International Medical Corps is a global, humanitarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives and relieving suffering through health care training and relief and development programs. Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps is a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonsectarian organization. Its mission is to improve the quality of life through health interventions and related activities that build local capacity in underserved communities worldwide. By offering training and health care to local populations and medical assistance to people at highest risk, and with the flexibility for rapid response to emergencies. International Medical Corps rehabilitates devastated health care systems and helps bring them back to self-reliance.
PROGRAM BACKGROUND:
This is the largest Ebola outbreak in history and the first in West Africa. As the outbreak in West Africa is worsening, WHO, CDC, INGOs and other local and international organizations are working to ramp up the response. International Medical Corps have established Ebola Treatment Units (ETU) in Liberia and Sierra Leone and in the process of starting ETUs in Guinea and support the response in Mali.
The impact of the Ebola epidemic on the social, economic and structural fabric in Guinea and Mali is already palpable. Ebola-related fears have slowed the internal movement of agricultural commodities between the forest zone, a surplus rice producing area, and the rest of Guinea. With regards to trade with neighboring countries, flows have been reduced due to the official closure of many cross-border points, trader fears, and increased control measures along borders that are currently open (Guinea-Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, and Sierra Leone). The impact on the nutritional situation is not very clear yet but there are fears of an increase in rates of malnutrition due to food price increases and commercial restrictions.
International Medical Corps propose to have a Nutrition coordinator on the ground in Guinea and Mali who can assist Ebola Treatment Units in meeting the nutritional needs of Ebola patients; assess NFS needs and gaps in response to nutrition needs; formulate appropriate immediate and long term solutions; develop technically sound and need- based programs; and represent IInternational Medical Corps at the relevant Nutrition and Food Security meetings with governments, UN agencies and NGO meetings.
JOB SUMMARY:
- Nutrition Support to Ebola Treatment Units
• Assess ETU patient’s nutritional status (use of available data and medical records) and recommend appropriate nutritional interventions for patients
• Work with ETU staff (medical, logistics, food service) and the patients families to ensure that patients receive adequate quantity and quality of food to support their recovery
• Upon discharge, assess nutritional status of Ebola recovered patients (anthropometry) refer acutely malnourished children and pregnant and lactating women to nutrition treatment programs.
• Upon discharge, provide recovered patients with nutrition support and products according to developed and agreed upon country and international guidelines.
• Liaise with UN agencies and NGOs to ensure that discharged patients are included in food distribution, food security, and/or livelihoods programs
• As needed, teach the nutrition components of the International Medical Corps Ebola training program
- Support Emergency and Post Ebola Long-Term Programing in Nutrition
• Conduct initial nutrition sector-specific assessments to assess the immediate lifesaving interventions needed (such as IYCF-E, CMAM, etc) in addition to the prevention activities (ENA, micronutrient deficiencies, SBCC, etc) and make technical recommendations for appropriate activities, both for initial disaster response phase and the longer-term recovery phase.
• At the field level, assess the nutrition situation as it relates to food security, WASH, and Health. Be able to assess health sector’s ability to respond to the nutritional needs of acutely malnourished children and other vulnerable populations (older populations, People recovering from Ebola, women or child headed households) and make recommendations to the International Medical Corps country ERT on how to best respond to these needs programmatically.
• Develop short, medium and long term nutrition program strategy for the Ebola disaster response
• Lead the development of, or provide technical review for, emergency response proposals to be submitted by International Medical Corps to ensure that proposed activities and programs align with best practice in the Nutrition sector.
- Representation and Coordination
• Actively represent International Medical Corps in nutrition sector technical discussions, and coordination meetings including cluster coordination, and contribute to nutrition guideline development;
• Serve as an International Medical Corps nutrition sector resource person, and display technical and organizational leadership in sectoral activity commensurate with the role as a primary resource person for nutrition in International Medical Corps program
• Coordinate International Medical Corps’ nutrition response and recovery activities across a wide range of actors within International Medical Corps, donors, host governments, UN and NGO partners to ensure consistency of programming.
Qualifications:
QUALIFICATIONS:
• BS with 6-8 years of international field experience or Master’s degree with 4-6 years of field experience in nutrition, public health nutrition or related field, including international experience in emergency response and recovery following disasters
• Previous experience in West Africa a plus
EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIREMENT
• Current knowledge of regional nutrition, health, and food security issues
• Experience in multisectoral assessment and program design, implementation and monitoring
• Skills in technical proposal writing, designing and implementing food security and livelihood programs.
• Must have excellent French and English written and oral communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with other departments within International Medical Corps, donors, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector.
• Ability to exhibit tact, diplomacy, and resourcefulness in dealing with high level officials from donor agencies, international organizations, and other foreign and domestic government officials and partners.
• Ability to strictly follow rules and regulations especially for security and infection control
• Flexibility, initiative, discretion, ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• French Knowledge is required.
HOW TO APPLY:
How to apply:
To officially begin the application process, qualified candidates please go to our career pagehttp://careers.internationalmedicalcorps.org/careers.aspx , noting where you noticed the position you are applying for and complete the online employment application form.
