Job # 121393
Job Title Public Health Spec.
Job Family Health, Nutrition & Population
Location Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Appointment Local Hire
Job Posted 04-Jun-2012
Closing Date 18-Jun-2012
Language Requirements Amharic [Essential]; English [Essential]
Appointment Type
Background / General description
The Africa Region, Technical Health Unit (AFTHE) is currently seeking hire a Public Health Specialist to support the design and implementation of new health operation using the Program for Results Instruments in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is among the few countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with a real chance of attaining the Health MDGs. The joint United Nations MDG progress assessment suggests that Ethiopia is on track to reach MDGs for child health, HIV/AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), and malaria. The 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) shows a rapid decrease in infant and under-five mortality by 23 and 28 percentage points respectively from 2005 to 2011. Also, Ethiopia reports impressive reductions in stunting among children and anemia among women. The contraceptive use nearly doubled contributing to reduction in total fertility rates. Despite these positive achievements, huge challenges still remain. One out of every 11 children born dies before the 5th birthday and the maternal mortality has not changed significantly during the past five years. Nearly a third of deaths among women aged 15-40 years are due to maternal causes . While there has been notable progress in coverage of evidence based interventions for child health and use of contraceptives, coverage for maternal health services such as antenatal care and skilled care during child birth remains low compared to the regional averages. The program now needs to address key health systems challenges building on successful engagement of communities through the Health Extension Workers which helped to improve household behaviors and deliver routinely scheduled services such as immunization, TB treatment and contraceptive distribution. Now a functional health system that provides round the clock care is needed which requires focus on availability of competent and well motivated staff, assured availability of quality essential medicines and commodities at the service delivery points and effective referral. There is also need to enhance accountability of the health system by shifting emphasis from inputs to results. Like most developing countries, Ethiopia also faces constraints in institutionalizing monitoring and evaluation systems that provide reliable and timely information on program results to strengthen evidence based planning especially at the facility and district levels. The successive Health Sector Development Programs (HSDPs) which started in 1996 provided the overarching strategic framework and direction for the sector and contributed to the health gains made by Ethiopia during the past decade. Currently Ethiopia is implementing its fourth HSDP (HSDP IV) covering the period 2011-2015. The HSDP IV reflects the Ethiopian government’s vision to achieve the health sector goals set under the GTP which are closely aligned with MDGs. Bank’s engagement in the Health Sector: The Bank has been working closely with the health sector during the past few decades through several operations directly supporting the sector as well as through sector wide initiatives for improving basic service delivery such as the nation-wide program for Protection of Basic Services (PBS). The Bank is currently in the process of designing a new operation using the recently approved Program for Results (P for R) Instrument. The P for R instrument makes a good choice for supporting programs such as HSDP that are demonstrating good results. Ethiopia is highly committed to achieve the MDGs and has been requesting the Bank to come up with a lending instrument that is more responsive to their current needs. Supporting the HSDP IV program with flexible financing focused on results that have strong evidence base through the P for R instrument helps to reduce transaction costs and effectively leverage efforts of the Government and other partners supporting the sector to contribute for the attainment of MDGs. The Public Health Specialist will play a key role (i) in the supporting the task team preparing the new P for Operation in finalizing the design, and (ii) in the implementation of the program after its approval. S/He will work in close co-ordination with the government counterparts and development partners involved in the HSDP IV and will report primarily to the project TTL and also to the country based senior health specialist and HD Sector Leader at the World Bank.
Duties and Accountabilities
The successful candidate will: • Assist the World Bank task team designing the new Program for Results operation including the arrangements for assessing the results and development of protocols for the Health Results Innovation Trust Fund. • Assist the World Bank task team in the implementation of the Program for Results Operation following the agreed protocols • Support the World Bank task team in design and scale-up of pilots proposed under the Health Results Innovation Trust Fund. • Support the World Bank task team in ensuring effective coordination and engagement with Government counterparts, development partners and other key stakeholders • Support the World Bank task team in ensuring that the results for disbursement linked indicators are obtained in a timely manner. • Ensure that any approved changes and updates in the design and implementation of the program are recorded and followed up. • Co-ordinate regular communication between the Ministry of Health, the World Bank task team and other key stakeholders. • Ensure regular consultation with the Policy, Plan and Finance General Directorate of Ministry of Health and other stakeholders as relevant on the progress in the development of project activities and respond on a timely manner to requests from client and other donors • Provide regular progress updates to the World Bank TTL, highlighting any emerging issues. • Provide supervision support to the implementation of the project through: o Planning the supervision mission o Organizing overall supervision mission carried out by the TTL as planned o Providing inputs to reports related to the project (ISR, Aide-memoires, etc…) • Ensure policy dialogue with the Ministry of Health, Regions and other stakeholders • Keep the Bank informed and updated on policy dialogue, issues and perspectives in the health sector. • Represent the TTL at donor coordination and consultation meetings and other activities relevant for the project • In addition, the public health specialist will carry out any task related to World Bank business as requested by the World Bank TTL
Selection Criteria
• Master degree with at least 5years of field experience or an advanced degree (such as Ph.D) public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, social science, or other field relevant to this assignment. • Familiarity with Ethiopian context and its health system in particular • Fluency in written and spoken Amharic and English. Communication in other regional languages would be an advantage. • Strong communication skills and demonstrated leadership potential.
How to Apply;
http://extjobs.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64273552&piPK=64273556&theSitePK=1058433&JobNo=121393&order=descending&sortBy=job-req-num&location=ALL&menuPK=64262364
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