Programme: Health and Nutrition program for Ivorian refugees and host communities in Maryland County, Liberia
Responsible to: Emergency Program Manager
Location: Harper, Maryland County, Liberia.
Start Date: ASAP
Duration: 12 Months
Salary: £27,450 – £28,200 per annum (dependant on relevant experience), inclusive of annual Cost of Living Allowance
Benefits: Insurance cover, accommodation, annual leave entitlement of 24 days per annum rising to 30 days at the completion of 12 months of continuous employment with Merlin.
Only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Due to the urgency of this position, applications will be short listed on a regular basis and we may offer this post before the closing date.
Please note this is an unaccompanied position.
Merlin International Profile
Merlin specializes in health, saving lives in times of crisis and helping to rebuild shattered health services. Each year, Merlin helps more than 15 million people in up to 20 countries.
Context and Background
The political turmoil and violence in Ivory Coast due to the disputed results of presidential elections held in November 2010 led to approximately 120,000 Ivoirians fleeing the country for refuge in Liberia. Initially, influx of refugees was mainly to Nimba County in the North Central part of Liberia, but thereafter, there was influx of refugees through South Eastern borders into Grand Gedeh and Maryland Counties as well. Grand Gedeh County has received 65,000 individual refugees while Maryland County has received up to 11,000 individual refugees.
The fighting in Ivory Coast has now subsided, however, the refugees in Grand Gedeh and Maryland counties are not expected to return immediately to Ivory Coast as the expectation is that it will take some time to fully restore peace, law and order in their home towns in the remote western parts of Ivory Coast.
In an effort to provide routine basic health services and improve the physical, social and emotional wellbeing of children and young people in the face of the emergency, Merlin will support the Grand Gedeh County Health Team to strengthen the health system and provide life-saving emergency medical assistance and nutrition support to refugees and host communities in Grand Gedeh and Maryland Counties.
Merlin’s added value comes as a result of our extensive experience of working across West Africa implementing emergency relief, protection and development programmes across all thematic sectors. This includes a Country Office presence in Liberia with experience of DRR, health and nutrition, including mobile clinics, trauma and surgical care, therapeutic and supplementary feeding programmes and outbreak responses to communicable diseases. While Merlin is currently operational in the communities hosting refugees, it has experience in the health and nutrition sectors within Liberia and from other countries. Where appropriate, Merlin programs link emergency relief, recovery and long-term development, and include measures for disaster preparedness and risk reduction.
The goal of the program is to provide a rapid, high quality and effective comprehensive emergency medical response at transit centres, communities, primary and secondary health facilities to refugees and host communities.
Main purpose of the role
The Nutrition Coordinator is responsible for leading the nutrition interventions under the emergency response to Ivorian refugees program, providing technical support and capacity building of the team members for successful planning and implementation of programme activities.
The Nutrition Coordinator will work closely with the Health Coordinator, Emergency Health Coordinator, Country Health Director and Operations Manager for program development. Furthermore, he / she will provide input into proposal development and country level strategies as required.
Overall Objectives (scope)
This position demands both the technical knowledge and the work experience needed to coordinate a nutrition programme. The Nutrition Coordinator will be responsible for ensuring good management of the nutrition interventions and that they are executed in line with international humanitarian standards and donor guidelines with the assistance of the Country Health Director. This position demands an ability to manage, organize and support all aspects of the programme, including liaison with other agencies, training and supervising local staff using techniques and tools available and appropriate to Liberia. .
Responsibilities
Programme
• Ensure that the implementation of the Inpatient Therapeutic Program, Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP) and Supplementary Feeding Programme (SFP) activities conform to internationally accepted standards and country guidelines
• Provide support and supervision of nutrition activities to those staff implementing health and nutrition programmes in Maryland County
• Provide guidance to staff implementing health and nutrition programmes on the integration of a nutrition component into the overall primary health care programmes and curative services.
• In collaboration with partners (MoH, WFP and UNICEF) support field sites with the organization of the logistics of nutrition commodities
• Together with the Health Coordinator, Emergency Health Coordinator and Country Health Director ensure proper communication, coordination and harmonization of tools with the different stakeholders involved in food/nutrition activities
• Providing technical leadership and support for conducting nutrition surveys in Maryland County, prepare reports and generate discussion within the nutrition cluster for any issues which need to be addressed jointly
Training and capacity building
• To assess the training needs of health workers on nutrition and develop a training programme to meet these needs
• Ensure the establishment and strengthening of nutrition monitoring activities and train health staff (Merlin and partners) in case detection and referral mechanisms
• Conduct and train health staff on surveys, causal analysis and other assessments of nutritional status of target groups
Coordination
• To liaise, according to Merlin distribution of responsibilities, with the Ministry of Health and other agencies (UNICEF, WHO, and WFP) to ensure appropriate provision of service and use of resources
• To keep the Health Coordinator and Country Health Director appraised of all activities and any difficulties that may arise
• To report properly and in a timely manner in line with the requirements of donor partners, all relevant nutritional information required for the comprehensive development of the nutrition component of the response
Administration
• To assist in compiling Project Proposals with the Emergency Health Coordinator and Health Coordinator
• To assist in compiling the nutrition activities inputs to donor project reports, with assistance from the appropriate staff
• Maintain proper systems of filing and ensure that the field office has all relevant technical material on site
Security
• Full adherence to Merlin Liberia Security guidelines and procedures
• Full adherence to Merlin Liberia field communication protocols and standard operating procedures, informing fellow team members and the Program Coordinator immediately of any security incident
• To behave at all times in a manner which positively promotes Merlin and its work and actively maintaining Merlin’s acceptance strategy with both civilians and parties to the conflict
Person Specification
Essential
Qualifications, experience and competences
• B.Sc / M.Sc or equivalent in Nutrition or related degree.
• Work experience in Nutrition program and conducting nutrition surveys
• Programme development and management in a Humanitarian and/or emergency situation
• Experience in training others on nutrition interventions
• Demonstrated analytical and conceptual skills to plan projects, implement agreed activities and oversee staff activities
• Good team player, flexible and capable of working with a multinational country team
• Ability and willingness to travel to rural locations and live in sometimes basic conditions
• Appreciation of and sensitivity to local cultures and customs
• Ability to function and manage in situations of uncertain security
• Strong communication skills, with excellent written and spoken English
• Confident and proficient in the use of MS Office
• Experience of establishing strong working relationships with colleagues from different functions and cultures
• Experience of a flexible approach to managing and prioritising a high workload and multiple tasks in a fast paced environment with tight deadlines
• Experience of proactively identifying and addressing issues
• An understanding of and commitment to Merlin’s mission and values
Desirable
Qualifications, experience and competences
• Previous experience working for an international NGO in developing countries
• Previous experience of working in Africa
To apply for this position
To apply for this job, please go to www.merlin.org.uk/jobs and apply using our online recruitment system. In order to apply for a job with Merlin online you will need to complete a short registration process and create an account – the online recruitment system explains how to do this. Once your account has been created, you will be able to save the information that you have entered in your application and re-visit it at any time before you submit it.
If you are unable to apply online please download and complete an application form and email it to: applications@merlin.org.uk. Please note that we do not accept CVs and any application must therefore be made online or by completing our application form. Unfortunately due to the number of applications we receive, only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
Data Protection In accordance with the 1998 Data Protection Act Merlin will hold and use personal information that you have given for the purposes of recruitment and employment should an offer of employment be made. This information will be stored in manual and/or computer form. This information may also be disclosed to third parties in accordance with the Data Protection Act. In cases where a job offer is conditional on ensuring that potential employees’ names do not appear on counter terrorism lists generated by the United Nations, European Union or the United States due to donor funding requirements, Merlin will use the information that you have given for checking that your name does not appear on these lists.
