Kenya , Chest Physiotherapy and Malnutrition Project Officer

COUNTRY: Kenya. CITY: Dadaab. Starting date: 15/03/2012 Closing date for application: 12/03/2012 Length of the assignment: 3 months, renewable Advertisement reference: SURMANE/Firstname/POPhy/Kenya

Handicap International is an independent and impartial international Humanitarian organisation working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Working alongside vulnerable groups including persons with disabilities (PwDs), our action and testimony are focused on responding to their essential needs, improving their living conditions and promoting respect for their dignity and their fundamental rights.

Handicap International is present in Dadaab refugee camps since 2007 through it Development Department. In the frame of its holistic approach to the most vulnerable called Disability and Vulnerability Focal Point (DVFP), the Handicap International Emergency Response Department launched in August 2011 an immediate humanitarian response to the massive influx of refugees in order to cover the needs of the Dadaab camps most vulnerable population including people with disabilities. The strategy of these DVFPs is to identify most vulnerable persons in their community and enhance their access to basic and specific essential services through different mechanisms (direct services or through referrals and support to access other INGOs’ services).

After a long suspension period due to security reasons, the project is now in the resuming phase. Its activities and most of all their modalities of interventions are being adapted to the new security situation and overall context.

MISSION CONTEXT

Somalia, the neighboring country of Kenya, has been designed the most failed state of the world in 2011 . Due to civil conflict and drought, United Nations decided in 1992 to start an operation in Mogadishu (“Restore Hope”). In the same time, several tens of thousands people fled Somalia to Kenya. As a result of these influxes, the creation of refugee camps in the North Eastern part of Kenya has been decided and especially in Dadaab. Most of these refugees are still in Dadaab today. Dadaab is located in the east of Kenya, at about 90km from the Somalia border. The camps complex is composed by three “historic” refugee camps: Dagahaley, Ifo and Hagadera, located in a circle of 17km around Dadaab. Despite official closure of the Kenya / Somalia border by the Kenyan Government in January 2007, Dadaab refugee camps complex has received over 200,000 Somalia refugees over the past four years. Since October 2010 however, the numbers of refugees increased to over 10,000 a month, mainly because of the conflict in Somalia and since May 2011 because of the long and severe drought in the horn of Africa. The United Nations have declared on 20th of July a situation of famine in 2 regions of Somalia and on 3rd of August 2011 it was extended to 5 regions of Somalia. The number of refugees received between January and mid July 2011 is more than 60,000. The current population in the camps is around 400,000 refugees, while the three camps (Dagahaley, Hagadera and Ifo) have a total holding capacity of 90,000 persons (30,000 each). There are about thousands of new refugees who have no where to settle and are spontaneously settling on the outskirts of the camps. The rate of registered refugees arriving in the camps should continue rising. As of the end of July 2011, an average of 1,330 persons was arriving daily in Dadaab . It is anticipated that an estimated additional 80,000 new refugees will arrive in the next months, should the rains continue to fail and aid delivery in Somalia remains restricted. The sharp increase in arrivals combined with the prevailing drought situation in the Horn of Africa is impacting more on the newly settled refugees. Indeed, during the previous months, newly arrived refugees were not taken in charge immediately at their arrival in the different camps in Dadaab, because the Kenyan Government and UNHCR did not have the capacity to register this large number of refugees daily. Therefore, refugees could not receive any basic services as food and water at their arrival in Dadaab camps, creating situations of extreme vulnerability and sometimes to deaths. Despite the presence of humanitarian stakeholders in Dadaab, the huge influx of new refugees has made it extremely difficult to deliver sufficient and efficient humanitarian assistance, especially in the spontaneous settlements (vast areas around the different camps with no existing services at all). However, in response to the critical needs of newly settled refugees, the Kenyan Prime Minister made a public statement requesting UNHCR to open the new sites in the area and provide assistance in terms of health care, shelter, education and food. As a result UNHCR and implementing partners (IPs) decided to open two new camps (Ifo Extension and Kambioos) with an additional capacity of 180,000 refugees. The resettlement in these new camps has started on July 25 and is still under process. Regarding these facts, Handicap International has identified critical needs for the most vulnerable (especially for persons with disabilities, older and persons with serious medical conditions), such as: - access to food and safe water, - access to sanitation facilities, - access to health services, - access to adapted shelters, - access to a secure environment and protection, - access to other specific services according to their needs.

Handicap International, in the frame of its holistic approach to the most vulnerable called Disability and Vulnerability Focal Point (DVFP), proposes an immediate humanitarian response in order to cover the needs of the Dadaab camps vulnerable population. The strategy of these DVFPs is to identify most vulnerable persons (and particularly PWDs) in their community and enhance their access to basic and specific services. Because of the increased vulnerability of the new arrived refugees, Handicap International will focus its activities in the two new camps (Ifo extension and Kambioos) and in the outskirts of the three existing camps. This project, like all projects currently being implemented by the ERD, will focus particularly on extremely vulnerable individuals and their households, as these individuals often risk being excluded from assistance efforts, and given their original vulnerabilities, face additional barriers and challenges to cope and survive. The criteria of vulnerability could be enlarged according to the lack of coverage by the other actors and our financial and operational capacities. Also, HI aims to provide mainstreaming support to IPs at all levels in the emergency response. This mechanism for mainstreaming has been used successfully by HI in others emergency interventions (Haiti, Pakistan, etc).

MAIN RESPONSABILITIES OF THE EXPATRIATE

Under the coordination of the Operations Manager and the responsibility of the Head of Mission as well as in close collaboration with the HQ Technical Advisor, the Project Manager Physiotherapy is responsible for ensuring implementation of the whole chest physiotherapy and malnutrition project as well as to ensure the quality of the DVFP Emergency Physical Rehabilitation component in Dadaab’s refugee camps.

The Project Manager Physiotherapy is responsible for the whole Physiotherapy and Malnutrition project, coordinating and supervising the different physiotherapists based in different health facilities of 3 camps (Ifo, Dagahaley, Hagadera) and ensuring the quality of activities.

He also has a role of technical advisors to all other teams regarding physical rehabilitation in emergency and especially the Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapists of the DVFP physical rehabilitation component.

COMPONENT 1 OF THE POSITION: PHYSIOTHERAPY AND MALNUTRITION

    PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTATION:      1/ Launch the project: 

• Continuously analyze the needs and added value of chest physiotherapy for severe malnourished children in Dadaab’s camps

• Participate in the tailoring of the project

• Promote this activity and develop partnerships with the different stakeholders identified with beneficiaries in need for chest physiotherapy

• Design partnerships’ modalities and operations between HI and the different health stakeholders

• Choose and launch purchase request for the necessary material

• Recruit and train 4 qualified physiotherapists

• Design monitoring tools adapted for semi-remote situation

• Ensure the quality of the activities

    2/ Plan, supervise and monitor overall activities’ implementations 

• Plan the whole project’s activities in close collaboration with the health stakeholders and ensure planning and objectives are shared and understood by the physiotherapist.

• Conduct field visits if security situation allows it and/or put in place remote monitoring mechanisms to ensure the quality of the intervention

• Organize regular team meetings with the physiotherapists to monitor achievements and challenges and give guidance to the different physiotherapists

• Follow up project’s indicators (qualitative and quantitative) with strong emphasis on our activities’ quality and implement necessary actions for improvements - Ensure good quality follow up the activities in each hospital (3 hospitals), on their impact on beneficiaries’ recovering by developing follow up tools to be used by physiotherapists, by putting in place a common monitoring system with doctors of the partner organization and by doing field visits if the security situation allows it

3/ Participate in the elaboration of the project’s strategy and project’s development under the coordination of the Operations Manager and the supervision of the Head of Mission and in link with the evolution of the target populations’ needs, the evolution of the context and security situation as well as with HI’s strategy in the country

    4/ Ensure the quality of data collection on beneficiaries of chest physiotherapy       TEAM MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION:      1/ Ensure the daily management of the team  

• Elaborate and update job description and job profiles for physiotherapists

• Ensure appropriate recruitments

• Brief new team members (on HI, the project, their responsibilities and tasks, HI policies, the internal functioning, etc…)

• Be concerned and aware on the personal and professional evolution of each member of your team and its development within the team and the mission

• Evaluate regularly your team

    2/ Ensure capacity building of your team for their own improvement as for the ones of the different activities’ quality: 

• Monitor capacities of the physiotherapists

• Implement training and capacity building as per required by your analysis

    3/ Act as team player and try to resolve any internal problems in the team 

• Ensure conflict resolution (personal and professional) within your team and inform the head of mission and the administrator

4/ Ensure teams’ knowledge and understanding of internal rules and regulations including Handicap International’s policies and be vigilant on their compliance to them

• Implement regular training, briefing, sensitization sessions for all staff on HI

• Ensure reporting mechanisms are put in place, well known by all and efficient

• Ensure confidentiality of issues

5/ Propose whenever you think it is needed to the Head of Mission relevant adaptations of the organizational chart and job description

    REPORTING      1/ Support your team to produce regular reports      2/ Report to health partners on activities’ achievements 

3/ Ensure a regular reporting on your activities to the Operations Manager and Head of Mission and to the HQ Technical advisors on project’s achievements, challenges faced and quality of activities upon their solicitation

    4/ Report any incident to the line management 

5/ Provide the HoM with end of mission report and handover documentation at the end of the project

    ADMINISTRATION AND LOGISITIC 

1/ Ensure coordination between your teams and the support teams (HR, finance, logistics…) for the needs of the activities or of your teams

2/ Validate all Physiotherapy and Malnutrition project’s activities expenses (as the budget holder for its activities’ lines)

3/ Ensure regular budget follow up of activities’ budget lines in collaboration with the administrator and thanks to his tools, conduct budget updates and prevision

4/ With the support of the logistic team, prepare purchase requests, validate material needed, check the quality of samples when needed, and follow purchase process

COMPONENT 2 OF THE POSITION: FIELD MANAGER EMERGENCY REHABILITATION

This second component is a transversal one to the whole emergency activities. As the technical specialist of the emergency team in Dadaab, you will monitor the quality of all physical rehabilitation activities of other projects and especially of the Physical Rehabilitation component of the DVFP project.

    1/ Monitor the quality of the rehabilitation related activities: 

• Ensure activities implemented are technically appropriate to the defined objectives of the Rehabilitation component of the DVFP project

• Assess the technical capacities of the different rehabilitation technicians (physiotherapists and occupational therapists) of the Rehabilitation component of the DVFP Project

• Monitor the quality and appropriateness of the mobility aids, assistive devices and specific items provided by the different field teams to People with Disabilities

    2/ Technical guidance and support to other project’s teams: 

• Provide technical guidance / advices to the Operations Manager and to his/her DVFP teams on all related technical aspects on Rehabilitation activities taking into account the current constraints and modalities of the rehabilitation component (no long term rehabilitation process, one shot visits of beneficiaries who should be provided with simple solutions improving their access to services and to daily activities and ensuring to do no harm taking into account that almost no follow up are possible). Therefore, provide technical support to improve: - The quality of the identification and assessment of the needs of People with Disabilities and the quality of the design of an appropriate response which do not need long follow ups. - The quality of the emergency rehabilitation advice and care sessions provided to beneficiaries and their caretakers (on one shot visits) - The appropriateness of the mobility aids, assistive devices and specific items provided to PwDs taking into account that no long term training / care can be provided and that solutions should be simple

• Propose capacity building activities (training, workshops) to the Operations Manager and his DVFP teams in order to promote the quality of rehabilitation activities and implement these trainings / capacity building activities - Regular training sessions are led - On site support on rehabilitation technical aspects if security situation allows it in the future or put in place semi-remote monitoring tools

• Promote technical and operational links between DAU and DAD on rehabilitation - Share with DAD on our technical approach and activities related to rehabilitation - Complementarity of DAD and DAU approaches on rehabilitation is understood by tema members of both DAD and DAU - Facilitate understanding and functioning of an efficient referral system between DAU and DAD’s disability centre (DAU: short term and one shot solutions, DAD: long term rehabilitation)

PROFILE REQUIRED

Experience

• At least 2 years of experience as a Physiotherapist with strong experience in paediatric chest respiratory physiotherapy • At least 1 year of experience in an INGO ideally in an emergency context on a project related to short term rehabilitation activities, distribution of mobility aids, assistive devices, etc… • Experience of management • Experience of semi-remote control management and in difficult security context would be an asset • Experience in implementing trainings

Education

• Physiotherapist diploma • Project Management training would be an asset • Knowledge and/or experiences related to Protection issues, Vulnerabilities, Handicap and Emergency, Psychosocial support, Physical Rehabilitation, etc…

Languages

• English (required) • French and/or Somali would be an asset

Skills, Personal qualities and interests

• Strong interest for Chest Physiotherapy and care for malnourished children and infants • Strong organizational skills / capacity to prioritize • Capacity of negotiating, building partnerships, resolving conflicts • Capacity to keep professional distance with the beneficiaries • Adaptation, including to a changing context and potential changes in activities modalities • Capacity to accept to do emergency physical rehabilitation and not long term rehabilitation • Analytical and problem solving skills • Training skills • Ability to take initiative and propose improvements of activities • Dynamism, high level of motivation • Interest for working in partnership with other stakeholders and other HI’s projects • Interest for hospital work • Capacity to work under pressure in a stressful context • Good capacity to interact with many different stakeholders (health stakeholders, physiotherapists of your teams, other rehabilitation technicians from other team, etc…) • Capacity to work in an multidisciplinary and multicultural team • Capacity to manage activities and team on a remote set up

EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS:

Volunteer: 750 or 850 Euros monthly indemnity + living allowance paid on the field + accommodation + 100% of the medical cover taken in charge by HI + repatriation insurance + indemnity for partner and children Salary: 1950 salary/month upon experience+ 457 Euros net expatriation allowance + 50% of the medical cover taken in charge by HI + repatriation insurance + indemnity for partner and children

How to apply:

To apply, please send your CV and a cover letter to: HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL Direction de l’Action d’Urgence Réf : SURNAME/Firstname/POPhy/Kenya. E-mail : officerh2@handicap-international.org