Country Health Emergency Preparedness & International Health Regulations Consultants (Roster)

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

The Country Health Emergency Preparedness and IHR Programme Area (CPI) of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme is developing a roster of consultants to work on specific elements of its preparedness, readiness and monitoring programme. The consultant roster will provide a cadre of specialists to respond to requests for support to enable WHO to achieve its General programme of Work (GPW 13).

Deployments will be for varying lengths of time, from days to weeks, including occasional rapid deployment, depending on the nature of the work and the availability of consultants. Various experience levels will be required for individual pieces of work.

Consultants should be experienced public health professionals in the area of emergency preparedness, readiness and response. This includes the development of emergency preparedness and response systems, at national, sub-national, and community levels, and within the clinical services area of health facility preparedness and response. Complementing this would be experienced professionals in health emergency monitoring and evaluation, to assist in the identification and filling of gaps.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The mission of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) 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.

Within WHE, the CPI Programme Area is responsible for monitoring and evaluation of countries’ preparedness for health and humanitarian emergencies, the planning of and country capacity building for critical capacities and the Secretariat of the International Health Regulations (2005). CPI has an all-hazards approach and involves all three levels of the Organization. CPI prioritizes support to the most vulnerable and low capacity countries.

Building upon the five-year global strategic plan to improve public health preparedness and response, 2018–2023, and tailored to the needs of the Region, WHO EURO developed the action plan to improve public health preparedness and response in the WHO European Region, 2018-2023. The regional action plan aims to strengthen and maintain regional capacities to effectively prevent, prepare for, detect and respond to public health threats and to provide assistance to affected countries, when necessary.

Guided by the General Program of Work (GPW) 13 target of 1 billion people better protected from health emergencies – intensive and targeted efforts are underway to ensure technical support to countries to build their emergency preparedness, operational readiness and response capacities.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

CPI is building a roster of experts, at varying levels of seniority, to contribute to health emergency preparedness and monitoring across a number of technical areas and issues. This is a generic description of areas of expertise developed for a roster of consultants/experts. The final terms of the reference for the assignment/contract will be based on the actual requirements of the assignment. Experts on the roster will be invited to take on specific, clearly defined assignments in one or more of the areas listed below, in line with their specific profile and expertise\:

1. Health facility level preparedness\:
a. Conduct strategic risk assessments with hospitals to ascertain most likely scenarios to be covered by a hospital emergency response plan, review existing hospital emergency response plans, and facilitate the development of new plans.
b. Facilitate training in mass casualty incident management at pre-hospital and emergency department levels, with associated simulations to reinforce training.
c. Work alongside Regional and Country Office staff to develop mass casualty incident management protocols and operating procedures, including incident management structures in hospitals.
d. Prepare and facilitate simulation exercises to test the new/revised hospital emergency response plans, including recommendations for further refinement of the plans.

2. National level health emergency management planning
a. Facilitate workshops with relevant partners on the development or revision of emergency operations plans.
b. Based on the priority risks identified through Strategic Risk Assessments, or other risk profiling activities, facilitate the development of operational contingency plans for the management of specific risks.
c. Support the development and implementation of simulation exercises to strengthen the emergency operations and/or contingency plans.
d. Support the development of the National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS) - multisectoral, strategic plans for the full implementation of IHR (2005) through the facilitation and conduct of workshops, provision of technical advice and support for the application of WHO tools for NAPHS planning, costing or implementing.

3. Emergency Preparedness ad Response Capacity Assessments
a. Provide technical support for assessing critical capacities for emergency preparedness and response through implementation of the IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, in particular the planning and conduct of all types of Simulation Exercises (table top exercises, functional exercises, and field exercises) and After Action Reviews (AARs) based on WHO recommended methodology.
b. Provide support for Hospital Safety Index assessments through training and in-country mentorship.
c. Working alongside relevant Regional Office staff, provide technical support for the further development and/or revision of assessment tools for health systems capacity for crisis management.
d. Provide technical support for the development and application of a toolkit, including facilitation guidance, training materials, templates, and methodology for vulnerability assessments.

4. Emergency Preparedness ad Response Implementation support
a. Provide technical support to the CPI team on the implementation and development of protocols and plans required for emergency operations centers.
b. Adapt WHO guidance documents into preparedness checklists and risk-specific planning for Regional high priority risks.
c. Provide support to the development and assessment of routine and emergency capacities at points of entry (PoE), as required under the IHR.
d. Develop training and information materials relevant for different target audiences and appropriate for the regional context, including the organization of expert workshops based on the 4 components of the Monitoring & Evaluation Framework (State Party self-assessment Annual Reporting, Joint External Evaluation, Simulation Exercise and AAR).

5. Data Analysis
The above-mentioned activities generate significant data on capacities for emergency preparedness and response. The compilation of these data, as well as other reported data available in the public domain will further assist the Regional Office to develop tools and support mechanisms for Member States.
a. Support the compilation, analysis and interpretation of qualitative and quantitative data generated by Member States on the status of emergency preparedness and IHR implementation for the purpose of priority setting, resource allocation and refinement of WHO and partners’ tools. This analysis will include, but not be limited to\:
i. Analysis of IHR monitoring and evaluation data,
ii. Compilation of IHR monitoring and evaluation data with health systems data,
iii. Risk and vulnerability assessment to further identify specific gaps for priority setting and resource allocation.

RECRUITMENT PROFILE

The minimum academic and professional experience required to apply for the roster is outlined below. The actual grade for each individual contract will be determined in accordance with WHO guidelines on minimum requirements at the time of contract issuance.

Functional Knowledge and Skills\:

Educational Requirements
Essential
Advanced university degree from an accredited and recognized institution in medicine, health, public health and/or relevant related field.

Desirable
Training in health emergency/disaster preparedness and response, simulation exercises, effective emergency planning, or mass casualty incident management would be an asset

Experience
Essential
At least 5 years’ experience in developing emergency management systems at national level, or in emergency management capacity monitoring and evaluation, or in health facility emergency response systems.
Experience in facilitation of trainings and/or workshops in the health or emergency management contexts.

Desirable
Relevant work experience in WHO or other UN agencies would be an asset
International experience in the development of emergency management systems

Language
Essential\:
Excellent knowledge of English

Desirable\:
Working knowledge of Russian
Working knowledge of another WHO EURO language is an asset

REMUNERATION
Remuneration is based on classified requirements of the Terms of Reference of the Individual Consultant Contract with related academic and professional experience applied for the grade in accordance with WHO’s consultant’s pay band ranges.