GOAL JOB DESCRIPTION

Country Medical Co-Ordinator

Manono, Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Program Coordinator in Manono, plus Country Director for country-wide issues

OVERALL DESCRIPTION

General Description of the Programme:
GOAL first gave assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1994 when it responded to the refugee crisis following the genocide in Rwanda. In January 2002, GOAL returned to Goma in eastern DRC in the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo near Goma. GOAL distributed non-food items to families affected by the eruption and rehabilitated three schools.

In August 2002, GOAL shifted its operations to Katanga province. GOAL’s Katanga programme, based in the town of Manono, serves a population of some 500,000 and is comprised of activities in community health, agriculture/livelihoods, community development and engineering sectors. GOAL is the only aid agency with a significant presence in this area and has a field-based team of nine expatriates and 120 local staff. This is supported by GOAL’s DRC base, which will be relocated from Goma to Lubumbashi, the capital of Katanga Province, in early 2008. A programme coordination sub-base to support the Katanga Programme is also located in Kalemie, the district capital.

The project area is currently accessible only by air due to the deterioration in the road network throughout eastern DRC, following five years of conflict. As a result, GOAL is assisting a population in significant need and providing the only outside assistance in its sectors of activity.

General Description of the Role:
GOAL manages a health promotion programme in two health zones in Katanga Province (total population 380,000) .GOAL now works in collaboration with an International NGO, Medecins du Monde (MDM) who focus on support to curative care services whilst GOAL focuses on HIV/AIDS prevention, nutrition and health and hygiene promotion activities including reproductive health through a network of traditional birth attendants.

Nutrition activities include the support to two therapeutic feeding centres in an area where rates of Acute Severe Malnutrition are 10% in children from 6 months to five years of age. GOAL is moving towards a community therapeutic care approach in North Katanga to increase service coverage.

GOAL adopts an integrated approach and runs water / sanitation, engineering and livelihoods programmes to complement primary health care in its programme areas in the DRC. GOAL works closely with the Congolese Government ministry of health in a support and capacity building role.

GOAL’s medical team in the DRC is coordinated by the Country Medical Co-ordinator based in Manono. The medical team consists of an expatriate nutrition coordinator and nutrition team, HIV/AIDS programme officers, reproductive health supervisors, and health promotion supervisors.

Overall Responsibilities

• To ensure health programme implementation and monitoring and evaluation against objectives and targets. This will be achieved through providing technical support with special attention to integration and strengthening the community health aspects of the programme.
• To ensure donor reporting requirements are met.
• To participate in proposal preparation for new concepts and projects and to contribute to overall planning as part of the country senior management team.
• To develop staff capacity and to progressively delegate responsibilities while ensuring quality of work and reporting is not compromised

Key Duties

• Overall coordination and supervision of all health elements of GOAL’s programme in DRC
• Assess management, training, supervision and monitoring of activities of GOAL health staff in Katanga. 
• To assist the Country Director and field health staff in development of donor proposals
• Preparation of progress reports for GOAL Dublin and donors, ensuring that data is received from the field in a timely manner and is already analyses in the field to facilitate final review in Goma. 
• Co-ordinate and organise the process of GOAL national staff and MoH staff training, to ensure training courses, (long-term formal courses as well as shorter courses by GOAL staff or outside consultant groups),  are prioritised and funded by GOAL’s donors.
• Support the health staff in Katanga, strengthening and building capacity of the program managers and the MoH community structures, (CODESAs and ReCos). 
• Attend health, donor or other sectoral meetings.
• Liaison with other agencies both governmental and non-governmental relevant to programme activities or any new proposed activities.
• Liaison and negotiation with the Médecins Chef de Zone, other BCZ team members, and other NGOs working in the same location to ensure programme coherence and the avoidance of service gaps or overlap;
• Preparing monthly and ad hoc reports for the Programme Coordinator (Manono),  and Country Director;
• Overall management of health budgets:
• Participation in any future medical assessments in DRC, at the request of the Programme Coordinator  or the Country Director;
• Any other duty as directed by the Program Coordinator, Country Director or GOAL headquarters in Ireland.

Requirements

• Qualification in health related sector (medical or nursing degree) with an MPH preferred but not essential.
• Experience in management of medical relief and development programmes- a minimum of two years preferred.
• Good analytic report writing skills.
• Good computer skills.
• Flexibility, diplomacy and ability to live and work in a multi-cultural team and cope with fairly basic conditions whilst in the field.
• Experience in Africa an advantage. 
• Working knowledge of French and/or Swahili.
  

This job description only serves as a guide for the position and framework for appraisal interview.  GOAL reserves the right to change this document as circumstances dictate.