Syria HEALTH WASTE MANAGEMENT AND EXPIRED PHARMACEUTICALS DISPOSAL EXPERT (re-advertised) At Un Ponte per

Position Title: Health Waste Management and Expired Pharmaceuticals Disposal Expert

Location: North-East Syria or Remote Work (from Iraq) in case of lockdown of the Country

Period: 3 months, with possibility of extension depending on need and resources availability**

Sector(s) of intervention: WASH in HEALTH (Health Waste Management)

Closing date of the vacancy: 04^th December 2021 (applications on a rolling basis)

Starting date: ASAP**

Context Presentation: Un Ponte Per (UPP) is an Italian NGO established in 1991. It started its activities as “Un ponte per Baghdad”, in the aftermath of the first Gulf war, with the aim of organizing solidarity initiatives in support of the Iraqi civilian population. In subsequent years, UPP missions expanded to include Serbia and other Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries. The NGO aims at preventing armed conflicts, protecting human rights and supporting local civil society, especially in the Middle East, by promoting the nexus between its humanitarian, peacebuilding and development programs.

Since 2015, UPP has been one of the leading INGOs in the North East Syria (NES) response. Providing humanitarian aid and capacity building of local actors in Health and Protection as well as environmental health, including waste management. In partnership with local partners, UPP has been able to develop a comprehensive system of health services delivered in 26 facilities, including mobile units, hospitals, primary health care centres, and an ambulance network. For further information please refer to our website: www.unponteper.it/en/

BACKGROUND: Entering year 10 of the Syria crisis, conflict continues to expose civilians to acute humanitarian needs in Livelihood, health, WASH, Shelter, NFI and protection. In North East Syria (NES) widespread displacement, destruction of basic services and increased exposure to protection risks is on-going. In response, UPP is running since 2015 its humanitarian program focused on providing timely and quality essential humanitarian assistance.

UPP is one of the major health actors in the area and it runs, together with a local partner, more than 30 health centres offering a wide range of health services, but it intervenes also in the sector of protection, livelihood, early recovery and wash. In this latest sector UPP launched, since 2019, a program of Health Waste Management (HWM) aimed at the establishment of a system for the safe and correct segregation, transportation and disposal of the heath waste produced in the health care facilities run by UPP itself or by other local or international partners, becoming one of the leading actors in this sector in NES.

UPP is planning to further strengthen the established system and to fill the gap that still remain in term of health care facilities’ coverage and segregation quality. One of the major gaps that still persist is related to the lack of safe disposal systems of expired pharmaceuticals and chemical waste, for which a safe management system is not existing at local level yet.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Program quality, technical support, planning and implementation

• Lead the development of specific SoPs for:
  • Safe and organized segregation of expired medicines and chemical waste inside health care facilities;
  • Ensuring safe transportation and disposal of expired medicines and chemical waste in specific Health Waste Zone;
• Identify the most suitable disposal methods for expired pharmaceuticals, by taking into consideration the specific context of North East Syria, in synergy with the already established health waste disposal methods, in coordination with local authorities and in collaboration and communication with national and international partners;
• Elaboration of BoQs and supervision of the works to be done to adapt the existing Health Waste Zones in order to make them ready to receive and dispose expired pharmaceuticals;
• Building on the already existing system for Health Waste Management (HWM), develop a work plan for the establishment of a system for the safe management of expired medicines and chemical waste inside the target health care facilities;
• Support the HWM technical local team and the local partners in the implementation of the work plan and in practically setting up and monitoring the new component of the system;
• Provide technical supervision to the trainings given to local partners, Health Care Facilities’ workers and Health Waste Zones’ workers by the Health Waste Management team in order to guarantee high technical quality, and carrying out some trainings personally upon requirements;
• Review the existing HWM monitoring system (tools, procedures, etc.), suggest improvements and integrate it with the monitoring of the segregation, transportation and disposal of expired medicines and chemical wastes;
• Support the monitoring of the entire HWM system, also through field visits, and the timely adoption of corrective measures in the case of problems or challenges;
• Assess the feasibility of alternative, more sustainable and ecological methods for the disposal of health waste (instead of the De Montfort Incinerator) taking into consideration the specific context;
• Support the HWM technical advisors with specific technical guidance, and take the lead in the coordination of the team upon requirement.

Capacity building

• Lead in the development of ad hoc training materials for the management of expired medicines and chemical waste;
• Train the HWM technical local team on the management of expired medicines and chemical waste (SoP, best practices, feasible solutions in an emergency context such as NES) in order to build their technical expertise and make them able to carry out trainings on the same topic;
• Support and provide general training about HWM to health department’s members;
• Assist and give technical guidance to the process of capacity building of local partners, local authorities, etc.;
• Assess other specific needs of the HWM team in term of capacity building, develop and carry out ad hoc trainings.

Program development

• Provide technical support for the identification, elaboration and writing of new project proposals and concept note on health waste management.

Coordination

• Coordination with local partners and authorities in order to guarantee a community-based approach and the set-up of a system in line with local needs and available resources;
• Lead the technical coordination with other NGOs and relevant working groups in order to set up a shared and common system for the management of expired medicines and chemical waste, taking a leading role in the process if necessary.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor degree in engineering, environmental management, natural sciences, social sciences, development cooperation or similar. A bachelor, a master degree or a specialization focused on waste management is considered an asset;
• Proven technical expertise in the field of health waste management and specifically on expired medicines management, with a consolidated work experience (at least four years) in the sector in technical positions (technical consultancies, expert or specialist positions, etc.);
• Proven technical knowledge of expired medicines’ disposal methods, including preparation of disposal sites;
• Experience in implementing trainings and capacity building on health waste management. Experience in implementing ToT is considered an asset;
• Experience in the creation of training materials, SoPs, technical documents etc. about health waste management;
• Strong organization and planning skills, ability to multitask and to prioritise work;
• Flexibility and adaptability, preparedness to work in a difficult environment with security constraints and challenging living conditions;
• Stress management skills and ability to work under pressure;
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills;
• Proactive attitude, ability to work autonomously as well as part of a team;
• Detail-oriented with good time management skills;
• Excellent oral and written English.

DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS

• Experience in the work with local municipalities and authorities, especially in developing countries;
• Previous field experience and international exposure;
• Previous experience in Middle East countries/in Syria;
• Knowledge of Arabic or Kurdish.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

Un Ponte Per is an International NGO committed to diversity and inclusion within its teams, in line with the principle of non-discrimination. UPP encourages all candidates irrespective of gender, religion and ethnicity including persons with disabilities to apply and become part of the organization.

Ethical Conduct

*UPP upholds all the minimum standards in terms of Ethical Conduct and strives to increase its standards over the minimum. Zero tolerance is reserved to Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and to Child Abuse, Violence, Harm, Injury and Negligence. By applying, any candidate assures that s/he has never breached any standard in terms of SEA and Child Safeguarding and that s/he will not in the future. For the protection of beneficiaries, communities and partners, UPP will conduct extensive reference check and vetting on shortlisted candidates, also over the contacts indicated by the candidate. Candidates are alerted that the required background check might compromise their privacy. Shortlisted candidates shall promptly provide an up-to-date criminal background check.*