Consultant –WHO Rehabilitation Programme’s advocacy activities

Purpose of consultancy

To contribute to WHO Rehabilitation Programme’s advocacy activities that raise awareness about rehabilitation and help to establish rehabilitation as a global political priority. Key tasks will include:

• Establishing World Rehabilitation Alliance membership induction and review processes, by developing a membership induction guide, evaluating membership applications and analyzing membership composition, producing relevant reports on findings.
• Technical writing and preparing data for a Return on Investment Case for Rehabilitation.

Background

An estimated 2.4 billion people worldwide would benefit from rehabilitation at some point in their lives. This number is expected to increase in the coming years due to people living longer and with more chronic disease and disability. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on future rehabilitation needs is also yet to be seen. Despite this huge need, rehabilitation services remain limited in much of the world. Where rehabilitation is available, major barriers often persist including lack of funding, leadership, available data and evidence for rehabilitation and functioning, skilled workforce and resources.

To address these challenges, WHO launched the Rehabilitation 2030 initiative, drawing attention to the increasing unmet need for rehabilitation, and calling for coordinated and concerted global action towards strengthening rehabilitation in health systems. Since the initiative’s launch in 2017, WHO has continued to support countries to implement these actions through technical support, developing normative guidance and practical tools, and increasing the development of robust research and evidence for rehabilitation. Advocacy is another fundamental component of WHO’s work, aimed at increasing awareness on the health, social and economic benefits of rehabilitation, and building political support for rehabilitation amongst decision- and policy-makers. Two current WHO rehabilitation advocacy activities are:

• World Rehabilitation Alliance (WRA): The WRA will be a WHO-hosted global network of stakeholders whose mission is to support the implementation of the Rehabilitation 2030 Initiative, and raise the profile of rehabilitation at a global, regional, national and local level through advocacy activities. WRA membership will consist of Member States, State bodies, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, private sector and philanthropic foundations.
• Return on investment (ROI) case for rehabilitation: The ROI case involves analyzing data on the costs and benefits of a rehabilitation intervention over time to ascertain whether the outcomes of the intervention are greater than the initial investment, and thus worthwhile to pursue. An ROI is highly relevant for policy-makers and other stakeholders to strengthen the case for investing in rehabilitation in countries.

WHO Rehabilitation Programme is now seeking a consultant with strong technical writing skills and experience in evidence synthesis, data management and analysis to contribute to this work.

Deliverables

• Deliverable 1: Develop a WRA membership induction guide. Expected by: 30 June 2022.
• Deliverable 2: Evaluate WRA membership applications and draft a report on findings according to an established due diligence and risk assessment protocol and reporting template. Expected by: Report completed for each submitted application by the end of every month, for the contract duration.
• Deliverable 3: Analyze the WRA membership composition on a quarterly basis and develop a report outlining findings and recommendations. Expected by: First analysis and report by August 2022; Second analysis and report by November 2022.
• Deliverable 4: Draft a concept note, background paper and meeting report for a ROI case technical working group meeting. Expected by: September 2022.
• Deliverable 5: Prepare final data for the economic calculations of the ROI case. Expected by: 25 Jan 2022.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications:

Essential:
First university degree in a rehabilitation profession (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physical and rehabilitation medicine, or similar).

Desirable:
Advanced university degree in rehabilitation, public health, international health, or a related field.

Experience:

Essential:
At least 3 years of experience working in the area of rehabilitation.

Desirable:
Previous experience working with WHO or another multilateral organization.

Skills/Knowledge:

• Demonstrated skills in conducting literature reviews, evidence synthesis and appraisal (at least two publications);
• Excellent skills in data management and analysis, including expert knowledge in Excel and database tools;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Languages required:

Essential:
Expert knowledge of English.

Location:

Off-site – Home-based.

Travel:

Not required.

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded):

Remuneration:

Band level A: USD 3.955 – 6.980 per month.

Living expenses (A living expense is payable to on-site consultants who are internationally recruited):

N/A

Expected duration of contract:

8 months

Additional Information

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• Consultants working in Switzerland must register with the applicable Swiss cantonal tax authorities and social security authorities, within the prescribed timeframes (Guidelines issued by the Swiss Mission are available at: https://www.eda.admin.ch/missions/mission-onu-geneve/en/home/manual-regime-privileges-and-immunities/introduction/Manuel-personnes-sans-privileges-et-immunites-carte-H/Non fonctionnaires et stagiaires.html