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In the West and Central Africa Region (WCAR), more than ever, UNICEF is faced with a broad range of emergency crises differing in scale, complexity and international consequences.
Visit our website to learn more about UNICEF WCAR.
For every child, safety!
The Cholera, Ebola, Marburg, Monkeypox, and Hepatitis E are 5 public health issues that regularly affect West and Central Africa Region (WCAR) with an endemic trend in some areas. The West and Central African Region (WCAR) is one of the most cholera affected worldwide. In fact, between 2000 and 2015, 83% of reported deaths from cholera was in sub-Sahara areas (Lessler et al., 2018). During 2018, 112,730 cases including 2,345 deaths (CFR =2.1%) have been reported in 15 countries in African region, of which 71% of cases and 80% of deaths were from five countries of WCAR: Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and Ghana (4th meeting of GTFCC, 2021).
In 2021, the West and Central Africa region (WCAR) experienced its largest cholera epidemic in the last 6 years, with a total of 131,019 suspected cases and 4,006 reported deaths (case-fatality rate 3.1%) in 10 countries. In 2023, WCAR reported 63,496 cholera cases and 803 deaths (CFR 1,3%) in 8 countries. As of 31 Jully 2024, a cumulative total of 26 412 cholera suspected cases, including 387 deaths (CFR: 1.5%), have been reported in 6 countries in WCA region (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, Liberia and Togo).
WCAR is also at risk of Ebola, Marburg, and Hepatitis E outbreaks. From 1976 to 2022 the Democratic Republic of the Congo registered 11 Ebola outbreaks with more than 4,389 cases and 2,979 deaths (CFR 68%). From 2014 to 2016 the first Ebola outbreak in West Africa (Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone) ended with more than 28,600 cases and 11,325 deaths (CFR 40%). In 2021, Guinea also registered its 2nd outbreak of the Ebola virus disease with 23 cases, 12 deaths (CFR: 52%). In 2023, Equatorial Guinea also registered its 1rst outbreak of the Marburg virus disease with 17 confirmed cases, 12 deaths (CFR: 71%). Other Marburg virus diseases were reported in Ghana in 2022 with 3 cases and 2 deaths and Guinea in 2021 with 1 case and 1 death. Hepatitis E epidemics are also increasingly common in the WCAR affecting particularly pregnant women. The most affected countries are Burkina (2019-2021), with 1320 cases and 25 deaths reported in 13 health regions; Niger (2017-2018) with 2,431 cases and 39 deaths reported in Diffa IDP sites and Chad (2016-2017-2024) reported 1,910 cases with 23 deaths.
Furthermore, WCAR is facing several humanitarian crises in the central Sahel (Burkina, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger), Eastern Chad, Northeastern Nigeria, Southwestern Cameroon, Central African Republic and Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with millions of displaced people or refugees in camps and host communities, resulting in major needs in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector.
Faced with these multiple public health and emergency challenges, the regional office of UNICEF in WCAR is looking to create a pool of experienced WASH-IPC experts for surge and emergency deployments, to increase the preparedness, prevention and response capacities of its country offices and governments.
Suitable candidates will be included in UNICEF WCAR Roster, which is a list of pre-vetted profiles, highly qualified professionals intended for fast-track recruitment as positions become available. After a rigorous selection process, including assessment center, successful candidates will be placed in relevant roster and may be contacted by hiring offices for job opportunities across the region.
How can you make a difference?
Under the supervision of the Emergency Coordinator, the overall guidance of the Head of UNICEF Country office, the incumbent has the front-line responsibility for the coordination of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), as well as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) preparedness and response in communities and institutions. This involves ongoing contacts with a broad range of UNICEF staff and responders as well as a broad range of official from the national authorities, to provide expertise and authoritative advice on priority actions to be taken. The incumbent contributes to designing and implementing WASH-IPC plans of action pertaining to the incident management, including identifying needs, resources, and gaps, negotiating access to common logistics facilities at country level. He/she will work closely with counterparts (health, SBC, emergency, supply) at the national and regional offices level, and other partners (WHO, OCHA, UNHCR, ONGs, etc…).
The mission of UNICEF’s WASH-IPC Specialist is to help countries to coordinate WASH-IPC pilar activities, to prevent, prepare for, rapidly respond to, and recover from public health and emergencies (Ebola, Cholera, Hepatitis E, Monkeypox, Marburg, floods, etc…).
Key functions/accountabilities:
Functional Knowledge and Skills
The technical competencies required for this post suit for WASH programming with a good experience in epidemiology especially IPC. This includes:
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
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
The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.
Application Process
Application should be submitted through the Talent Management System (TMS)
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates are encouraged to apply.
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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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.
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 may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID).
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.
UNICEF personnel on Fixed-Term, Temporary appointments, Continuing or Permanent Contracts who are interested to be part of the WCAR roster should apply throught Frontlines.