WASH Specialist (Public Health Emergencies), P-4 at UNICEF

Under the supervision of the WASH Specialist (Emergencies) and in close coordination with other members of the Regional Office, the WASH Specialist (Public Health Emergencies(PHE)) with be responsible to provide selected ESAR countries affected by Public Health Emergencies with quality assurance, programme strategies, technical support and strengthening outbreak response systems. The primary focus will be on Cholera prevention & control, prevention of drought-induced WASH diseases in WASH programming, and prevention of diarrheal diseases (DD) and other WASH diseases. 

The WASH Specialist (PHEs) will:  

• Collect, review and use the data on current WASH related diseases in the ESAR and assess to which extent these data are used in WASH programs for supporting the development, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of UNICEF’s preparedness and response to cholera and other WASH diseases in the concerned countries.  
• Analyze and provide guidance to improve the current Public Health response strategies for which WASH sector has a critical role   
• Cholera prevention & control: implementation of the cholera case-area targeted intervention (CATI approach) and cluster case targeted intervention (CLUSTI approach) supporting district health authorities to deploy the rapid response teams or cholera outbreak response teams (CORT).  
• Lead on the prevention of Diarrheal diseases (DD) and Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in poor and displaced people settings. 
• Support Ebola response through the Ring approach.  
• Lead on the prevention of drought-induced WASH diseases: the WASH Specialist (Public Health Emergencies) will analyze the health data and review the response and provide technical advice to the UNICEF programme to better integrate elements of diseases prevention and risk reduction.   
• Update periodically (each quarter) the list of cross-border PHE focal points and organize ad-hoc cross-border online meetings when diseases transmission risks are increasing on one side of the border.
• Support UNICEF Country Offices to ensuring overall efficiency, effectiveness and delivery of PHE response in accordance with UNICEF’s Core Commitment for Children Emergencies (CCCs), WHO Health guidelines and national humanitarian standards.  
• Support to the RO/WASH section in analyzing the epidemiological trends of WASH diseases in the region and advise on how to correct the course of ongoing projects/programmes.   
• Provide capacity development to WASH and Health staff and partners related PHE strategies and disease response systems that work.  

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Advance degree in Public Health, or Water/Sanitation/Hygiene or equivalent. 
• A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with two additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree. 
• At least eight years’ experience developing and implementing public health and WASH emergency response programme in several countries at local, national, and cross-border level. 
• Development or participation in development of reference materials on public health emergency WASH response, manuals, guides, national plans, or strategies is highly desirable. 
• Robust experience in the management of training events and learning exchange initiatives. 
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of a second UN and/or local working language of the duty station an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are

Core Competencies 

• Builds and maintains partnerships 
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness 
• Drive to achieve results for impact 
• Innovates and embraces change 
• Manages ambiguity and complexity 
• Thinks and acts strategically 
• Works collaboratively with others