Health and Gender Specialist NOC Vacancy-Job Ref: WJLSUNICEF/2307/2025822

Health and Gender Specialist NOC Vacancy-Job Ref: WJLSUNICEF/2307/2025822

Maseru (Lesotho)

Job Description

Overview

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. 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 personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child,Health

The Ministry of Health in Lesotho, in collaboration with Gavi and UNICEF, is committed to addressing zero dose immunization and in improving adolescent health outcomes through enhanced Primary Health Care, including through effective immunization programs. This position is designed to ensure that gender transformative considerations are fully integrated into health policies and programs targeting primary health care (PHC), including but not limited to adolescent health, and immunization, with a focus on reducing inequities and improving access and outcomes for all genders.

Lesotho, like many countries in the East and Southern African Region would benefit from gender-responsive and transformative immunization agenda. UNICEF, in alignment with the Ministry of Health’s national policies and guidelines proposes to use a socioecological approach to respond to populations left behind in the immunization agenda through the following three overarching strategic areas:

I. Leveraging existent programmes in HIV and Sexual Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (SRMNCAH+N) to scale up vaccine information and uptake through innovative and community-led approaches.

II. Strengthening health systems in delivering equitable immunization integrated in other primary health care services.

III. Generating and using evidence to learn, improve quality or scale up promising practices in gender-transformative programming.

The overall outcome for this role would be to assess, understand, address, and overcome gender barriers that affect health outcomes for children and adolescents using primary health care as platform.

How can you make a difference?

Purpose

UNICEF Lesotho Country Office is looking for a Health and Gender Specialist to support the implementation of gender-responsive programmes in the context of Primary Health Care using Immunization and Adolescent Health as an entry point. The incumbent will develop, implement, and monitor the programme, ensuring effective and timely delivery that is consistent with UNICEF rules and regulations.

The Health and Gender Specialist works in close collaboration with a range of staff in the country office (CO), external partners and in particular the Ministry of Health and GAVI as well as agency counterparts in support of programme design and delivery. S/He provides regular feedback on the status of projects through monitoring milestones and advises programme implementation.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

The position will be embedded Ministry of Health under the direct supervision of the HIV Specialist UNICEF and the Head of Family Health MOH.

1.Policy and Strategy Development

2.Coordination and Implementation

3.Capacity Building

4.Monitoring and Evaluation

5.Collaboration and Partnerships

6.Community Mobilization

7.Knowledge Management

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: [ Health and Gender Specialist, NOC,TA, Maseru,Lesotho.docx]

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

Advanced education: A master’s degree in social sciences, gender and development, public health, global/international health, policy and/or management, health sciences, or epidemiology

Specialized understanding of gender issues in health, including gender-based violence, maternal and child health, and reproductive health would be desirable.

Added advantage: A Basic degree in Medicine, Nursing or Public Health.

Experience:

At least five years of experience in planning, programming, implementation monitoring, and evaluation of technical cooperation programmes related to Health and Gender, preferably with the UN, development partners or non-governmental organizations.

Skills:

•Proven leadership skills and ability to manage complex stakeholder environments.

•Strong policy development, strategic planning, and capacity building capabilities.

•Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

•Strong analytical skills and attention to detail.

•Proven ability to address complex problems and manage conflicting priorities effectively.

•In-depth understanding of Lesotho’s Health sector

Language Requirements:

•Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or the local language is an asset.

Desirables:

Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency.

Please click on the button below to Apply.