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Terms of
Reference Health Cluster Consultant
ORGANIZATIONAL
CONTEXT
WHO is the lead agency of the IASC Global Health
Cluster. The mission of the Global Health Cluster is to: provide
health leadership in emergency and crisis preparedness, response and
recovery; prevent and reduce related morbidity and mortality; ensure
evidence-based actions, gap filling and sound coordination; and enhance
accountability, predictability and effectiveness of humanitarian health
actions.
One
of the core commitments of the Global Health Cluster is to develop
operational guidance on coordination and management of humanitarian
health action to support the implementation of the cluster approach at
the country level. A Subgroup has been established to develop such
guidance on behalf of the Health Cluster. Within the subgroup,
individual partners take on the role of ensuring the realization of
specific agreed upon products. All related and agreed costs are covered
by the Health Cluster funds. Overall
management of this consultancy will be provided by Merlin
with additional support from UNICEF where necessary.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
In this
context, under the supervision of Merlin,
an international consultant will be recruited to lead and undertake the
required work in collaboration with local health cluster staff (and
local consultants as necessary, to be engaged by international
consultant) with the following objectives:
· Using
available evidence from country case studies (chronic and acute
emergency), to identify effective methods for identifying gaps, identify
recurring gaps in the health response (e.g. assessment gaps,
geographic, operational, thematic , vulnerable groups etc) in cluster
and non-cluster countries and identify effective and appropriate
responses
· To
support consultations about lesson learning above, arrange for
additional data collection in selected countries as needed to cover both
chronic and emergency contexts)
· To
look into gaps identified in others sectors relevant to health
(Nutrition, Watsan) and how these gaps have been filled
· To
document lessons learnt to date on how to identify gaps in health, how
to effectively address those gaps, and how to effectively serve as
provider of last resort; include in guidance lists of recurring gaps and
standard or innovative methods for addressing them, and present in a
manner which can be incorporated into the work on-going on needs
assessment and tools to support
The
incumbent will deliver the following three products:
- guidance
on how to identify and address gaps,
including a generic list of frequent health gaps reported in previous
crises and actions aimed at filling them, and the practicalities of
serving as provider of last resort,
- an interim
report at the end of week 4 of the consultancy
- a
final report on the process of
achieving the result (no more than one week after the completion of the
consultancy).
The
guidance will be comprehensive, taking into consideration both acute
emergencies and complex chronic crises and any relevant cross-cutting
issues such as gender, environment, human rights, etc. It will allow
country level health clusters to
identify and address gaps in health response, in both
chronic and acute emergency contexts, and to satisfactorily act as
provider of last resort.
METHODOLOGY
The
desired output will be achieved through a product-driven process of a
comprehensive review of current available materials, review of lessons
learnt and best practices, selection, improvement, consensus-building
and standardization. Therefore, in carrying out this assignment, the
incumbent will interact with a range of individuals and institutions in
WHO, the UN systems, NGOs and academia, as active in, or relevant to
health action in crises, as well as country-based health cluster
stakeholders, and to work with a degree of independence in technical
decision making, while keeping the Chair and the rest of the Subgroup
appraised of progress towards planned activities and outputs.
Learning from
this work component will be fed in to the work of the Subgroup on
Assessments and into the Health Cluster guidance on Strategy Development
and Action Plan Formulation as appropriate to help ensure the equitable
distribution of programmes to address the needs of vulnerable groups
and/or gaps in programming to date.
SUMMARY
OF ASSIGNED DUTIES
The
incumbent will actively engage with, solicit input from members of the
Global Health Cluster Subgroup on Coordination and Management while
carrying out the following tasks:
· Conduct a comprehensive review
of data already available (qualitative and quantitative) from country
programme case studies
· oversee the collection of
additional data on lessons learnt in a selection of countries if
considered appropriate/necessary which builds on the lessons leant to
date.
· Analyze information and ensure
consistent consolidation of lessons learnt. The analysis will
incorporate perspectives from the service providers (cluster lead and
partners), local government and beneficiaries.
·
Identify likely gaps and put
forward recommendations for the identification and filling of gaps
across a range of contexts
· Present recommendations in a
manner which allows for their incorporation into the needs assessment
guidance and tools (under development)
· Develop a proposal for
addressing the issue of last resort at country level
·
Recruit, develop TORs and manage
local consultants as necessary.
· Ensure compliance on reporting
to the cluster sub-group (interim and final)
· Coordinate with consultants and
focal points responsible for other products within the Subgroup on
Coordination and Management and with entities outside the health
cluster looking for similar gap identification filling and last resorts
·
Inform the members of the
Subgroup, the co-chairs and the focal agency on the progress of the work
and reporting on the semifinal and final products
EDUCATION
University
post-graduate degree in public health with a focus on epidemiology and
disaster management, including a
background in health (MD, RN with MPH) or a related
field. Social anthropology skills would be desirable.
COMPETENCIES
In depth
knowledge of health assessment principles, methods and tools in
humanitarian emergencies; capacity for team work; leadership; good
interpersonal skills with excellent communication, facilitation and
negotiation skills, ability to work with multiple partners to build
consensus; strategic vision and judgement; ability to prioritize,
organize, manage, and adapt management style according to need; ability
to build and motivate teams; ability to convene stakeholders and
facilitate a policy process between UN and NGOs; well developed problem
solving skills.
EXPERIENCE
Extensive
experience in emergency and crisis contexts and development context at
the international level; recognized technical skills in the area of
assignment; extensive field experience in developing countries; a
minimum of five years experience in field-based humanitarian response
within the United Nations system or with a non-governmental
organization; familiarity with the health sector and stakeholders,
cluster approach and computer-based information systems; proven skills
in information gathering and analysis.
LANGUAGES
Excellent
knowledge of spoken and written English
DUTY
STATION
Preferably
London or Geneva based. If not, must have access to excellent internet
connections with facilities for video conferencing, net meetings, etc.
Field trips to countries where cluster has been activated and or is
being rolled out in a pilot fashion.
TO
APPLY FOR THIS POSITION
Merlin
will be processing applications on behalf of the IASC Health Cluster.
Please submit your application in the form of a CV and covering letter
to
alice.gilbert@merlin.org.uk The closing date
for applications is 31st January 2007.
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