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• Lead UNICEF’s cholera response and preparedness activities internally, with the Ministry of Health and other relevant sector/clusters such as Health, WASH and Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) coordination mechanisms.
• Ensure collaboration of UNICEF sectors, particularly Health, WASH and SBC, Supply and HR to ensure integration of the cholera emergency response. This entails to (1) facilitating an internal cholera task force comprised of Health, SBC, WASH, operations staff, (2) managing Cholera preparedness and response internal and external meetings – proposing relevant agenda items and assembling presentations, scheduling, and sharing minutes, (3) acting as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the capacity of country stakeholders to respond to cholera outbreaks.
• Supporting the Government of Haiti with emergency preparedness and response to cholera outbreaks.
• Liaising with international and national humanitarian/development partners, health and WASH cluster/sector and RCCE global and regional coordination platforms
• Contribute to development of Humanitarian Programme Documents (HPD) or embedding cholera humanitarian response elements in existing PCAs, that enable the deployment of Rapid Response Teams (RRT) and Case Area Targeted Interventions (CATI) teams and other innovative interventions to respond to cholera outbreaks on a timely matter.
• Provide technical support to UNICEF and partners including the development/sharing of protocols, guidelines and training materials for surveillance, early warning and alert systems, case management, establishment of cholera treatment centres, community-based interventions, communications, social mobilization and forecasting, procuring and distribution of supplies. 
• Map out current available resources for the Cholera response and identify gaps/needs across sectors (health, education, social protection etc.); building on existing efforts by country stakeholders and partners to track deployment/administration of supplies, availability of financial resources (current/on the pipeline), human capacity etc.
• Participate actively in the national outbreak task force and contribute to decision making processes.
• Document and manage knowledge of UNICEF Haiti response to previous cholera outbreaks, highlighting best practices and lessons learned to inform responses.
• Coordinate and monitor RRT and CATI done by implementing partners, ensure promptness and completeness are monitored and corrective actions taken.
• Provide technical support to the development of concept notes and proposals for emergency funds
• Share regular detailed situation reports and summary of trends analysis with the Chief of Emergency and Country Office Emergency management team. 
• Update UNICEF Haiti cholera emergency response plan, including financial needs and urgent staffing requirements (re-deploying country office staff, SURGE etc.).
• Provide inputs to the preparation of all cholera emergency response portfolio reports for management, donors, budget reviews, programme analysis, and annual reports
• Participate in Cholera monitoring and evaluation exercises, as well as in health, WASH and SBC sectoral reviews, as applicable. Identify, capture, synthesize, and share lessons learned for knowledge development and to build the capacity of country stakeholders and partners.
• Advocate for and organize in collaboration with MoH and WHO an after-action review exercise once the cholera outbreak is officially declared closed, or as needed, with regional office and HQ support.
• During low season, liaise regularly with WHO and Ministry of Health to keep informed about surveillance data updates/dashboards and, where applicable, support surveillance with a focus on community structures in the main hotspots (active surveillance and early warning).
• Provide technical support to planning and preparedness actions, as well as support verification of cholera/AWD reports and rumors.
• Contribute to development contingency Humanitarian Programme Documents (HPD)
• Assess supplies gaps in the main hotspots and coordinate the pre-positioning of cholera supplies from all programmes (health, SBC and WASH) with the support of the Supply section.
• Assess training needs the main hotspots in collaboration with Health, SBC and WASH sections and plan for refresher sessions about cholera outbreaks management for partners and UNICEF staff.

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in public health, health, WASH, emergency coordination or disciplines relevant to working on public health and outbreaks, preferably in humanitarian settings and/or complex environments.
• Bachelor’s degree complemented with two (2) additional years of relevant work experience can be considered in lieu of advanced university degree.
• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional work experience at national and/or international levels in areas related to outbreak response, public health and other health, WASH and health emergency coordination and response contexts.
• Demonstrated experience in providing technical assistance to governments on the implementation of outbreak responses is required.
• Demonstrated experience in leading and/or working with multidisciplinary teams and playing facilitating/coordination roles in a complex/multi-cultural context is required.
• Familiarity with the UN system and international response to cholera outbreak (Global Task Force to Control Cholera) is highly desired.
• Knowledge of different aspects of the cholera outbreak preparedness and response in Haiti (WHO guidance, international standards, national policies and strategies) is highly desired.
• Excellent writing skills and demonstrable experience in qualitative and quantitative epidemiological information analysis, program monitoring and reporting is an asset.
• Fluency in French and English is required. Knowledge of another UN language or the local language (Haitian Creole) is highly desired.

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