Health & Care Delegate at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the world’s largest humanitarian network and is guided by seven Fundamental Principles: Humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, universality and unity.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Health & Care Delegate

Vacancy No: IFRC04169
Location: Abuja
Grade: C1
Duration: 6 months
Category of Staff: Delegate
Duty station status: Family Duty Station

Organizational Context
The Secretariat of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is organized into four Business groups in Geneva and five Business Groups in the field, namely the Regional Offices for Africa, Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The Africa Regional Business Group is organized through cluster offices covering the National Societies in Eastern Africa, Indian Ocean islands, Southern Africa, West Coast, Sahel and Central Africa as well as country offices in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Republic of South Sudan, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, in its commitment to building strong National Societies and to supporting scaling up of National Societies’ services to the most vulnerable populations, has in 2013 established a Country cluster Office in Nigeria. This Cluster Office is charged with the responsibility of supporting the National societies of Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo in developing their long-term strategic direction and generating resources to support a framework designed to address the needs of individuals and communities across a range of service delivery areas particularly focused on health and disaster risk management. On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. As early as 8 December 2019, the first cases presented symptoms similar to the SARS coronavirus, which belongs to the subgenre Sarbecovirus.

The coronavirus, which is causing the pneumonia outbreak, was declared by WHO as a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging health systems across the world. Rapidly increasing demand for care of people with COVID-19 is compounded by fear, misinformation and limitations on the movement of people and supplies that disrupt the delivery of frontline health care for all people. Ministries of Health across the cluster has repeatedly recognised the Red Cross as a key stakeholder in preparedness and response to COVID-19. NS has provided support at different levels since COVID-19 was first reported across the West Coast Cluster and is involved in all the strategic and thematic group meetings. At present, Ministries of Health has assigned NS to manage risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) activities, in addition to community-based surveillance through contact tracing.

Job Purpose
The Health and Care Delegate will work in close coordination with the IFRC and all the national societies Health Programme Team covered in the West Coast Cluster. Reporting to the Head of Cluster, the Health and Care Delegate will:

Support the NS activities in line with the plan and budget for the COVID-19 response
Provide strategic support to the NS Health and Care Programme and for effectively addressing emerging issues, risks and opportunities identified
Support the NS in the West Coast Cluster in the development of proposals for funding with an aim towards expanding the current health portfolio for COVID-19 and ensuring long-term programming that addresses the needs of individuals and communities in countries covered in the West Coast Cluster.
Liaise with partner National Societies ( British Red Cross, Italian Red Cross etc ) and other partners to identify opportunities for NS engagement, to work with NRCS to enhance its visibility vis-à-vis with the Federal and State Ministries of Health and relevant departments to rapidly develop proposals that can generate resources for the National Society and the IFRC CCST to better contribute to COVID-19 health response.
Support any COIVD-19 projects that are currently being implemented by the NS to ensure quality implementation of activities and timely and accurate reporting.
Other duties include supporting capacity building of the NS Health and Care department at Headquarter and branch levels.

Job Duties and Responsibilities
The Health and Care Delegate is responsible for:

Programme strategic direction and guidance:

Build on technical knowledge and understanding of global and country-specific health issues (within the cluster), to develop proposals for new programmes in close coordination with the Africa Regional Health and Care Unit, while respecting and following the key IFRC technical documents (Strategy 2020, IFRC global health policy, IFRC HIV and AIDS Global Policy, IFRC global initiatives etc.) and international strategies (SDGs, Hyogo Framework, WHO policies, SPHERE etc.).
Ensure that relevant RC/RC and national / international guidelines and best practices are followed in community-based health (CBH) programme assessment, planning and implementation.
Support the NS in the West Coast Cluster in the process of defining and documenting a clear strategic direction for Health and Care programming taking into consideration the findings of the recent nation-wide assessment.
In collaboration with the NS and CCST personnel, identify needs and develop a workplan and proposals for COVID health programs in Nigeria.

Programme Management, Coordination and Partnerships:

Closely work with the NS counterparts to contribute towards integrated health and care activities
Liaise with and encourage NS to engage effectively with other key health sector players at national level, including the ICRC, Government bodies (National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Ministry of Health, National AIDS Control Agency, Nigeria Emergency Response Agency, National Public Health Institutes), UNICEF, WHO,CDC, NCDC, NGOs, CBOs, community groups, beneficiaries and the private health sector where appropriate.
Work with the PRD /PMER to encourage partners and donors wanting to contribute to the establishment of COVID-19 health programmes.
In collaboration with NS and relevant agencies monitor the National and Regional spread and severity of current epidemic diseases and proactively communicate emerging health related issues to Regional, Regional and Global focal points of contact as appropriate.
Maintain a close working relationship with the IFRC Regional teams.
Represent IFRC in relevant health sector forums and networks in country. Develop credible and good quality information about RC/RC technical knowhow and lessons learned (integrated programming as well as specific technical areas) and share among these sectors and forums.

Lateral Relationships:

Ensure effective working relationships with NS technical counterparts.
Ensure effective working relationships with technical and service departments at Regional and Geneva Secretariat levels.
Be the Cluster office focal point on staff health matters in coordination with Regional and Global staff Health.

Capacity Building and Technical Support:

Support regular monitoring and evaluation of country level COVID-19 health programmes.
Support the NS in developing epidemics contingency plans and epidemics preparedness plans. This will be done in collaboration with technical colleagues in IFRC and the NS as well as Regional Emergency Health Delegate and Geneva Emergency Health focal points.
Ensure all health and other programme staff at Headquarter receive the necessary and appropriate technical support.
Ensure that upcoming tools for CBHFA (PMER toolkit) are adopted and utilized to their full potential in community-based health programmes.

Knowledge Sharing and Institutional Capacity Building:

Document best practices and lessons learnt in COVID-19 health programme implementation and share among other National Societies, RC/RC regional and Geneva offices and relevant actors out of RC/RC Movement.
Build and maintain a knowledge database and disseminate technical information, updates and innovation in the health sector to partners and within the NRCS.
Participate in health trainings, meetings and forums when applicable.
Produce regular quality technical reports to the Head of CCST, with copy to Regional Health Coordinator, including financial and narrative reports for the International Federation and its donors.

Community Health:

Provide strategic advice on health and care issues including the elaboration of health strategies and programme plans and gathering of new ideas for service delivery and knowledge sharing.
Coordinate external and movement support towards building the capacity of NS in health programming.
Promote integration of interventions (Health, Emergency Health, WASH, Disaster Management, Organizational Development etc).
In support of the IFRC road map Milestones for Africa, work towards expanding HIV programmes that target adolescents.

Emergency Health:

Support, National Society capacity strengthening in emergency health preparedness and response
Support the NS in promoting and including HIV/AIDS in emergency policies/strategies in their disaster preparedness/response initiatives
Monitor regional and national epidemiological data, standard health indicators and disaster patterns for analysis and early detection of trends, disease outbreaks and/or epidemics. Facilitate the identification of necessary actions and corrective measures to be taken, where necessary
Provide technical guidance, and where necessary, participate in assessments, planning and supporting public health response emergency operations in close collaboration with the DM department.

Education

Relevant university degree (such as Management, Development Studies, Public Health, Social Sciences, etc.)
Health professional related degree, medical or nursing
Master’s Degree in Public Health or related Discipline

Experience:

A of Minimum of 5 years’ experience in leading and managing public health programs in a humanitarian organization in developing countries.
Good understanding of the humanitarian environment, strong analytical skills and capacity to translate analysis into strategy and planning.
A very good track record of managing people, networking, influencing and negotiating and building relationships effectively.
Proven record of proposal development,quality report writing, and financial reports
Experience of field based implementation is essential.
Experience of supporting Red Cross / Red Crescent National Societies and working for RC/RC Movement on an international level
Experience of financial management to ensure compliance
Experience of management and supervision of health staff

Knowledge, skills and languages:

Self-supporting in computers
Coordination and partner relationship building
Demonstrated technical expertise in strategic management, project planning and budgeting, resource management, implementation ability as well as programme monitoring and evaluation
Skills in training and developing staff capacity
Excellent skills in networking with other agencies and organisations
Fluent in written and spoken English and French language

Competencies and values: