Maternal & Child Health Specialist, NOC- FT, Abidjan-Cote d'Ivoire (open to nationals only)

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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For every child, the right to life!

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens addressing inequity not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

The Maternal and Child Health Specialist is to be used in a Country Office (CO) where the Health Programme is a component of the Country Programme.  The efficiency and efficacy of support provided by the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Specialist to programme preparation, planning and implementation facilitates the delivery of concrete and sustainable results that directly impact the improvement of the health of the most marginalized and vulnerable women and children in the country. This in turn contributes to maintaining and enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to continue to provide programme services to protect the rights of children, and to promote greater social equality to enable them to survive, develop and reach their full potential in society

How can you make a difference? 

The Health Specialist reports to the Chief Health and HIV (P4) for guidance and general supervision. The Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Specialist supports the development and preparation of the health programme and is responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating, and reporting the programme progress of a sector of the health programme (maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent) including the prevention, treatment and control of neglected tropical diseases and non-communicable diseases among children within the country programme. The Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Specialist provide technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of concrete and sustainable results according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), organizational Strategic Plans and goals, standards of performance, and accountability framework.

The deliverables will be as follows:

Support to programme development and planning

• Support and contribute to the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis for the sector(s) to establish a strategic plan for development, design and management of health-related programmes. Keep abreast of development trends to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery.
• Participate in strategic programme discussions on the planning of health programmes. Formulate, design and prepare a sector of the health programme proposal, ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, the Country Programme, as well as coherence/integration with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework) (UNSDCF), regional strategies, and national priorities, plans and competencies.
• Establish specific programme goals, objectives, strategies, and implementation plans based on results-based planning terminol