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Qualifications
OBJECTIVE OF THE OFFICE/DEPARTMENT
This requisition is for employment at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO)
The Family, Health Promotion and Life Course (FPL) department of the Pan American Health Organization promotes, coordinates and implements technical cooperation at the regional, subregional and country levels, emphasizing the central role of the family and community to foster a culture of health promotion and protection in which health is a social value and a human right. FPL focuses on the development and implementation of programs for women and men’s health; sexual and reproductive health; maternal and neonatal health; the integrated health and development of children and adolescents; the health of aging populations; comprehensive family immunization; and Health Promotion, equity and cultural diversity approaches.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
Under the general supervision of the Director, Family, Health Promotion and Life Course (FPL), in coordination with FPL Unit Chiefs, and the Center Director, Latin American Center for Perinatology, Women’s Health, and Reproductive Health (CLAP/WR), and the direct supervision of the PAHO/WHO Representative, the incumbent is responsible for, but not necessarily limited to, the following assigned duties:
- Provide technical advice to national authorities on the development of strategic actions to improve the health of women, maternal, perinatal, neonatal, infant, child, adolescent, youth, men and the elderly and their access to health care taking into consideration the multi-ethnic diversity, inequities in health and level of development of the country; develop technical cooperation programs for the creation, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of interventions to foster a culture of health quality in the life course
- Provide technical advice to national authorities on the development of strategic actions to improve maternal and women’s health, their access to health care and quality of care focusing on reducing maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity; develop strategies and work with national authorities to specifically address issues related to preeclampsia, eclampsia and sepsis
- Provide technical cooperation to national authorities and local governments to strengthen multisectoral policies and laws on mental health in accordance with PAHO/WHO policies; collaborate and support the development of strategic actions to improve the mental health of vulnerable groups in the population, taking into consideration the multi-ethnic diversity, inequities in health and level of development of the country
- Provide technical cooperation to national authorities and local governments to develop policies and action plans to address malnutrition in all its forms, monitor their implementation and achieve the global nutrition goals for 2025 and the components nutritional values of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Provide technical cooperation to national authorities and local governments to strengthen multisectoral policies and laws to reduce the consumption of alcohol and tobacco products
- Provide technical advice, guidance and support to national authorities for the integration of equity, gender, ethnicity, and human rights approaches into operational planning, monitoring, and evaluation; support to the MoH for the implementation of mechanisms and methodologies to address interculturality, in accordance with the different contexts and realities
- Advise on the preparation and revision of national and local level plans of action; provide technical assistance to promote maternal health, reduction of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity; promote women's health strategies and activities within national programs and with gender sensitive and intercultural adaptation of the care services; advise Ministries of Health, public, and private sector organizations to introduce and strengthen women's health policies for preventive care to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- Advocate for and support national authorities in the design, implementation and evaluation of healthy public policies and initiatives, strengthening social participation and inter-sectoral action at national and local levels to ensure healthy and enabling settings; advise on the preparation and revision of national and local level plans of actions
- Promote actions to improve the lives of older people, their families, and the communities in which they live; support the activities related with the Decade of Healthy Aging for the Americas, by ensuring the development of successful proposals, actions, interventions, and partnerships with critical and leading partners and stakeholders. Provide technical assistance for building age-friendly environments in cities and communities
- Coordinate and support the implementation of activities promoted by the Latin American Center for Perinatology, Women's Health, and Reproductive Health (CLAP) to strengthen training in the areas of perinatology, reproductive health, maternal, neonatal, child health and nutrition
- Strengthen the measurement and evaluation of health determinants and the causes of health inequities. Promote and support research including the compilation of various questionnaires/surveys that will contribute to addressing prevailing diseases affecting mothers, newborns, children, adolescents, women, men, and elderly persons
- Support and develop health policies, action plans and projects aimed at increasing equitable access to health care in groups in a situation of vulnerability (Afro descendants, children, adolescents and women, older adults, LGTBI, informal workers); identify inequities in care and causes of exclusion in health care services in order to identify best options for the achievement of the objectives and goals of the family and community health area
- Provide support to raise awareness of the need for action to reduce violence against children, adolescents and women in the country; identify, synthesize and disseminate data and evidence on what works to reduce violence against children and women; provide technical guidance and support to the country to develop evidence-based prevention and response capacity; strengthen partnerships across health programs, sectors and stakeholders for coordinated and comprehensive violence prevention and response efforts, including addressing the intersections between violence against children and other forms of violence in the country
- Provide technical advice, facilitate, and coordinate policy development and comprehensive program implementation in the workers’ health area with governmental and intersectoral partners
- Perform other related duties, as assigned.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education:
Essential: A university degree in a health-related profession and a master’s degree in public health, family health or any other field related to the functions of the post from a recognized institution.
You will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s) required for this position. WHO, only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED): http://www.whed.net/. PAHO will also use the databases http://www.chea.org and https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator to support the validation process
Experience:
Essential: Nine years of combined national and international experience in managing inter-sectoral health or social projects and programs in the area of family health and quality of care, nutrition, mental health. Of these, at least five years should include development of policies, negotiation and coordination with all relevant sectors of government, scientific societies, universities, international agencies and organized community groups.
Desirable: Experience of work in different cultural contexts, especially related to indigenous and afrodescendants’ health, would be an asset
SKILLS:
PAHO Competencies: