ET Consultant-Health Nutrition Population Vacancy-Job Ref: JKZAWB/0505/202650

ET Consultant-Health Nutrition Population Vacancy-Job Ref: JKZAWB/0505/202650

Pretoria (South Africa)

Job Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges.

EASTERN & SOUTHERN AFRICA REGION CONTEXT

Home to about 700 million of Africa’s people, Eastern and Southern Africa is a geographically, culturally and economically diverse region of 26 countries stretching from the Red Sea in the North to the Cape of Good Hope in the South. Children under 18 make up almost half of the total population. The sub-region boasts of some of the world’s richest human and natural resources and, apart from South Africa, the countries are predominantly raw material exporters.

The sub-region harbors some of Africa’s protracted conflicts, rendering many of its countries fragile, while significant gaps in education, health, and skills development continues to keep people from reaching their full potential. This creates a huge development challenge, impacts heavily on the lives and livelihoods of people, and hinders regional integration and trade. But it also creates an opportunity to work closely with country leaders, civil society, development partners, and young people to chart a brighter course for the future.

The World Bank’s Eastern and Southern Africa Region, comprised of approximately 1,207 staff mostly based in 26 country offices, has been helping countries realize their considerable development potential by focusing on the following priorities:

• Creating Jobs and Transforming Economies: We are working with countries across Africa to stimulate job creation and economic transformation by leveraging all sources of finance, expertise, and solutions to promote investment.

• Building up the Digital Economy: We are supporting Africa’s vision to ensure that every African individual, business, and government is connected by 2030 – a vision that, if realized, can boost growth by up to 2 percentage points per year, and reduce poverty by 1 percentage point per year in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.

• Institutions more Efficient and Accountable: Our support is helping governments strengthen public policy processes, manage resources effectively, and reinforce fair and reliable delivery of public services.

• Investing in People: We are at the forefront of helping African countries accelerate human capital gains and empower women by improving their access to education and skills acquisition, sexual and reproductive health services, and employment opportunities. With the influx COVID-19, we are mobilizing financial support and timely analysis and advice to countries across the sub-region deal with the pandemic.

• Supporting Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption: In the face of increasing climate-related risks, we are working with African countries to advance efforts to adopt renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, and green infrastructure. A number of East African countries are currently facing a debilitating Desert Locust infestation, threatening the already precarious food security situation. The Bank has put together a program to help affected countries deal with the scourge.

• Addressing the Drivers of Fragility, Conflict, and Violence: Given the cross-border nature of conflicts in Africa, we are employing an approach that simultaneously focuses on the drivers of fragility while also supporting well-targeted regional initiatives to create opportunities for peace and shared prosperity.

• Building Partnerships and Working across the African Continent: We are scaling up our work on regional integration, taking a holistic view of the continent that covers both North and Sub-Saharan Africa.

HEALTH, NUTRITION AND POPULATION GLOBAL PRACTICE CONTEXT:

The central contribution of the HNP Global Practice to the World Bank’s twin goals is to enable the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), in which all people are effectively covered by essential health services, and nobody suffers undue financial hardship because of illnesses. The HNP Global Practice includes staff members in Washington, DC and many country offices. The HNP Global Practice works with and across multiple sectors, in recognition of the fact that HNP outcomes often depend on actions that lie outside the HNP sector. The HNP Global Practice supports country and regional efforts to:

(i) improve health outcomes, especially for the poor and most vulnerable;

(ii) expand access to high-quality HNP services, interventions and technologies that give the most value for money;

(iii) strengthen health systems for results;

(iv) establish and improve health financing mechanisms that promote efficiency, equity and sustainability of investments;

(v) strengthen heath-relevant institutions within and outside the health sector;

(vi) harness multisector policies and investments for better health outcomes; and

(vii) develop and learn from rigorous impact evaluations.

AFRICA REGION CONTEXT:

Africa has registered strong economic growth in recent years that has helped to reduce poverty levels in the continent. Yet, as Africa’s population expands, the region faces a critical challenge of creating the foundations for long-term inclusive growth. Many countries still contend with high levels of child and maternal mortality, malnutrition is far too common, and most health systems are not able to deal effectively with epidemics and the growing burden of chronic diseases. These challenges call for renewed commitments and accelerated progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC)—the principle that everyone receives needed health services without financial hardship.

Most African countries have integrated UHC as a goal in their national health strategies. Yet, progress in translating commitments to UHC into expanded domestic resources for health, effective development assistance, and ultimately, equitable and quality health services, and increased financial protection has been slow.

To accelerate progress toward UHC in Africa, the countries will require political leadership and a clear strategic vision to achieve their UHC targets and to be able to eliminate preventable maternal and child deaths, strengthen resilience to public health emergencies, reduce financial hardship linked to illness, and strengthen the foundations for long-term economic growth.

HAEH2 Unit

The HNP team in Africa is divided into four units, each covering threes CMUs. HAEH2 covers the DRC, Kenya, and South Africa CMUs, which collectively comprise of thirteen countries, and is responsible for a large program of operational and analytic work. The unit is looking for a Health Economist/Health Specialist to be based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Duties and Accountabilities:

The WBG is seeking a Health Economist/Health Specialist (on a locally recruited Extended Term Consultant (ETC) appointment for one year, subject to renewal for an additional one year. The Health Economist/Health Specialist will make intellectually sound and operationally relevant contributions to the WBG work support on health in Kenya. S/he will have the following main responsibilities:

• Support Bank operations and under preparation or implementation at national and county level

• Play a critical role in the evolving work program of analytical and advisory services related to health financing and universal health coverage, linking health to broader human development topics, and/or related topics in Kenya

• Help ensure close coordination with government; a variety of international and local development partners; and the CMU and Bank teams across other sectors

• Support policy dialogue with the Ministry of Health, counties and other stakeholders

• Represent the World Bank at consultation meetings and other activities relevant for the sector

• Contribute to sector-specific or cross-sectoral inputs for various operational products/outputs (e.g. sector/country briefings, background reports, portfolio performance reviews, etc.);

• Carry out such tasks as the Practice Manager assigns to support the development of the Bank’s work in health in Kenya

Specifically, the Health Economist/Health Specialist will be expected to support the following ongoing engagements and contribute to the design of new operations as required:

Advisory Services and Analytics

• Contribute to the design and implementation of analytical work in Kenya, particularly on topics related to Universal health Coverage, health financing and pandemic preparedness and response

• Facilitate and coordinate the analytics activities and technical assistance, and the dissemination of key findings to the government and other partners

• Conduct analytical work, including data analysis and report writing

• Prepare briefs and technical notes and contribute to the writing of sections in analytical reports

• Support in policy dialogue with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders at national and county level

• Provide technical and implementation support to the Ministry of Health

• Plan, conduct and provide timely reports on program supervision

• Provide health financing inputs to World Bank reports and key operational documents including Implementation Status Results reports

The Health Economist/Health Specialist will report to the Practice Manager (Health Nutrition and Population) (HAEH2) and will be subject to all World Bank regulations and guidelines applicable to staff.

Selection Criteria

Applicants must have:

An advanced degree (Masters or PhD) in Health Economics, Economics, Public Health or any other relevant discipline. Candidates with combined degrees (e.g., medicine and health economics) will have an added advantage A minimum of 5 years of experience years of experience.

Wide recognition and track record of technical expertise and operational leadership in health, health economics and financing. Deep experience working with the Government of Kenya at both national and county level Experience working with the development partners in Kenya Demonstrated ability to lead and function within and across teams in operational and analytical work.

Excellent written and oral communication. Able to synthesize, analyze, and effectively present material from a wide range of sources. Ability to function well independently and handle multiple tasks, meet changing priorities and deliver high-quality analysis and work on-time.
Required Competencies

• Integrative Skills — Understands core issues and knows where to get additional expertise when needed.

• Knowledge and Experience in Development Arena — Understands policy making process and role of the health sector in that process. Can find relevant information and examine similar policy questions in multiple regions and to distill operationally relevant recommendations and lessons from this analysis for clients.

• Policy Dialogue Skills — Identifies and assesses policy issues and communicates findings/points of view verbally and through economic reports and papers. Plays an active role in the dialogue with the government and/or other stakeholders as part of Bank teams.

• Client Orientation — Maintains client relationships in the face of conflicting demands or directions and provides evidence-based advice and solutions based on sound diagnosis and knowledge.

• Drive for Results — Identifies the needed resources to accomplish results involving multiple stakeholders and finds solutions to obstacles affecting key deliverables.

• Teamwork (Collaboration) and Inclusion — Shows leadership in ensuring the team stays organized and focused, and actively seeks and considers diverse ideas and approaches.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

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