Health Officer at UNICEF

UNICEF contributes to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria with a mandate 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.

Experience5 years
Location Abuja

Under the general guidance of the Health Manager -Immunization and oversight from the Health manager for polio and Chief of Health and HIV and in close collaboration with the Chief of SBC section, chief Gender & Development Manager, the incumbent will be part of the Routine Immunization Working Group (RIWG) for HPV at national/state levels to support the effective and efficient routinization intensification of the vaccine, technical support is required to facilitate strategic planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the process. Meaningful youth engagement of young people, the incumbent shall support the development of communication messages, taking into consideration their ideas and aspirations, identify key/relevant influencers and gatekeepers, CSO partnership, school & community platforms, modalities of service delivery, and what and how to integrate additional youth-friendly services.

The adolescent health and social mobilization technical support shall link the wider state immunization/health education/polio team with the adolescent and youth-friendly voices (youth groups), gatekeepers (parents, religious and community leaders, government and policymakers, etc), and platforms (schools, health facilities, youth-friendly centers), as well as the polio eradication platforms.

Key function, accountabilities, and related duties/tasks

1. Support strategic micro planning meetings, and co-creation sessions with adolescents and young people for detailed state and LGA level roll-out plans.
2. Support the States to integrate adolescent girl-centered approaches for the planning of demand-generation activities for the routinization of HPV to the selected states through UNICEF Field Offices
3. Support the state communication and social mobilization teams to produce and implement an evidence-based, integrated Adolescent, demand generation and mobilization plan for the NVI, assist the state Health team for polio social mobilization innovation.
4. Support the state ACSM (Advocacy, Communication, and Social Mobilization) working group for the HPV routinization and polio campaign to support the development of adolescent-friendly social media messages as well as polio social mobilization messages.
5. Support identification, coordination, and engagement of state-level and LGA-level stakeholders and CSO partners (education, women affairs, NGOs, CBOs, faith-based, youth, etc.) for community engagement, mobilization, mapping of adolescent-friendly platforms, networks, and enumeration of eligible girls in and out of school.
6. Support the LGA team to Identify facilities and map catchment areas for facility-led community outreaches (hub and spoke model)
7. Work with and mobilize Adolescent and Young People (AYP) platforms at national and state levels to ensure meaningful engagement of AYP in the design and development of innovative IEC materials, roll-out, monitoring, and documentation of the HPV campaigns

The incumbent will:

1. Submit a work plan at the beginning of each month to the supervisor including the plans for activities and travel if there are any.
2. Compile a state micro plan for adolescent mobilization and the advocacy communication and social mobilization plan for the HPV routinization intensification and polio OBR campaigns.
3. Map the state-level and LGA-level stakeholders (education, women affairs, NGOs, faith-based, youth, etc) for community engagement, mobilization, mapping of adolescent-friendly platforms, networks, and enumeration of eligible girls in and out of school.
4. Provide technical oversight and coordinate the CSO partners for HPV community engagement and demand promotion.
5. Develop innovative IEC materials for the mobilization of Adolescent and Young People (AYP) platforms and community engagement.

Minimum requirements:

1. Advanced university degree in Social and Behavioral Change Communication, Public Health, or other social/behavioral sciences or community health area (Health promotion, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Health Education, bio-medical sciences, public health) or related area, with emphasis on participatory communication, communication planning, social mobilization, and participatory research.
2. A minimum of five years of progressively responsible work experience in public/adolescent health or community health and Social and Behavioral Change Communication, the planning and management of social communication programs, including immunization. A background in public health and strong management skills would be highly considered.
3. Knowledge of current developments in the fields of adolescent health & immunization communication theory, motivational psychology, adult learning theory, indigenous media, digital communication, community organization and participation, strategic communication planning, behavior analysis, formative research, and evaluation of communication interventions.
4. Knowledge of interdisciplinary approach in programme development and implementation in behavior and social change communication, social mobilization, and behavioral change.
5. Knowledge and experience to organize and implement training, including the development of curricula and methodologies.
6. Computer knowledge, skills, and practical experience, including internet navigation, network, telecommunications and various office applications

Method of Application

Interested and qualified? Go to UNICEF on jobs.unicef.org to apply