Country: Switzerland
Closing date: 16 Mar 2017
Request for expression of interest:
Energy Policy Specialist
Geneva Switzerland,
World Health Organization
The Interventions for Healthy Environments (IHE) unit’s, of the Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, objective is to promote health sector interventions, as well as interventions in economic sectors (e.g. housing, transport, energy) that reduce environmental health risks, promote better health, and optimize the health co-benefits of sustainable development /climate change mitigation policies.
As part of its Household Air Pollution and Health programme, IHE activities aim to build the capacity of the health and other relevant sectors to protect public health from household air pollution caused by the use of inefficient and polluting fuels and technologies in the home. Accordingly, WHO is currently developing a number of tools and resources to support country partners and other stakeholders to implement the WHO Guidelines of indoor air quality: household fuel combustion. Some related activities include :
The development of the “Clean Household Energy Solutions Toolkit (CHEST)” which provides guidance on the tools and resources needed to develop and implement policies on household energy that protect public health
Monitoring the household energy access situation and its health impacts through the WHO databases on household energy use and its health impacts
The development of a policy database that captures both historical and current policies on household energy and/or household air pollution, and when available measures its impacts on health
Currently, WHO is seeking an international expert in energy policies to work in cooperation with the IHE team and other experts to design a set of assessment tools for the development of country profiles. Each country profile aims to be a rapid assessment which describes a country’s experiences and readiness to address household energy and its health risks. Each country profile will:
summarize the energy needs of households, the types of fuels and technologies accessible and/or used by households, and map out the local resources, markets and infrastructure for household energy;
estimate the population exposure to household air pollution and its associated disease burden at the national level and/or state level;
evaluate the social, economic and behavioural factors (e.g. knowledge, attitudes, risk perception, household income, gender differences, cultural practices, etc.) contributing the choices of different fuels and technologies used by households;
document the historical and current policies for and/or related to household energy use, household air pollution and/or its health impacts, and outline national and/or local government strategies/policy frameworks related to household energy use, if any.
The selected candidate will be responsible for developing a set of tools, and templates to be used in a country to research energy policies and their impacts/effectiveness; outline the energy resources and infrastructure for household energy use; and map out the relevant stakeholders in a country, particularly in relation to the energy value chain.
Upon completion of the tools, the selected candidate will support remote trainings for national professionals on how to use the tool, as well as make in-country visits to help finalize a draft country profile and participate in a stakeholders visit to the country.
Expected deliverables will include:
(a) a finalized set of tools and templates needed to gather and synthesize the information to develop draft a country profile on household energy and health.
(b) conducting webinar remote trainings and provide support to national consultants on the tools and steps needed to be complete a country profile
(c) completion of 2 in-country field visits to support the national consultants with the development of the respective country profile and plan for the stakeholder visit to review the draft report and meet relevant stakeholders
Duration of Work and Required Travel:
The selected candidate will be expected to complete a total of 32 days of work between March 2017 and November 2017. To complete the work, the candidate will be expected to:
Work 2 to 3 weeks in Geneva at WHO HQ* (during end of March and beginning of April 2017)
Work 1 week in 2 different countries (a total of 2 weeks in-field) *, later in the year, dates TBD
* Travel costs including flights and per diem will be covered by WHO
Qualifications and Skills required:
- Sound understanding and experience with energy policy analytics and policy evaluation particularly in low and middle income country setting;
- Understanding of policy decision-making processes and engaging/advising governments or other stakeholders on policies;
- Practical experience developing tools and/or templates to evaluate or assess policies
- Understanding of the challenges and intricacies of multi-sectoral policies;
- Understanding the economics of energy policies and how this influences their implementation and effectiveness
- Strong communication skills in English, both written and oral;
- Desirable: Working knowledge of Spanish
Experience:
- Identifying stakeholders working in different sectors related to household energy use (e.g. Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Finance, etc), and mapping their respective roles
- Evaluating the strengths, and weaknesses of an energy value chain in a country and evaluating different energy policy scenarios
- Conducting a “needs assessment” and/or stakeholder mapping in a low or middle-income country
- Desirable: Preparing tools and/or information resources for extracting and analysing information on energy policies and providing related trainings
How to apply:
The World Health Organization Headquarters in Geneva now invites eligible individuals to indicate their interest in undertaking this work to develop tools and support the development of health and household energy country profiles. Interested parties must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the above tasks: curriculum vitae, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, examples of relevant reports or publications, etc. The final candidate will be selected through a competitive process in accordance with WHO’s operating policies and procedures.
Contact:
Expression of interest must be received no later than 16:00 (CET) on Thursday 16 March 2017. The expressions of interest are to be delivered electronically to Heather Adair-Rohani (adairrohanih@who.int) and Michael Hinsch (hinschm@who.int) with the mention “Expression of Interest – Energy Policy Specialist ” in the email subject.