Mission and objectivesUNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.
ContextThis UNV assignment is part of UNICEF flagship Public Health Emergency initiative as part of the EVD response in Uganda. On 30 January 2025, the Uganda Ministry of Health (MoH) declared an outbreak of Sudan Ebola Virus Disease (SVD) after a case was confirmed positive by three laboratories. The confirmed case, designated as the index case, is a 32-year-old male nurse, an employee of Mulago National Referral Hospital who initially developed fever-like symptoms and starting on 19th January 2025 sought treatment at multiple health facilities, including Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Saidina Abubakar Islamic Hospital in Matugga in Wakiso District, and Mbale Regional Referral Hospital in Mbale City, as well as from a traditional healer. UNICEF is a key partner in the response, working closely with the Uganda Ministry of Health, WHO, CDC and other stakeholders and partners. The position is intended to provide public health technical support and coordination work at sub-national level including health facilities that manage patients across the country in line with identified or selected districts reporting and treating Ebola patients/cases. The national preparedness and response plan identified several challenges/gaps around RCCE, IPC/WASH, limited support for coordination at the sub-national level, weakness in MPHSS care, nutrition support in case management especially for children. Implementing to address key gaps will be a major contributor towards resilient/sustainable EPR hence, this position aims to strengthen capacities of sub-national coordination structures and health facilities with special focus on Regional Referral Hospitals and District hospitals as centers of excellence in the management of Ebola cases and continuity of essential service interventions for the delivery of optimal care both at facility and community level.
Task DescriptionThe Volunteer will be perform the tasks below; โข Support coordination of UNICEF response to the EVD outbreak in Uganda โข Provide technical support to the Ministry of Health at national and subnational level for efficient โข Represent UNICEF at coordination meetings with feedback to UNICEF Chief of Child Survival and Development. โข Provide technical support to MOH in preparations and development of response plans and workplans and their implementation โข Facilitate and support supplies distribution, reporting and end-user monitoring โข Monitor and provide support to community related trainings, community dialogues with UNICEF funding. โข Undertake field visits to health facilities and communities for needs assessment as guided by UNICEF. โข Participate in UNICEF TeT task force meetings as when scheduled. โข Share weekly and monthly field reports detailing issues around supported pillars as assigned. โข Submit project activity summary report with key achievements, challenges, and recommendations to address future gaps โข Provide any other support as may be needed by UNICEF
Competencies and valuesโข Accountability โข Adaptability and flexibility โข Creativity โข Judgement and decision-making โข Planning and organizing โข Professionalism โข Self-management
Living conditions and remarksUganda is a peaceful country, although everyone is advised to be security conscious. The volunteers will be based in UNICEF field offices. The volunteers will arrange there own accommodation.