Health and Nutrition Officer, NO-A, TA, #127462, Qamishli, Syria, MENA Region

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

UNICEF promotes the rights and welfare of all children and adolescents in everything we do. Together with our allies, we work to transform this commitment into practical actions that benefit all children, especially focusing our efforts on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded, worldwide.

For every child, health

UNICEF Syria was established in 1970 and has been working with partners to help empower children to fully claim and enjoy their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

UNICEF works with partners across Syria to deliver supplies, services, and expertise in areas of Child Protection, Education, Health, Nutrition, Water, Hygiene and Sanitation for every child. UNICEF also provides humanitarian assistance when needed.

Syria continues to face one of the most complex emergencies in the world. Unprecedented humanitarian needs are compounded by displacement inside the country and across its borders, extensive destruction of civilian and social services infrastructure, devastating impacts on the economy, and most importantly, the breakdown of the social fabric that stitched the country together for decades.

Today, 90% of people in Syria live in poverty, most are unable to make ends meet or bring food to the table. Families have had their resources depleted, with limited employment opportunities, skyrocketing prices, and shortage of basic supplies. For most people, the current socio-economic challenges represent some of the harshest and most challenging circumstances they have faced since the beginning of the crisis 11 years ago.

In 2023, 15.1 million people need humanitarian assistance. This is the highest number of people in need ever recorded in Syria since 2011. The number of children in need – more than 6.5 million – has increased by seven per cent in the past year alone. This is largely due the ongoing conflict, continued displacements, the unprecedented economic crisis, deepening poverty, and unemployment. The COVID-19 pandemic, the hike in price of commodities triggered by the overall global economic situation and the impact of sanctions are further compounding the dire situation.

For information of the work of our organization, please visit our website: UNICEF Syria  

How can you make a difference?

Following the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in all governorates, and after the occurrence of outbreaks in the different governorates, UNICEF is scaling up operations to support the most vulnerable women and children there. IDPs are moving from one governorate to another according to the security situations. UNICEF is planning to scale-up its support to the different Syrian governorates as part of its emergency response assistance which includes health and nutrition, water and sanitation, education, child protection, and non-food items.

Purpose of the Job

You will provide professional technical assistance and support for programme/project design, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and administration of programme/project activities, including data analysis, progress reporting, knowledge networking and capacity building, in support of achievement of planned objectives of the work plan, aligned with Health & Nutrition programme goals and strategy.

Key End-Results

1. Accurate information, data analysis, and documentation are timely made available to support situation analysis, sectoral input and reporting.

2. Technical assistance are provided to the development and implementation of integrated Health & Nutrition strategies and approaches through participation and collaboration with internal and external partners.

3.  Work plan and objectives are effectively established, and planned results are timely delivered through technical support and coordination in consultation with all relevant partners.

4. Project efficiency and effectiveness are enhanced through effective implementation follow-up.

5. Project implementation progress is monitored for adjustment and improvement of program delivery and sustainability. Gender/sex disaggregated data and inputs provided relevant to the Health & Nutrition programme.

6. Transparency is ensured for supply and non-supply assistance and disbursement of programme funds for Health & Nutrition.

7. Effective partnership and working relationships are maintained for advocacy, technical coordination, information sharing and knowledge networking.

8. Up-to-date programme information is kept available, and reports prepared and shared with relevant stakeholders as required to support the Health & Nutrition programme by the effective implementation of integrated monitoring system.

9. Emergency preparedness is maintained, and in emergencies, emergency responses with effective coordination are provided and in line with the Core Commitments for Children (CCCs) in Humanitarian Action, partnerships with the Health and Nutrition humanitarian actors strengthened within the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC).

10. Other assigned duties and responsibilities are effectively accomplished.

The Generic Job Profile of this post, including the complete Key Functions and Accountabilities details is included here:  GJP – Health & Nutrition Officer NOA.pdf

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

Education:

• University degree in Public Health, Nutrition, Child Development, Social Development, Community Development, Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, or other relevant disciplines. 

Experience:

• One year of professional work experience in planning, programming, implementation monitoring and evaluation of health and/or nutrition programmes.
• Professional work experience in a programme management function or a technical expert capacity in child survival & health care is required.
• Developing country field work experience is required.
• Background/familiarity with Emergency is an asset.
• Experience in administration, monitoring, planning, evaluating and/ or implementing health and/or nutrition interventions in NES (Northeast Syria) will be an asset.
• Experience in data analysis and/ or reporting women and children situation in NES (Northeast Syria) will also be an asset.
• Experience working with the UN or humanitarian organizations will be an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.

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…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. 

Remarks:

The VA is open to all (internal and external candidates)

This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable males are encouraged to apply.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be cancelled.

All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.