JOB PURPOSE:
To supervise and coordinate Community Health Workers/Volunteers and lead community engagement activities to improve access to and uptake of routine immunization services, particularly among children under five in inaccessible and hard-to-reach areas of Borno State. The position will ensure the effective implementation and monitoring of CHW activities while working closely with community leaders, local authorities and religious figures to facilitate access to underserved communities, strengthen acceptance of vaccination, address misconceptions and vaccine hesitancy, and promote awareness of routine immunization and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Access and assess hard-to-reach locations under the Gates Foundation project where routine immunization (including polio) coverage is low among children under five and identify the reasons for low coverage.
- Strengthening collaboration with community leaders, local authorities, and prominent religious figures to facilitate safe access for vaccinators and community health workers in low coverage hard to reach areas.
- Lead focus group discussions with target groups and organize health awareness
- sessions in order to ensure the adequacy, relevance, broadcasting and full awareness
- of the messages, ensuring they are worded in a pedagogic manner
- Contribute to defining and updating the CHW strategy and related activities through the
- definition target population, campaigns, messages, activities, specific actions, etc.
- Support in assessing knowledge of the target group on a health risk and analyse the
- context (local culture, traditions, habits, health perception) to adapt to health activities and support the social mapping (villages, populations, actors).
- Provide support in selecting and developing quality communication strategies towards
- the community planning information campaigns, including targets, methods, materials
- and goals in order to increase awareness among the targeted population according to
- the project needs
- Ensure regular collaboration and coordination with INTERSOS and MOH medical team
- reporting to the medical team any information linked to the health situation of the
- population and the patients to guarantee that health promotion is part of medical activities and contribute to the medical objectives of the project
- Organize, train and supervise the CHWs team in terms of planning and organizing them
- work, supporting, evaluating and coaching of personnel, collecting reports and
- Manage and supervise the daily activities of community health workers (CHWs) in the area.
- Develop and implement staff meetings, training, and planning structure designed to improve the overall health of the population in the area.
- Conduct frequent monitoring of staff activities and assure quality improvement.
Education & Professional Requirements:
Education:
- Degree/studies in Social Work, Health Promotion, or any other relevant field.
- Minimum 2 years relevant work experience as supervisory role in the humanitarian sector especially in fragile and unstable environments is highly desirable.
Professional requirements:
- Essential computer literacy (word, excel and internet)
- Demonstrate experience with different donors’ compliance and reporting.
Personal requirements:
- Highly respected figure within the local community
- Proactive, with strong community acceptance
- Impartial and neutral, acceptable to everyone across hard-to-reach areas
- Behavioral flexibility and stress management
- Commitment to INTERSOS principles.
Languages
- Knowledge and fluency in English and local languages (Hausa and Kanuri) will be an asset.