International UN University Volunteer: Health Associate

Mission and objectives

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nation.

Context

Since 2011 the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has undergone a dramatic transformation. What was once a middle-income region, where UNICEF was implementing mostly upstream work, has now become the region with the greatest concentration of humanitarian needs in the world with emergencies and many countries that are facing protracted conflicts as well as civil unrest and/or political transition. The role of MENA regional office (MENARO) is to support all countries in the region in a more deliberate, consistent, and value-added way, explicitly allocating the vast majority of programme and cross-cutting staff time and resources to country office technical assistance and quality assurance. The Health Section at UNICEF MENARO is seeking a UN Volunteer that will provide critical support to key agenda that are vital for strengthening primary health care (PHC) to achieve universal health coverage (UHC), this includes addressing inequalities and impacts of increasing issues such as climate change on child well-being. The UN Volunteer will acquire knowledge and experience through participation in the various roles and responsibilities assigned to him/her under the guidance of the supervisor and relevant health section team members. Recognizing that volunteering can be a powerful means of implementation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), time will be dedicated to especially assist and support the volunteer to understand and highlight the valuable role that the UN Volunteer would play in the implementation of the UNICEF Middle East and North Regional Office Regional Health Work Plan which aligns with the UNICEF Global Strategic Plan for 2022 – 2025 and the achievement of the SDGs. The UN Volunteer will contribute to the finalization and production of the regional knowledge products. To build and expand his/her knowledge/capacity and learning, the he/she will be exposed to various meetings and webinars organized within the MENARO health team and country offices on key areas related to Primary Health Care and other areas of interest. Further, will have the opportunity to engage actively and contribute to the regional events that are co-organized by MENARO health team with other partners. Opportunities will be provided for relevant leadership and training in line with UNICEF’s learning programmes to enhance his/her specific skills and experience.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of Health Specialist, the UN Volunteer will work with a team of experts to addresses challenges in improving the health of women, newborns, children and adolescents through three main components: 1. Support evidence-generation so good science can inform sound policy and leverage country commitment and resources for action, including around key aspects of PHC such as community health that will play an increasing role in addressing challenges such as climate change • Contribute to the preparation/update of situation analysis for the health and related sector (e.g., climate, poverty, etc.) for development, design and management of health-related programs/projects. Research and report on development trends and (climate, inequities, economic, social, health etc.) data for use in programme development, management, monitoring, evaluation and delivery of results • Contribute to the development/establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives and strategies and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of health and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting • Contribute to identifying, capturing, synthesizing and sharing lessons learned for knowledge development and capacity development of key stakeholders 2. Advocacy and engagement to strengthen national policies to ensure follow-up to local levels • Draft communication and information materials for the UNICEF regional office programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support resource mobilization for relevant programmes such as impacts of climate change on maternal, newborn and child health • Contribute to building and sustaining effective close working partnerships with country office counterparts and stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation • Build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on health pro-grams • Participate as resource person in capacity-building initiatives to enhance the competencies of key stakeholders at national and subnational levels 3. Contribute to the efforts of the regional office in identifying and addressing new and emerging health challenges such as climate change impacts on child health in MENA countries • In partnership with key stakeholders and knowledge institutions, develop evidence-based analysis for effective programme planning and management, particularly aimed at understanding and addressing the challenges posed by emerging threats on child health and well-being • Contribute to applying innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results at the country level • Research and report on best and cutting-edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems The UN Volunteer will acquire knowledge and experience through participation in evidence generation, advocacy and engagement and identifying and addressing new and emerging health challenges under the guidance of the supervisor and relevant health section team members. To expand his/her knowledge, the UN Volunteer will be exposed to various meetings and webinars organized within the MENARO health team and country offices on key areas of the health section and other areas of interest. The UN Volunteer will also have the opportunity to participate and contribute to the regional events that co-organized by MENARO health team with other partners.

Eligibility criteria

Additional eligibility criteria

ELIGIBILITY – As this assignment is funded by KOICA, specific eligibility criteria apply. – Candidates must be Korean nationals. – You must be enrolled in a bachelor’s or master’s degree or have recently graduated (no longer than 12 months ago at the time of application). – Candidates who already served on a UN Volunteer assignment funded by KOICA are not eligible. APPLICATION – If you are currently enrolled in a university and have not yet obtained a university degree, indicate in the section ‘Academic qualifications’ under ‘diploma/degree obtained’ that you are still studying and towards which degree. In the ‘to’ field, enter the current date, as the system does not allow you to enter a future date. Instead of the degree certificate, upload any evidence of your enrollment, for example a transcript. – You may apply to a maximum of three assignments and indicate the order of preference in the ‘Additional remarks’ field when filling in the application form. – Application deadline: 26 May 2024 SELECTION – Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The selection will be done by the UN Host Entity at the level of the country of assignment. Interviews will be conducted by the UN Host Entity in June. – Selected candidates will be invited to attend a mandatory online preparation training on 19 and 21 August. +++ UN Volunteer entitlement calculator: https://app.unv.org/calculator +++

Nationality

Candidates must be Korean nationals.

Requirements

Required experience

1 years of experience in (or demonstrated interest) public health, international development or related field. • Good writing and communication skills, including research, public speaking and presentations is preferred. • Relevant experience working in an international context is considered as an asset.

Area(s) of expertise

Community development, Crisis and emergency response, Development programmes

Languages

English, Level: Fluent, Required

Required education level

Bachelor degree or equivalent in – currently enrolled or recent graduate – in Health or related field including Medicine, Public Health, Global/International Health, Health Policy & Management, Environmental Health, Family Health, Health Research, Socio-medical Sciences, Social Sciences, Nursing, or a field relevant to international public health development assistance.