Consultants template

Purpose of the Consultancy The purpose of the international consultancy is to provide senior technical and strategic support to the Ministry of Health of Iraq, through the WHO Country Office Iraq and the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, to develop the Iraq National Digital Health Strategy 2027–2031 and an integrated, prioritized and costed implementation action plan. The consultancy will build on the unendorsed 2023 draft strategy and the digital health progress achieved during 2023–2026, while strengthening national ownership, governance, interoperability, sustainability and alignment with Iraq’s health-system priorities, Universal Health Coverage and current WHO global and regional digital health frameworks.

Background Iraq developed a draft National Digital Health Transformation Strategy in 2023 using the WHO/ITU eHealth Strategy Toolkit and digital health maturity approaches. The draft provided an important foundation, including a vision linked to Universal Health Coverage and priorities such as digital birth registration, unique patient identification, DHIS2-based health information management and GIS-enabled facility mapping. However, it was not finalized, officially endorsed, costed or translated into an implementation roadmap. Since 2023, the Ministry of Health, with support from WHO and partners, has expanded the institutional use of DHIS2 for public health surveillance and programme reporting, strengthened event-based surveillance and TB case-based reporting, advanced nutrition and immunization information systems, established a Ministry-led DHIS2 core team, and expanded GIS, HeRAMS and other digital health initiatives. These developments require a new, implementation-oriented strategy for 2027–2031 that reflects current national systems and priorities, reduces fragmentation, and strengthens governance, sustainable financing, workforce capacity, data governance, cybersecurity and interoperability. The strategy will also address digital public infrastructure and enterprise architecture requirements, responsible use of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, digital health in emergencies, equity and meaningful stakeholder participation. It will be aligned with the WHO Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2027, the Digital Health Action Plan for the Eastern Mediterranean Region 2024–2028, and the regional strategy for enhancement and digitalization of health information systems 2024–2028. The international consultant will build on the assessments, consultations and preparatory work undertaken by the Ministry of Health, WHO and national stakeholders and will focus on technical drafting, the implementation roadmap, validation and finalization.

Planned Timelines Working days: 30 working days during the three-month contract

Work to be performed Output 1 (12 working days): Draft Iraq National Digital Health Strategy 2027–2031 Deliverable 1.1: Review and synthesize the 2023 draft strategy, relevant national policies and digital health developments during 2023–2026, together with available maturity assessments, surveys, consultations and workshop findings, and identify the strategic gaps to be addressed in the 2027–2031 strategy. Deliverable 1.2: Compile relevant international and regional good practices, WHO/ITU tools and lessons learned, and support the Ministry of Health and WHO to confirm the strategy vision, guiding principles, Theory of Change, SMART objectives, strategic priorities and chapter structure. Deliverable 1.3: Prepare the first full draft of the Iraq National Digital Health Strategy 2027–2031. The draft will address, at minimum, governance and institutional arrangements; alignment of existing digital systems; enterprise architecture and interoperability requirements; health information exchange needs; data governance and cybersecurity; workforce and change management; sustainable financing; responsible use of AI and emerging technologies; digital health in emergencies; equity, accessibility and stakeholder participation; and monitoring and accountability.

Output 2 (10 working days): Integrated and costed implementation action plan and monitoring framework Deliverable 2.1: Develop a prioritized implementation action plan for 2027–2031, including expected outcomes, key interventions, milestones, sequencing, roles and responsibilities, dependencies and implementation steps, with clear immediate priorities for the first phase. Deliverable 2.2: Estimate the main cost categories and resource requirements for implementation, in coordination with the Ministry of Health and WHO, considering ongoing national initiatives, existing partner-supported projects, recurrent costs, sustainability and potential financing gaps. Deliverable 2.3: Develop the strategy monitoring and evaluation framework, including indicators, baselines where available, targets, data sources, reporting frequency and responsible entities, and link the framework to the strategic objectives and implementation action plan.

Output 3 (8 working days): Technical consultation, validation and finalization of the strategy and action plan Deliverable 3.1: Design and facilitate, together with the Ministry of Health and WHO, the required technical consultations and validation meetings with relevant national stakeholders and technical experts. Deliverable 3.2: Consolidate comments from the Ministry of Health, WHO Country Office, WHO EMRO and participating stakeholders in a response matrix and revise the draft strategy, implementation action plan and monitoring framework accordingly. Deliverable 3.3: Submit the final English version of the Iraq National Digital Health Strategy 2027–2031 and its integrated action plan, ready for the national endorsement process, together with an executive summary and presentation for senior decision-makers.

Education requirements Essential:Advanced university degree (master’s level or above) for mid and high end of range in digital health, health informatics, health information systems, public health, health policy, information technology, computer sciences, health systems or a related field. Desirable:Doctoral degree or additional qualification in digital health, health informatics, enterprise architecture, health governance, health economics or a related field.

Experience required Essential • 7 to 10 years of relevant experience in digital health, health information systems or health-sector strategic planning, including demonstrated experience supporting the development of national digital health strategies and implementation plans for governments or international organizations. • International experience in low- and middle-income countries is required. Desirable Experience in enterprise architecture, interoperability, data governance, cybersecurity, costing and monitoring and evaluation is highly desirable.

Skills / Technical skills and knowledge • Excellent communication, facilitation and coordination skills, including engagement with senior government officials and multidisciplinary technical teams. • Excellent strategic analysis, planning, organization and report-writing skills, with the ability to translate complex technical issues into clear policy and implementation actions. • Proven skills in project management, time management, teamwork, consultation and delivery of high-quality outputs within short timelines.

Language requirements Essential: Expert written and spoken English. Desirable: Working knowledge of Arabic.

Place of assignment: Remote working from home, with the possibility of being requested to travel to Baghadad, Iraq, if requierd and as agreed with WCO Iraq.

Medical clearance The selected Consultant will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

Travel The Consultant may be expected to travel, including for taking up assignment; itinerary and estimated schedule will be agreed upon as required. All travel arrangements will be made by WHO – WHO will not be responsible for tickets purchased by the Consultant without the express, prior authorization of WHO. While on mission under the terms of this consultancy, the Consultant will receive a subsistence allowance in line with the instructions applicable locally or up to the maximum of the UN DSA. The Consultant may apply for a UN Certificate prior to travelling.

Visa Requirement It is the Consultant’s responsibility to fulfil visa requirements and ask for visa support letter(s) if needed.

Additional Information

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Added 1 month ago - Updated 28 days ago - Source: who.int