World Bank recruits a Health Specialist – Yaounde, Cameroon

Description :

Established in 1944, the WBG is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for development solutions. In fiscal year 2018, the WBG committed $67 billion in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to its members and private businesses, of which $24 billion was concessional finance to its poorest members. It is governed by 188-member countries and delivers services out of 120 offices with nearly 15,000 staff located globally.

The WBG consists of five specialized institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The World Bank is organized into six client-facing Regional Vice-Presidencies, several corporate functions and thirteen Global Practices to bring best-in-class knowledge and solutions to regional and country clients.

The World Bank Group (WBG) is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for development solutions – providing loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to its members and private businesses. The vision of the World Bank Group (WBG) is the eradication of extreme poverty and the promotion of shared prosperity by fostering income growth of the bottom 40 percent in each country. To achieve its vision, the WBG leverages the combined strength of its institutions and their ability to partner with the public and private sectors to deliver customized development solutions backed by finance, world class knowledge and convening services.

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 regional efforts to :  improve health outcomes, especially for the poor and most vulnerable ;  expand access to high-quality HNP services, interventions and technologies that give the most value for money ;  strengthen health systems for results ;  establish and improve health financing mechanisms that promote efficiency, equity and sustainability of investments ; strengthen heath-relevant institutions within and outside the health sector ;  harness multisectoral policies and investments for better health outcomes; and  develop and learn from rigorous impact evaluations.

Africa region and cameroon 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, such as Cameroon, 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.

Like most African countries, Cameroon has integrated UHC as a goal in the 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 Cameroon, 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.

Cameroon benefits from the Global Financing Facility (GFF) in support of “Every Woman Every Child” which is a country driven partnership that aims to accelerate efforts to end preventable maternal, newborn, child and adolescent deaths and improve the health and quality of life of women, adolescents and children. The GFF acts as a pathfinder in a new era of financing for development by pioneering a model that shifts away from focusing solely on official development assistance to an approach that combines external support, domestic financing, and innovative sources for resource mobilization and delivery (including the private sector) in a synergistic way.  To do this, the GFF aims to reduce inefficiency in health spending through smarter financing, resulting in a reduction in the resource needs for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) by 2030.  The GFF also aims to mobilize additional funding through the combination of grants from a dedicated multi-donor trust fund (the GFF Trust Fund), financing from International Development Association (IDA) and International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the crowding-in of additional domestic and external resources.  The GFF leverages the private sector expertise of the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank Group’s private sector arm, to attract private sector resources to priority investment areas.

The Bank has an active operational portfolio in HNP in Cameroon. Performance-Based Financing (PBF), supported by the World Bank and other development partners since 2011, has been identified as a central strategy to address the key health system challenges and contribute towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The World Bank supports the PBF program through the Health System Performance Reinforcement Project (US$100 million IDA, US$27 million Global Financing Facility). Its objective is to increase utilization and improve the quality of health services with a focus on reproductive, maternal, and child health and nutrition services. The World Bank is also supporting the health sector in Cameroon with regards to health financing and Universal Health Coverage, and policy reforms through a Development Policy Operation and various analytical products. The goal is to improve service delivery and contribute to boosting human capital index in Cameroon.

Duties and Accountabilities :

The Health Specialist will have the following key responsibilities, inter alia :

• Provide implementation support, as needed, to the Bank’s HNP portfolio in Cameroon and, which includes a several ;
• Health system Support Projects aiming at improving health service delivery and governance and (responding to reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health (RMNCAH) needs; Regional Projects such as REDISSE (d) future Investing in Early Years and Fertility Project ;
• Contribute to the technical discussions and monitoring of the Bank portfolio in close collaboration with the relevant government agencies and development partners ;
• Assist the team in policy dialogue, communications and interactions with government counterparts, country stakeholders as well as development partners ;
• Contribute to sector-specific inputs for various operational products/outputs (e.g. sector/country briefings, background reports, portfolio performance reviews, etc.) ;
• Review and contribute to sector-specific policy and other documents ;
• Participate in missions of the health team ; and
• Respond to ad hoc information requests from internal and external parties.

The work will be substantive in nature, requiring frequent missions in the field inside and outside Cameroon as needed, and interactions with various external and internal counterparts.

The Health Specialist will report to the Practice Manager (Health Nutrition and Population) for West and Central Africa. Based in the field, the selected Health Specialist will work closely with the respective Task Team Leaders from other GPs and the Human Development Program Leader. The Health Specialist will be subject to all World Bank regulations and guidelines applicable to staff in the country office of Cameroon.

Selection Criteria :

• Graduate degrees (Masters degree required in public health, epidemiology, health economics, health financing, or professional degree (medicine, nursing). Candidates without a core qualification in at least one of these domains need not apply. Candidates with combined degrees will have an added advantage ;
• Minimum of 5 years as specialist or program management position in one or more of the following areas: health systems, public health program management, service delivery, monitoring and evaluation, operations research in health, results-based financing. Experience in two or more of these areas is advantageous ;
• Ability to function effectively in multi-disciplinary teams within a matrix environment is essential ;
• A drive for results, including a proven track record of high standards/accountability for work products, meeting deadlines, an ability to prioritize tasks within his/her work program and strategies for working collectively with others on the team to deliver products of the highest caliber ;
• Strong interpersonal and diplomatic skills ;
• Fluency in French (excellent oral and written communication skills) is essential, with ability to prepare documents on complex subjects, speak and write persuasively, and present ideas clearly and concisely ;
• Working knowledge of English is strongly advantageous ;

In addition to the above, the selected candidate is expected to demonstrate the following WBG core 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.

The World Bank Group values diversity and encourages all qualified candidates who are nationals of World Bank Group member countries to apply, regardless of gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.  Sub-Saharan African nationals, Caribbean nationals, and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Apply here