Subscribe to Job Alert
Join our happy subscribers
Never pay for any CBT, test or assessment as part of any recruitment process. When in doubt, contact us
World Food Programme (WFP) is the leading humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. As the international community has committed to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition by 2030, one in nine people worldwide...
Read more about this company
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:
General background
Climate-induced hazards such as floods, storms, droughts, and earthquakes are seemingly gender-neutral; however, the gendered impact of such hazards is more far-reaching. Natural disasters affect men, women, boys, and girls differently, even when they belong to the same household. This means that men, women, boys, and girls experience differential impacts of disasters and consequently have different needs. This situation has posed challenges to disaster management practitioners since information on the affected populations is often limited to consolidated numbers which seldom exceed the number of households. A better understanding of the drivers behind the differentiated impact of disasters between men, women, boys, and girls will help inform policy development and improvement and tailor interventions for strengthening resilience.
Climate change, economic uncertainties, new epidemics, and food shortages are coming together in a way that evokes considerable concern. In addition, there are gender-based vulnerabilities to disasters which do not emanate from a single factor but reflect historical and culturally specific patterns of social institutions, culture, and personal lives. Gender equality is pivotal in building resilience and adaptation pathways in disaster risk management.
Trends across the Global South show that disaster management and response, including management of disease outbreaks, is traditionally viewed as ‘men’s business’ – planned by men for men (World Bank 2011). As a result, women’s needs are often not understood or addressed. Africa’s inability to adequately respond to disease outbreaks is compounded by the continent’s existing gender inequalities, usually defined by roles and responsibilities assigned to men and women. These manifest as: discriminatory traditional and social norms, and power relations; disproportionate access to and control over resources, services, and technology; limited women’s decision-making and leadership; and unequal literacy and education levels. These inequalities amplify the impact of disease outbreaks on girls and women, and deepen existing vulnerabilities, affecting the provision of other healthcare services such as immunising children and women.
According to the WHO, Africa faces on average about one hundred infectious disease outbreaks and other emergencies every year. Still, the continent’s ability to rapidly respond to these outbreaks and epidemics is a significant challenge for many African countries. The problem is that while investments have been made in national preparedness, the set-up of Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) and response planning, there is often no dedicated funding for countries for early response to outbreaks when they occur. As evident in the ECOWAS region, emerging infectious diseases increasingly threaten health, security, and development. Slow, unpredictable funding amplifies both the risk and impact of outbreaks. Moreover, countries with early warning and response systems for reporting and responding to outbreaks and epidemics rarely adequately consider gender differences in their interventions. Gender disparities, including access to resources and decision-making power, continue exacerbating the disease burden on women.
Ghana context
Situated on the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana is a resource-rich country with a diverse population of nearly 31 million people. However, Ghana is not immune to natural disasters such as erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, drought, floods, rising sea levels, and tidal waves. These have proven to present significant threats to agriculture and energy (hydropower) and contribute to climate-induced migration. Economically, Ghana’s Agriculture accounts for approximately 20% of GDP and employs more than half of the workforce as mainly small landholders. Gold, oil, and cocoa exports, as well as individual remittances, are significant sources of foreign exchange. According to the 2021 UNDP Human Development Index, Ghana ranks 133 out of 191 countries.
The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) which falls under the Ministry of the Interior, is mandated to manage disasters and similar emergencies in the country. Established in 1996, NADMO coordinates all relevant civil authorities at the national, regional and district levels. In addition, NADMO is responsible for preparedness, response, and prevention activities, as well as the training of communities and volunteers to initiate action to prevent and respond to disasters.
Ghana is also no stranger to epidemic-prone disease outbreaks, the most recent being Yellow Fever and Marburg Virus Disease. As a result, Ghana has three Public Health Emergency Operation Centres (PHEOC) located in the Ashanti, Northern and Western Regions. The PHEOCs, established in 2022 are mandated to serve as central command centres and bring together important stakeholders and experts for coordinated responses to public health events and threats under the coordination of the Ghana Health Services (GHS) and the leadership of the MOH.
The Role of the African Risk Capacity
The African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group is comprised of ARC Agency, a Specialized Agency of the African Union founded in 2012; and the African Risk Capacity Limited (ARC Ltd), a hybrid mutual insurer and the commercial affiliate of the Group founded in 2014.
ARC Agency was established to support African governments in improving their capacities to better plan, prepare, and respond to natural disasters triggered by extreme weather events, outbreaks and epidemics. On the other hand, ARC Ltd offers complementary risk pooling and risk transfer services. Together, the two provide Member States with capacity building and contingency planning services, access to state-of-the-art early warning systems, and risk pooling and transfer facilities towards building resilience against natural disasters such as droughts and tropical cyclones. In the process, the Group strives to apply gender equality principles and achieve inclusivity in the programme to ensure that no one is left behind.
In December 2022, the ARC Group launched its outbreaks and epidemics risk insurance product. This innovative risk financing instrument, requested in 2015 by African Ministers of Finance in the wake of the West African Ebola Outbreaks in 2013-2016, aims at equipping countries with rapid and predictable funding to contain high-impact infectious diseases outbreaks such as Ebola, Marburg, and meningitis, and complement the efforts of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to safeguard the health security across Africa.
ARC, through established partnerships with ECOWAS, the West African Health Organization (WAHO), and Institut Pasteur de Dakar, is supporting a capacity-building work to implement disaster risk management and financing practices, and build the capacities for surveillance, disease prevention, response and resilience to epidemics and other health emergencies in ECOWAS member states.
ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSIBILITIES:
Under the direction of the ARC O&E and Gender Units and the support of the Country Engagement Managers, we are seeking to recruit one Gender, Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management Specialist for Ghana to:
CONSULTANCY DETAILS
In line with the objectives above, the critical elements of the assignment are:
TASKS, DURATION OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES:
TASKS |
44 LOE (Nr. Days) |
DELIVERABLES |
Inception Report |
2 |
Inception report submitted |
Conduct gender analysis in DRM and O&E |
17 |
- Gender analysis report and plan of action for O&E - Gender analysis report and plan of action for Gender & DRM/F |
Validation workshop
|
2 |
Report of validation workshop |
Development of Training manual on gender and DRM and O&E |
10 |
Training manual approved |
Develop policy briefs |
3 |
- Policy brief on Gender & O&E - Policy brief on Gender and DRM/F |
Conduct policy dialogue/donors’ roundtable |
2 |
- Gender Transformative Fund mechanism established - Report of Policy dialogue |
Conduct training for TWG and partners and facilitate the establishment of ToT networks |
4 |
- Report of training workshop - ToT network on Gender and O&E - ToT network on Gender and DRM |
Training on gender and O&E for public workers |
4 |
Report of training workshop |
DUTY STATION, TRAVEL, AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT:
Education:
You have
Advanced university degree (Master's degree equivalent, BAC+4/5) recognized by https://www.whed.net/home.php in one or more of the following disciplines: public health, gender, DRM, climate change, environment, sustainable development, etc. Or First University degree (Bachelor's degree equivalent, Licence/BAC +3) recognized by https://www.whed.net/home.php with additional years of related work experience or trainings/courses.
Should you not find your university degree in this link kindly note that it will be your responsibility to obtain a formal letter from your Ministry of Education stating their recognition of the university and degree
Experience:
You have:
At least ten (10) years of progressively advanced and relevant professional experience at the international and national levels (additional years’ experience for a bachelor’s degree) in public health, mainstreaming gender in development projects and policies, especially in the development of manual(s) and training materials for gender mainstreaming on at least one other related theme, including DRM, public health and sustainable development.
Languages:
You have developed the following Experiences, Knowledge & Skills:
Deadline for application: 14th April 2023
WFP Value Proposition
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU APPLY
Build your CV for free. Download in different templates.
Join our happy subscribers