National Consultant (Public and Environmental Health Officer) at World Health Organization (WHO)

Ref Id: 1804033 
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Grade: NO-B
Contractual Arrangement: Individual service contractor
Contract duration: 6 months

Purpose of the Position

• Environmental determinants pose a high risk to population’s health in Nigeria. The region suffers serious levels of contamination due to prolonged activities in relation to oil extraction and refining resulting in high level of air, land and water pollution.
• The ecological demand of approx. 170 million Nigerians renders the country highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Artisanal small scale gold mining (ASGM) is a leading cause for massive lead and mercury intoxications of vulnerable populations.
• There is the need to develop a comprehensive environmental health strategy. This strategy could provide a much needed framework for addressing a range of environmental health issues, for example related to air pollution, chemical safety and health care waste, climate change and health, water and sanitation, natural resources management (extractive industries) and occupational health.

Description of Duties

• Under the supervision of the WHO Representative, and in collaboration with relevant technical colleagues in the WCO and the Federal Ministry of Health, the incumbent will provide technical support for the development of the above described strategy. Within the context of the above, the specific tasks to be supported in this consultancy include:

Environment and health strategy:

• Conduct key informant interviews, focus group discussions, meetings, etc. to consult with relevant stakeholders and line ministries/agencies and as needed international partners to gather information relevant to the development of the strategy. This analysis should consider existing structures and institutional capacities that can support the eventual implementation of an EH strategy as well as gaps that need to be addressed;
• Conduct a document review to identify relevant activities and existing initiatives (supported by the government, development sector, and private sector) ongoing in the area of environmental health with a particular focus on the following key areas: air pollution, climate change, water and sanitation, waste management, chemical safety, and health impact assessment.
• Review existing regional and national strategies and policy documents with relevance to environmental health so as to ensure alignment and coherence of priorities and strategies as well as to ensure the strategy is learning from partner investments and evidence being generated.
• Following the stakeholder consultation activities and document review, draft a proposed strategy on environmental health for consideration by the Federal Ministry of Health and WCO and relevant partners.

Artisanal Small Scale Gold Mining:

• Provide liaison function between WCO and Federal Ministry of Health on the ASGM project ;
• Organize the logistics for the field survey and institutional assessment;
• Support the organization of a stakeholder workshop;
• Prepare final project document.

Air contamination:

• Identify with WHO Regional Office for Afro opportunities to provide capacity building on improving proper health data classification and collection and training on health impacts methods related to petrochemical and land contamination.
• Ensure participation of representative of Nigeria Federal Ministry of Health to the regional workshop on environmental determinants of health organized by the WHO Regional Office for Africa (fall 2018).
  

Required Qualifications
Education:

• Essential: University degree in Environmental Health or a related field such as Medicine, Public Health, Civil or Public Health Engineering, Health Promotion, Biological Sciences.
• Desirable:Master's degree in Environmental Health or Public Health.

Experience
Essential:

• Five years professional experience of environmental health programs.
• Demonstrated professional experience with the design and delivery of environmental health interventions across all domains of environmental health.
• Demonstrated experience with the development of environmental health strategies or programmes, ideally also in low and middle income country contexts.
• Proven ability to effectively identify and convene stakeholders and facilitate government and partner meetings.
• Desirable: Experience working with the government on environmental health programmes.

Use of language skills:

• Essential: Fluency in verbal and written English

Skills:

• Specific skills required: Excellent analytical skills and excellent interpersonal skills.