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Internship - COVID 19 Surveillance - HQ/WHE

Geneva

  • Organization: WHO - World Health Organization
  • Location: Geneva
  • Grade: Internship - Internship
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Public Health and Health Service
    • Security and Safety
    • Ebola
    • Emergency Aid and Response
    • Malaria, Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases
  • Closing Date: Closed

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. The Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness (GIH) supports countries in prevention and control of high threat diseases of pandemic and epidemic potential through forecasting, characterization of diseases/infectious risks and development evidence-based strategies to manage infectious hazards.

The Emerging Diseases and Zoonoses (EZD) develops strategies, guidance, global mechanisms, and interventions to address high threat pathogens responsible for epidemics or pandemics thereby reducing their impact on affected populations and limiting their international spread. This group addresses known high threat pathogens such as Zika, Chikungunya, orthopox viruses such as monkeypox and smallpox, coronaviruses such as Middle East Respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SAR-CoV), and bacterial infections such as plague.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Terms of reference

As a member of the EZD Unit, the intern will assist the COVID-19 Team in enhancing routine wastewater surveillance monitoring and expanding the WHO Global COVID-19 data repository by incorporating new data sources related to impact data.

Under the supervision of the technical lead/Unit head, the intern will perform the following duties:

  • Assist in enhancing wastewater surveillance monitoring, including preparing summaries, exploring new sources and ways for presenting it in the information products
  • Support in analyzing existing data reporting structure and propose improvements via the exploration of the country dashboards.
  • Assist with the creation of information products, including weekly briefing notes, monthly epidemiological bulletin, weekly epidemiological slide deck, etc.
  • Support in conducting routine data quality checks
  • Provide ad hoc analysis when needed to support the Technical Advisory Groups
  • Assist in updating relevant technical guidance, policy briefs and other relevant documents when needed.
  • Perform any other tasks as may be assigned by the supervisor

Learning objectives

The aim of the WHO Internship Programme is to provide an enriching learning experience for students and recent graduates. The Learning Objectives outlined within each internship vacancy are a key component of the programme. Therefore, this internship offer provides an opportunity to enable the intern to:

  • Understand how COVID-19 surveillance at global level is conducted and aspects on the data, analysis and related information products as well as dissemination to relevant decision-makers and stakeholders both within and outside of the Organization
  • Understand how to contribute to the developing or updating technical guidance and other relevant documents in WHO.
  • Understand the structure and functions of the WHO Health Emergency (WHE) Programme

DURATION OF INTERNSHIP

24 weeks - tentative start date 7 October 2024

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Have completed the equivalent of three years of full-time studies in public health, epidemiology, medicine, nursing or equivalent at a university or equivalent institution prior to commencing the assignment AND be enrolled in a relevant course of study in any of the aforementioned study areas at a university or equivalent institution leading to a formal qualification (applicants who have already graduated may also qualify for consideration provided that they apply to the internship within six months after completion of their formal qualification).

Skills and knowledge

  • Excellent written communication and presentation skills.
  • Ability to work independently and demonstrate initiative and flexibility.
  • Being organized and efficient; follow-through on assigned tasks
  • Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.
  • Strong quantitative/statistics background

Core competencies

  • Teamwork
  • Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
  • Communication
All interns should be able to demonstrate the following skills in line with the WHO core competencies:
  • Communicating effectively orally and in writing
  • Showing willingness to learn from mistakes
  • Producing and delivering quality results
  • Working collaboratively with team members

In addition, interns need to be familiar with commonly used computer programmes, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Knowledge of specialized computer programmes, for example, statistical software such as XLStat may be an advantage.

Experience

  • Prior emergency disaster and health outbreak response or humanitarian working experience at field level, with the UN/WHO, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organizations or with an international nongovernmental organization is an added advantage.
  • Proficient in programming languages for database management and data analyses (e.g., R, SQL, AI, etc.) is desirable

Languages

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.

Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French. Intermediate knowledge of other UN language.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Interns do not receive a salary. They do however receive a living allowance. The amount of living allowance is different in each duty station. The amount also depends on any other external financial support received by the intern (grant, scholarships, etc.) and whether their permanent residence is in the duty station of the internship. In Geneva, for interns with permanent residence in the duty station, the maximum amount of the allowance provided by WHO is 720 CHF per month. For interns whose permanent residence is outside of the duty station, the maximum amount is 1620 CHF per month. The exact amount of the living allowance will be calculated for each intern, after selection, based on a legal financial disclosure form that the individual will complete. In addition, all interns in Geneva will receive a daily lumpsum amount for meal expenses (20 CHF per working day). WHO also provides all interns with accident and medical insurance coverage.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • Please note that internships at WHO are very competitive and only a small number of applicants will be accepted every year. Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted
  • Living abroad is expensive and finding accommodation can be challenging. All intern candidates should be aware of these factors before they consider applying for a WHO Internship.
  • If selected for a WHO Internship, candidates will be required to provide certified copies of proof of enrolment in an eligible course of studies, a completed WHO medical certificate of fitness for work, and the contact details for reference checks.
  • WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
  • WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
  • WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.
  • The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
  • The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply.
  • Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to: reasonableaccommodation@who.int
  • WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
  • Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Department of Staff Health and Wellbeing (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at shws@who.int.
This vacancy is now closed.