-
Purpose of the Consultancy
The purpose of the consultancy is to provide technical input to strengthen the detection, verification, risk assessment and communication of acute public health events, surveillance, monitoring and evaluation of response to events activities.
With the ongoing global outbreak of COVID-19, the consultant may also be deployed for surge in any EMR countries during the COVID-19 response to support on the HIM work.
The mission of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme (The 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 Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment (HIM) Unit is responsible for identifying new public health events, assessing risks to public health, conducting epidemiological surveillance and field investigations, monitoring public health interventions, and communicating public health information to technical partners.
The HIM Unit is also in charge of the communication with the International Health Regulations (IHR) National Focal Points (NFPs)\: as Regional Contact Point, the Unit receives notifications of public health events from IRH NFPs and sends them request for verification when a signal or an event is detected.
The HIM Unit is also in charge of communicating technical information to WHO, to WHO partners, and to public. The Unit produces regular situation reports for ongoing events and risks and develops maps and other infographics. The HIM Unit also provides support to similar publications made by WHO Country Offices. To ensure the quality of the products, good editing is needed.
The HIM Unit provides support to country offices and health clusters for collecting and analysing information needed to guide response activities. At the beginning of 2019, the Unit developed tools that will ease the collection and the collection of this information by health clusters and will provide support for the analysis of these data.
Under the HIM Unit is the Detection, Verification and Risk Assessment (DVA) Team which is in the forefront to timely identify emerging public health threats, collect epidemiological information to assess the risks and immediately provide appropriate response and strategies addressing critical needs to avoid further morbidity and mortality. The key to deliver this critical task is to identify signals within 24 hours of identification, verify, risk assess and communicate and manage these acute public health events. The team works 24/7 and produce results with a very tight deadline.Another team in HIM is the Monitoring and Data Collection (MDC) which is in charge of collecting information from the Country Offices and other health partners and monitor response through the Response framework and the Mapping and Analytics team which is in charge of visualizing the information for internal and external WHO colleagues and partners. Therefore, there is a need to hire consultant to support the team in an effective and efficient manner through detection of acute public health events, risk assessment, development of communication products (EIS, DON, Daily and Weekly Summary of Events, data collection and analysis, communicating acute public health events and monitoring and evaluation.
Planned timelines
Start date\:01/07/2020
End date\: 31/12/2020
4. Work to be performed-
Output 1\: Work with EMRO-HIM on Epidemic Intelligence (EI) activities.
Deliverable 1.1\: Surf and compile news articles using the EIOS platform and social media.
Deliverable 1.2\: Participate in triage meetings with DVA Team Lead and provide technical feedback.
Deliverable 1.3\: Fill in EI platform of acute public health events.
Deliverable 1.4\: Prepare draft presentations.
Deliverable 1.5\: Write draft of Daily and Weekly Summary of signals and events, EIS and Disease Outbreak News (DON).
-
Output 2\: Work with EMRO-HIM on surveillance activities.
Deliverable 1.1\: Collect and collate data relevant to acute public health events from the WHO country offices
Deliverable 1.2\: Prepare a literature review
Deliverable 1.3\: Write draft report on weekly and ad-hoc basis
Deliverable 1.4\: Participate with HIM to edit, clean, verify, and analyze data and draft presentation.
-
Output 3\: Provide technical insight on the Regional Response Framework for EMRO HIM
Deliverable 3.1\: Meet with identified working group on Regional Response and COVID-19.
Deliverable 3.2\: Collaborate with MDC Lead on collecting information and identification of tools for monitoring response.
-
5. Technical Supervision
The selected Consultant will work under the supervision of\:
Responsible Officer\: Dr Aura Corpuz, Team Lead, WHE, HIM
Email\:corpuza@who.int
Manager\:Dr Pierre Nabeth, Program Area Manager, WHE, HIM
Email\:nabethp@who.int
6.Specific requirements- Qualifications required\:
Essential\: First level University degree in Public Health or Medicine or Veterinary Medicine
Desirable\: Masterâs Degree in Public Health or related Field
- Experience required\:
Essential\: At least one-year of progressive professional experience in public health, epidemiology or information management either in public or private sector. At least one-year experience in conducting EI, risk assessment, surveillance, or monitoring and evaluation.
Desirable\: Experience in data management which includes data collection, cleaning, analysis and report generation is an asset.
- Skills / Technical skills and knowledge\:
Good knowledge of WHO mandate and goals and UN programmes;
Proven ability to communicate effectively.Excellent communication and writing skills;
Ability to work effectively in a cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary environment;
Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work under pressure.
Tact, discretion and diplomacy
- Language requirements\:
Essential\: Excellent Knowledge of English and Arabic.
7. Place of assignmentCairo, Egypt
Selected consultant may be deployed for surge in any EMR countries during the COVID-19 response to support on the HIM work (as written on Work to be performed)
The selected Consultant will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.
Visas requirements\: it is the consultantâs responsibility to fulfilvisa requirements and ask for visa support letter(s) if needed.
The purpose of this vacancy is to develop a list of qualified candidates for inclusion in this advertised roster. All applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of their application (whether successful or unsuccessful) upon conclusion of the selection process. Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables. Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection to a consultant contract. There is no commitment on either side.
Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
A written test may be used as a form of screening.
If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s)required for this position. 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.
For information on WHO's operations please visit\: http\://www.who.int.
WHO is committed to workforce diversity.
WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.
WHO's workforce adheres to the WHO Values Charter and is committed to put the WHO Values into practice -https\://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values
Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between WHO and the Consultant.
WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.
.