Project description

The Ministry of Health’s County Health Teams (MOH/CHT) in Liberia has requested the support of Peace Corps Response Volunteers (PCRVs) to serve as Community Health Partnership Specialists. Peace Corps Liberia is launching a new health project, which will support the new National Community Health Services Plan and other health priorities as determined by the Ministry of Health. The Ebola outbreak of 2014-2015 in Liberia overwhelmed the health system and highlighted the unmet need for a network of health workers covering the most remote communities. Liberia is now in the process of restructuring and rebuilding its health sector with the strategic support of partners, with a national emphasis on reducing maternal and child mortality. A major effort within this reform is a national community health plan that will establish a new cadre of health extension workers explicitly tasked with providing a package of essential health services to the approximately 30% of the population living outside the reach of the current health system. The Peace Corps, which is widely known and respected in Liberia, is well-positioned to play a meaningful role in this effort. Through their human-centered, grassroots approach, Volunteers can provide support to the new cadres of Community Health service providers, building key capacities and linkages towards a shared goal of reducing maternal and child mortality.

The Community Health Partnership Specialist will be placed within the County Health Team, jointly supporting PC/Liberia with key programmatic elements of project start-up and with their community health programs. The PCRV will help foster a strong foundation for collaboration between Peace Corps and MOH/CHT and ensure that the County Working Group of area health volunteers is functioning and strategically linked with the MOH/CHT. In addition, they will strengthen the over-all reporting mechanisms and processes by empowering hard and support the implementation of the National Community Health Assistant Program (NCHAP) at the health facility, district, and county levels and provide feedback to CHT and partners on a regular basis. The goal of this assignment is for the Response Volunteer to contribute to PC/Liberia by providing technical expertise to the new Community Health project.

Candidates selected for this position will be arriving in Liberia together as a group, so while the departure dates for the whole group could change, dates cannot be changed for individual candidates.

Required Skills

• Master’s in Public Health or equivalent graduate degree
• Experience in at least one of the following public health areas during previous Peace Corps service or through at least two years of other professional work in a developing country context: maternal health, infant and young child health or nutrition, household WASH, malaria control, household-level health outreach, TB/HIV.
• Project management experience and skills demonstrated
• Ability to adapt to and work in a very low-resource environment, including very limited transportation, internet access, and other amenities
• High tolerance for ambiguity and high level of flexibility
  
  

Living conditions

Learn more about the Volunteer experience in Liberia: Get detailed information on culture, communications, housing, and health/crime statistics in order to make a well-informed decision about serving.

Medical considerations

Before you apply, please review medical clearance and legal clearance to learn about the process.