Consultant - Extending the benefits of healthy ageing across the life course

Purpose of consultancy

To continue the groundwork connecting area and age group leads across life stages, network members in external institutions, as well as supporting tracking, monitoring and reporting of technical work, and developing knowledge sharing mechanisms.

Background

The WHO Baseline Report for the Decade of Healthy Ageing notes that healthy ageing begins before age 60, and that actions to improve it requires efforts at each life stage. This includes approaches to monitor the impact of actions, and measure healthy development and healthy ageing across the life course. These includes policies and actions representing multiple determinants (spanning health, education, work, social protection and environments). This five-year project aims to extend the benefits of conceptual work relating to healthy ageing, e.g., evaluating impacts of actions on the optimization of person-centered outcomes of physical and mental capacities and on abilities to function and achieve wellbeing. This requires efforts to connect life stages and evaluate the evidence to operationalize a life course approach to healthy ageing and development (as most evidence on life course analyses focus on epidemiological studies rather than on an evaluation of ways to design, sustainably fund and operationalize systems and programmes from a life course perspective).

WHO will therefore need to bringing together researchers, centers and global thinkers who are currently working on separate areas, for example:

• Each life stage (children, adolescents/ youth, adults, and older people) – to consider how to measure, gather evidence across life course.
• Epidemiology of life course – to enlarge field from descriptions to evaluation of interventions and their cumulative impact.
• Child development, adult health and healthy ageing – as currently these are in separate areas.
• Education, labor, health and social protections – to consider how systems can have aligned goals to enable functional ability at all ages and what innovations can be developed to increase flexibility and choice.

New approaches may be a combination of incremental and radical changes that recognizes and strengthens the interdependence of each life stage and the rational to invest in a life course approach.

Deliverables

• Deliverable 1: Technical monitoring and tracking across contributors including the new network of research centers relating to project deliverables.
  • Set up and refine tracking technical monitoring per working group liaise with finance team to ensure reporting is adequate and fulfills requirements per donor.
    Reporting schedule expected by December 2023 and April 2024

• Deliverable 2: Contribute to specification of working group responsibilities.
  • Develop tracking tools for the implementation of the workplan and timelines as set by the department with external collaborators.
    Expected by August 2023

• Deliverable 3: Contribute to and facilitate organization and reporting of meetings and workshops.
  • Set up logistics such as accessing and expert inputs to documents, for staff and external collaborators to contribute to enable network members to contribute to specific agreed on outputs.
  • Set up meetings of life course centers and 6-8 project working groups (virtual).
    Expected by September 2023

• Deliverable 4: Documentation and knowledge sharing.
  • Set up and maintain shared folder for the team and working groups.
    Expected by July 2023
  • Facilitate knowledge sharing, updating and dissemination of meeting minutes, and other relevant project documents.
    Expected by September 2023

• Deliverable 5: Contribute to compilation of materials, peer review processes, and when mutually agreed on, writing of specific sections of documents including meeting repeats, policy or technical briefs.
  • Facilitate production of network meeting reports.
    Expected by December 2023 and April 2024
  • Facilitate production of technical documents including peer review processes.
    Expected by December 2023 and April 2024

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications:

Essential:

• First level university degree in public health/or related discipline.

Desirable:

• An advanced university degree in public health/or related discipline.

Experience

Essential:

• At least 5 years of relevant experience in at least one of the project areas, at global and national levels.
• Demonstrated experience with evidence synthesis in the area of health and children, adolescents or older persons, and in other areas with impact on health.
• Demonstrated experience managing health projects and working in an environment that supports implementation research.
• Experience in knowledge sharing and engaging with stakeholders and high-level experts from different backgrounds and experience.

Desirable:

• Experience working in a low-income country.

Skills/Knowledge:

Essential:

• Knowledge of current literature, debates and concerns in relation to at least one area (health, education, labor, social protection); familiarity in several is a plus.
• A proven ability to set up and track project progression and management, including monitoring reports.
• Demonstrated expertise in at least one of the four life stages (children, adolescent/youth, adults, older persons).
• Demonstrated interest in reviewing and synthesizing data and evidence.
• Skills in stakeholder outreach, writing communications for a wide variety of stakeholders with researchers and policy makers, and conducting interviews/discussions.
• Demonstrated ability to think laterally and integrate knowledge from different disciplines, approaches and viewpoints, and align with the WHO’s mandate.
• Willingness to work on multiple tasks simultaneously and prioritize.
• Ability working with people from multiple disciplinary and cultural backgrounds.

Languages required:

Essential:

• Expert knowledge of English.

Desirable:

• At least one other UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish).

Location

Off site: Home-based.

Travel

The consultant is not expected to travel.

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded):

Remuneration:

Band level B - USD 7,000 – 9,980 per month.

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

N/A

Expected duration of contract:

11 months – part time at 50%. Remuneration will be pro-rated accordingly.

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 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