Climate Change And Health Specialist

Details

Mission and objectives

The World Health Organization (WHO) was established on 7 April 1948 as the directing and coordinating authority in global public health within the United Nations system. Working at three levels in the Organization (global, regional and country), more than 7000 WHO staff worldwide collaborate with the governments of 194 Member States and other partners to achieve the WHO founding vision of the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all people.The WHO Western Pacific Region is home to more than one quarter of the world’s population, stretching over more than one third of the distance around the globe. In all, more than 600 WHO staff work in 15 country offices and the Regional Office in Manila, Philippines, to support Member States in achieving better health outcomes for the Region’s nearly 1.9 billion people in 37 countries and areas.WHO presence in Viet NamViet Nam has been a WHO Member State since 17 May 1950. WHO was one of the first United Nations agencies to support the Vietnamese health sector directly since the end of the war and reunification of the country. WHO established a country office in Hanoi in 1977 and a sub-office in Ho Chi Minh City in 2003. More than 50 WHO staff in the country office have played a central role in supporting the people and the Government of Viet Nam to improve health. The mission of WHO in Viet Nam is to support the Government to achieve universal health coverage with all people having access to high-quality health services, within the context of the country’s needs and challenges in transitioning to middle-income status.Priorities of the United Nations in Viet NamThe Government of Viet Nam and the United Nations agencies, including WHO, adopted the Delivering as One principle and committed to the One United Nations initiative in Viet Nam in 2006. In July 2017, they jointly launched the One Strategic Plan 2017–2021, which identified focus areas and outcomes for the United Nations interventions in Viet Nam.

Context

Viet Nam is one of the 20 most vulnerable countries to Climate Change, driven by a heavy reliance on fossil fuels for current energy needs. The health impacts of Climate Change in Viet Nam are significant: extreme weather events caused by Climate Change are a risk to health and life; changing weather patterns caused by Climate Change will likely increase the frequency and severity of outbreaks of diseases such as dengue; air pollution is a serious health hazard, especially in the north of Viet Nam: the average level of PM2.5 is 5 X higher than the levels recommended in the WHO air quality guidelines, and air pollution causes approx. 60,000 deaths every year. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), including in health care facilities, remains a significant challenge: in 2019, 46% of healthcare facilities had only limited water services. However, there is strong political commitment in Viet Nam to addressing Climate Change: at COP26, the Prime Minister committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. The health sector has a key role to play in supporting both Climate Change adaptation and mitigation efforts. Addressing the health impacts of Climate Change as part of the Government’s Climate Change agenda can also help to amplify the broader benefits of this policy agenda.WHO aims to provide technical, policy and strategic support to the Ministry of Health on (1) strengthening the capacity of the health sector in raising public and Healthcare workers’ awareness on health impacts from Climate Change, (2) strengthening advocacy for efforts and interventions to address health impacts from Climate Change, and (3) providing technical support in improving national policies and strategies, and implementing national actions to ad-dress the health impacts of Climate Change, as well as to support the transition towards a low carbon health system. The UN Volunteer (Climate Change and Health Specialist) will work closely with Technical Officer in Environmental Health under supervision of the UHC-HLE Team Coordinator.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the UHC-HLE Team Coordinator, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:Task 1: Providing technical support in improving national policies and strategies, and implementing national actions to address the health impacts of Climate Change, and support efforts to transition towards a low carbon health system, including:• Reviewing national policies, strategies, action plans and intervention solutions to identify gaps for improvement based on international experience;• Proposing recommendations in implementation of the national action plan for air pollution.Task 2: Strengthening advocacy for efforts and interventions to address health impacts from Climate Change, including:• Using international experience to recommend measures for improvement of the national approach and methodology of evidence collection and research on health im-pacts of Climate Change;• Support WHO efforts to address health impacts of air pollution, including meetings and stakeholders’ consultation workshops to share international experience and practice in advocacy on health impacts from air pollution and recommendations for the improvement of advocacy on the health impacts from air pollution.Task 3: Providing technical support to the implementation of raising public and Healthcare workers’ awareness on the health impacts from Climate Change, including:• Providing technical support to implementing partners in the implementation of activities in the WHO workplan for 2024-2025 related to Climate Change and Health;• Joining training, workshops and field trips for monitoring and evaluation of WHO’s workplan implementation.Task 4: Performing other duties as requested/required by the WHO Viet Nam Country Office.Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for in-stance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.