Purpose of the Consultancy
In alignment with the FCV Unit’s efforts to mainstream humanitarian and fragile, conflict-affected, vulnerable (FCV) settings operations within the implementation of the 2021 COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, the consultant will contribute to the establishment and operationalization of a system to monitor and respond to the health and social impacts of the pandemic among populations living in humanitarian and FCV settings, including the rolling out of periodical assessment on the status of delivery of essential health services; to document good practices of PHSM implementation in these settings; and to the organizational reporting against the 2021 SPRP Key Performance Indicators related to humanitarian and FCV settings.
Background
One year following the declaration of COVID-19 as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), many countries continue to struggle with its limited ability to diagnose and treat COVID-19 cases, and to respond to the severe health and socio-economic impacts the pandemic is causing. This is particularly pertinent in countries facing humanitarian emergencies and those with fragile, conflict-affected, vulnerable (FCV) settings. Most of these countries struggle between responding to COVID-19 and responding to other critical needs, many of them causing even more harm, morbidity and mortality than COVID-19. In humanitarian and FCV settings, although no explosive outbreaks have been detected, public health and social measures (PHSM) that are critical for the prevention and response to the disease are difficult to implement, and all the determinants for a rapid and uncontrollable transmission remain very much present. However, as the true scale of transmission in these settings is difficult to gauge from epidemiological data due to insufficient testing, other mechanisms need to be identified and utilized to inform preparedness and response actions. Furthermore, as there are other diseases, such as malaria, and conditions that continue to cause much more burden than COVID-19 in these settings, it is of equal importance to ensure that essential health services are not disrupted and those disrupted are quickly resumed, especially in countries with weaker health systems.
This consultancy will serve to support the FCV Unit’s effort in implementing its priority deliverables for 2021 in relation to COVID-19 in humanitarian settings, in particular:
* Develop and support the implementation of COVID-19 health and socio-economic impact monitoring in FCV settings
Establish the blueprint and mechanism for monitoring impact, including identification of operational indicators
Support the implementation of impact monitoring
Support the cross-analysis of the results and their reflection in preparedness and future operations
* Document good practices on public health and social measures implementation in FCV settings and cross-fertilization across different countries and settings, focusing on local innovations/ adaptation
Identify and document good and bad practices related to the IASC actions for COVID-19 preparedness and response in FCV settings
Organize FGDs and webinars with all levels of the Organization on pertinent technical topics
* Contribute to COVID-19 SPRP and OpG development – integration of FCV perspectives into strategic and technical discussions and documents
Deliverables
Output 1
A system to detect alerts and respond to unusual pressure to health systems in humanitarian and FCV settings established and functioning
Activity 1.1:
Follow the development of this alert and response system with relevant WHO staff from other departments and units (GHC, HIM, HIS, COVID-19 HQ IMST, etc) by settings up regular meetings/discussions and follow-up on implementation of agreed actions
Activity 1.2:
Follow the testing and roll out of the system with relevant WHO Country Offices; provide technical and operational guidance; provide feedback and contribute to amelioration of the system
Output 2
Periodical assessment on disruptions to essential health services caused by COVID-19 is implemented in countries with humanitarian and FCV settings
Activity 2.1:
Contribute to the development/adaptation of assessment methodologies and tools for implementation in humanitarian and FCV settings, in collaboration with relevant departments and units (GHC, HIM, HIS, COVID-19 HQ IMST, etc)
Activity 2.2:
Support data collection and analysis in selected countries and settings; produce report on results; provide and respond to feedback to ameliorate the methodology and tool for subsequent roll out.
Output 3
Documentation of good practices of PHSM implementation in humanitarian and FCV settings
Activity 3.1:
Develop the methodology and tool for the documentation of good practices of PHSM implementation in collaboration with relevant departments and units (GHC, HIM, HIS, COVID-19 HQ IMST, etc) and partners (IASC)
Activity 3.2:
Implement data collection and analysis, and produce a final report on the good practices from selected humanitarian and FCV settings.
Output 4
SPRP KPIs for humanitarian and FCV settings are reported on regularly
Activity 4.1:
Provide technical and operational guidance to WHO country offices with humanitarian and FCV settings to report on the selected KPIs and support data entry, analysis and reporting
Activity 4.2:
Collect feedback on implementation of the monitoring system and contribute to system amelioration.
Duration of contract: 6 Months
Remuneration
* Low - Band C
Specific requirements
Qualifications required:
Advanced degree (Masters level or above) in medicine, public health or health related discipline
Experience required: A minimum of 7 years of experience in public health, notably in emergency and large outbreak response in FCV settings; experience in development of strategies and policies in the context of emergencies; experience in monitoring and evaluation in emergency settings
Skills / Technical skills and knowledge: Technical knowledge and operational skills in strategic planning, emergency operations, monitoring and evaluation; excellent communication skills to negotiate/enlist cooperation from a broad range of actors from multi-disciplinary backgrounds; strong organizational skills complemented with ability to work in a proactive and independent manner, multi-task and produce results under pressure
Language requirements:
English: expert knowledge in reading, writing and speaking required
French or Arabic or Spanish: intermediate knowledge in reading, writing and speaking desirable
Place of assignment
Remote support.
Possibility to travel to Geneva for a duration to be agreed upon and appropriate travel arrangements will be made by the Unit as needed and allowed by the travel restrictions.
How to apply:
Please send your Personal History Form PHF/CV to josepha@who.int.
Only qualifying candidates will be contacted.