Public Health Specialist, Somalia (QUESTS-MIDA)

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Title                      Public Health Specialist  New!
Duty Station      Somalia
Duration of Assignment   9 months with possibility of extension
Date Posted      27 Mar 2012
Deadline Date      6 Apr 2012

Summary   
The Public Health Specialist will be required to offer technical assistance in managing IOM Migration Projects in close collaboration with Government stakeholders, Implementing partners, UN partners, and IOM Consultants,  under the direct supervision of the Health Programme Officers in Garowe and Nairobi.

Background Information   
With the existing health/medical expertise and capacity, and two years of implementation and presence in migration health in Somalia, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Somalia is scaling up its migration health programme in the country, particularly in the areas of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Tuberculosis, Malaria, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)/Environmental Health (EH), Maternal and Child Health (MCH), emergency medical service and psychosocial support to vulnerable migrants and mobile populations (MMPs) and their affected host communities.
In this context, while IOM continues to implement existing HIV prevention and WASH/EH projects, IOM is also starting new projects to provide psychosocial support to and protection of MMPs especially vulnerable women against Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV), and to improve access to basic healthcare services through strengthening the referral systems and setting up a migrant-friendly one-stop health service centre on the existing health facilities

About Somalia
Somalia is geographically located in Eastern Africa bordering the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean, east of Ethiopia. The capital of Somalia is Mogadishu with an estimated population of 2.5 million. The total population of Somalia is estimated at around 9.8 million.
After years of civil war, administrative structures have been severely eroded and the ability of central government structures to provide public services such as health is limited.
Against this background, AWD and confirmed cholera cases are rapidly on the rise and the most vulnerable populations such as IDPs and children bear the burden of the breakdown in public health services. Alarming data shows that an estimated 7,000 acute watery diarrhoea cases have been reported in Banadir (Mogadishu) region with 3,092 cases in the same period. Therefore, improving environmental health through access to clean water is of high priority for urgent intervention
In addition, a substantial impact of the disasters in Somalia is seen in urban areas such as Mogadishu, Kismayo, Baidoa, Galkayo, Garowe, and Bosaso, where there is a presence of large IDP populations. In Mogadishu, for instance, a significant number of people, who fled from droughts and floods, have been in the IDP camps and communities for more than 15 years. Only very few of the IDPs have stable livelihoods such as casual labour, while many others beg for survival. There has been a lack of consideration for the needs of vulnerable groups during and after the emergency phase, and no disaster management strategy has been developed for the country. There is an urgent need to support the livelihoods of IDPs in Mogadishu and other regions of Somalia through short and long term measures

The need for the expert
IOM intends to recruit a Public Health expert to provide overall technical assistance e and advise to new and existing projects in the Southern region of Somalia.

Activities / Key Results Expected   
• Manage a wide range of MHD projects in Southern region of Somalia as well as backstopping for all MHD colleagues.
• Provide strategic and technical advices in project implementation, resource mobilization, partnership development, national consultation, and donor relations. 
• Supervise consultants as well as Programme Assistant in the region in day-to-day work.
• Act as the primary focal point for all Somali implementing partners in the region.
• Monitor all Somali implementing partners in the region, including partnership agreements, funding disbursements, and narrative and financial reporting as per IOM, UNICEF and Global Fund guidelines.
• Undertake field visits to monitor the MHD projects in the region, as well as conduct periodic project reviews with all Somali partners to monitor the quality of activities including technical content, budget spending, collaboration with stakeholder, etc
• Liaise with governmental partners including the National AIDS Commissions, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Planning, and Ministry of Water, etc to ensure integration of Migration Health into the national health policy.
• Supervise and assist national as well as international consultants in all aspects of consultancy from methodology development, data collection, analysis, write-up to dissemination of findings.
• Supervise the development and roll-out of IEC and BCC materials.
• Conduct review meetings at the field level to review performance, targets achieved as per the donor requirements, and provide technical support to the implementing partners.
• Publicize MHD programme in Somalia through consultation with the MHD Communication Officer to develop press releases, info sheets etc.
• Build technical capacity of the government partners as well as implementation partners.
• Review, screen and certify the implementation partners’ progress reports and financial documentation.
• Identify health programme opportunities in the region within and beyond the field of HIV, through constant contact with partners, identification of data needs, in order to assist supervisors in development of concept notes and proposals for resource mobilization.
• Undertake needs assessments in the region to advise and guide the Health Programme Officer-Somalia on programming.
• Work closely with the other Somalia programmes at IOM to ensure collaboration and linkages within the programmes.
• Represent IOM in all key zonal coordination mechanism such as Health Sectoral Committee, Health Cluster, WASH Cluster, and Protection Cluster, relevant to migration health when requested.
• Perform additional tasks that may be assigned by the Health Programme Officer-Somalia.
Target Outputs (Measurable Results)   • Monthly reports
QUESTS-MIDA Requirements   
Qualifications   The successful candidate should have the following skills, experience and qualifications:
• Masters or Undergraduate degree
• Area of study: Preferably Public Health, Environmental Health and other relevant social science
• Preferably 3 to 5 years of  experience
• Language needed: English and Somali
• General skills / other requirements: Competence, Integrity and Professionalism
Salary   Salary Based on competency, qualification and experience.
Security and Insurance Modalities   Before leaving the country of residence and upon arrival in Nairobi or in Somalia, the qualified Somali expatriate will receive a pre-departure briefing including security advice and cultural background.
How to apply   
All applicants must apply online through the QUESTS-MIDA website. To start the application process, the applicants are required to register an account with the QUESTS-MIDA website. Go to login and register as a user, then fill the form and create a password to enter in the applications section. Fill in the 1-page online application form.


Send your Resume/CV to quests-mida@iom.int. stating the position in the subject line of your email. Only Short-listed candidates will be informed of the status of their application.