COVID 19 Community Engagement Officer at Elizabeth Glaser

Project Overview ((Anticipated UNITAID COVID 19 Project)

The emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic has posed new challenges to already strained health systems worldwide. Governments have had to start prevention, containment and mitigation measures rapidly while evolving as new information becomes available. The anticipated UNITAID COVID 19 project will work with the national and county governments Covid 19 response teams to accelerate end-to-end access to novel solutions for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic through testing, isolation, care and treatment approaches adapted to the needs of low- and middle-income countries such as Kenya.  The Community Engagement Officer  will be based in Nairobi County and will work with MoH and partners at national and subnational levels on novel Covid-19 testing solutions and approaches to improve access to COVID-19 identification and management.

Job Summary

Under the supervision of the Project Country Lead, in collaboration with Ministry of Health (MoH), local partners and the UNITAID COVID-19 Project, the Community Engagement Officer will undertake the following activities to strengthen access to Covid 19 testing and community case management in Nairobi County.

Responsibilities

Take lead in Community awareness and demand creation for COVID 19 testing, care and treatment through:

• Engaging schools, churches, social sectors, community-based organizations, and local NGOs to support community engagement and community mobilization for SARS-COV-2 rapid testing and symptoms screening.
• Collaborating with Public Health Emergency Operations Centers and MOH to coordinate work plans and identify needs.
• Assessments on communities’ perception towards SARS-COV-2 rapid testing and engagement to counter negative perceptions.
• Collaborating with other stakeholders to design messaging for demand creation and community preparedness with active engagement of key community sectors /leaders.
• Organize SARS-COV-2 rapid testing campaign (Know your status SARS-COV-2) based on the formative assessment and key promotion messages.
• Work with the care and treatment officer in follow-up of the patients on homebased Covid-19 management as well as support for the identification and testing of contacts.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• Degree in Social Sciences, psychology or other equivalent degree.
• Previous work experience with in Covid-19 related community project highly preferred.
• Must have a minimum of 3 years’ experience in implementing community interventions in health-related fields.
• S/he should have experience in community participation and consultative-type projects.
• Experience in community system strengthening will be an advantage.
• Experience with donor reporting is desirable.

Competencies

The Foundation expects all employees to possess the fundamental competencies of interpersonal skills, communication, accountability, continual learning, and driving results. The ideal candidate will be either proficient or advanced in the following set of competencies, specific to this position’s level of Officer:

• Team Building – Team building is a person’s ability to inspire and foster team commitment, spirit, pride, and trust. He/she also facilitates cooperation and motivates team members to accomplish group goals.
• Customer Service – Customer service is a person’s ability to anticipate and meet the needs of internal and external customers while delivering high-quality products and services and being committed to continuous improvement.
• Decisiveness – Decisiveness is a person’s ability to make well-informed, effective, and timely decisions, even when data is limited or solutions produce unpleasant consequences. He/she will also perceive the impact and implications of decisions.