Senior Public Health Assistant - G5 - MTL148 - UNOPS - Mount Lebanon

Eight years into the Syria crisis, Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita, with nearly 950,000  Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR, about 20,000 refugees of other origins - mostly Iraqi - and Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate.  There are no formal camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and refugees are living in hundreds of communities and locations across the country.

The refugee response is led by the Government and UNHCR and UNDP, supported by the international community. As the designated lead agency in the refugee response, UNHCR has established a sector-based structure in Beirut and in the field. The structure brings together over 150 UN agencies, national and international NGO partners [over 150 actors, including UN agencies, national and international NGOs and Ministries] in identifying and agreeing on the strategic priorities to address the needs of Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese communities. The Lebanon Chapter of the Response Plan falls under the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), whereby UNHCR guides the refugee response and UNDP facilitates the resilience and stabilization component.

The UNHCR operational response in Lebanon is one of the largest for the organization. Media attention and the frequency of influential high-profile visitors is high. The Office has grown substantially in the past years and is currently operating with around 650 staff. Aside from the country office in the capital city of Beirut, UNHCR has field offices in Mount Lebanon, Qobayat, Tripoli, Tyre and Zahle.

The Senior Public Health Assistant will be under the direct supervision and guidance of the Assistant Public Health Officer. The incumbent of the position will support the implementation of UNHCR Lebanon Health Guidelines. He/she contributes to the public health strategy and may liaise externally with local authorities and partners on public health issues as guided by the supervisor.

Accountability

UNHCR’s health programmes meet minimum UNHCR and international standards.

Responsibility

• Support and assist the Assistant Public Health Officer with the implementation of the public health programme and ensure that health care services provided to refugees are based on Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), UNHCR and/or internationally recognized and most up to date standards and policies.
• Actively support and monitor the efficiency of referrals between relevant actors.
• Follow up with the Third Party Administrator (TPA) and other partners on the medical referrals for secondary health care.
• Facilitate the referral of cases unable to afford the 25% refugee contribution of the referral care bills to available actors.
• Follow up on the complaints received from persons of concerns, agencies, organizations in term of access of persons of concerns to Primary and Secondary Health Care and other reported issues and concerns;
• Support the Assistant PH Officer in the health programme monitoring and field visits to the clinics and contracted hospitals.
• Participate in mobilizing the refugee community to address its health needs and concerns.
• Support the Assistant PH Officer in following up on the health Outreach Volunteers in terms of meetings, trainings and participation in the awareness sessions in the field.
• Assist with updating and disseminating the information materials on public health based on standard practices and policies to partners and persons of concerns;
• Assist and facilitate the work of the health coordination group
• Work closely with the sectors including protection, Water Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH),
• Community Based Protection, Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV), Education, Field, programme, resettlement and others to support identification of priority health issues and to ensure proper referral of refugees to the needed health services.
• Work with the stake holders, including UN agencies, NGOs, MOPH, MOSA and other operational partners
• Perform other related duties as required.

Authority

• Liaise with partners and circulate latest guidelines and updates
• Follow-up on referrals and action taken by the various concerned parties;
• Organise field visits for coordination, meeting with health outreach volunteers, and follow on the actions and decisions taken.

The Senior Public Health Assistant plays a supporting role in programme implementation and monitoring including data analysis and evaluation, information and communication on public health and nutrition-related issues and advocacy.

The incumbent maintains frequent contacts with his/her supervisor, relevant colleagues within the same Office to exchange information and discuss issues of health cases. Communication at a working level with implementing and operating partners as well as the TPA and hospitals on different cases are required