Emergency Roster of Consultants - Risk Communication and Community Engagement and Infodemics

Overview

Lead community engagement and risk communication efforts in health emergencies

You have:

• University degree in social sciences, behavioural sciences, development sciences, communications, humanities or related fields from an accredited/recognized institute.
• At least five years of related experience, at the national and international levels, in RCCE, working in disease outbreaks or health emergencies.
• Expert knowledge of either English or French or Portuguese, depending on the official language in the duty station where deployed.
• Sound knowledge of program management, performance monitoring, and evaluation methods.
• Demonstrated ability to design, manage and analyze complex information system projects, computer-based applications and databases, web-based tools.
• Proven experience in the development and implementation of RCC's strategies and plans.
• Experience managing and liaising with diverse stakeholders.
• Experience working nationally and internationally with marginalized communities and children.
• Ability to contextualize and guide different populations and support the development and dissemination of relevant RCCE strategies.
• Practical knowledge and proven skills in emergency/disaster management concepts and tools and their applications, especially related to managing health emergency/disaster operations.

Purpose of consultancy

The Consultant will work under the overall leadership of the HOTE pillar lead, direct supervision of the RCCE sub pillar lead, and coordination with other personnel at AFRO and WCOs. The Consultant will liaise between RCCE Technical Leads and country office (CO) staff to ensure communication, coordinate and organize meetings, and perform other knowledge management tasks necessary to move activities forward. The Consultant will also co-facilitate the regional training and special country training as needed.

Background

The mission of WHO’s Emergencies Preparedness and Response programme is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and provide effective relief recovery to affected populations.

The objective of Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) is to strengthen public awareness through an integrated risk communication and community engagement approach on the COVID-19, including a psycho-social component in 47 AFRO Member States

Infodemics management, risk communication and community engagement are integral to the success of responses to health emergencies. The evidence is clear: communities play a role in preventing and controlling epidemics. Communities must be involved in co-designing solutions, and community feedback should guide the adaption of those solutions over time.

Deliverables

The Consultant with support AFRO in the following key tasks:

ü Establishing a strong/cohesive RCCE partner coordination at global, regional and country levels for a more effective response;

ü Communicating science information/recommendations promptly that address critical risks and counter misinformation;

ü Accelerating priority research and innovation in social sciences to support the implementation of public health measures and to ensure participation of at-risk and affected communities; and

ü Enhancing country-level capacity to roll out effective and coordinated RCCE approaches through the identification of capacity needs.

Detailed roles:

1. Strengthen the capacity of national and local media and communications organizations to communicate accurately about COVID-19 and counter misinformation.

2. Facilitate multi-sectoral engagement to mitigate the effects of socio-economic-political drivers of COVID-19 and contribute to the resilience of families and communities;

3. Integrate RCCE into the design, implementation and monitoring for all COVID-19 response efforts to avoid duplication and gaps and to maximize the sharing of RCCE resources, standards, indicators, evidence and expertise;

4. Establish mentoring systems to enable those at national and subnational levels to access technical support in an accessible and timely manner, helping improve the quality of RCCE approaches;

5. Develop robust systems and processes around knowledge management and the documentation of approaches, lessons and best practices;

6. Track trending questions by demographic/location/ language/gender/age etc. Map these against available content to respond to those questions, as a basis for gap and trend analysis, prioritization and monitoring;

7. Develop strategies to prevent and address stigma and discrimination, overcome pandemic fatigue, and build and maintain trust;

8. Coordinate efforts to manage the infodemic, build digital and health literacy and mitigate the impact.

9. Balance digital engagement with safe and appropriately resourced in-person engagement to ensure that vulnerable groups and those who cannot access digital channels are not left behind;

10. Invest in community ownership approaches, processes and systems to enable community-centred approaches to roll-out testing, treatments and vaccines;

11. Provide formal and informal community health workforce and local actors with knowledge, engagement and interpersonal communication skills, supplies and tools;

12. Strengthen the availability of relevant and accurate RCCE materials in a range of accessible and applicable formats and languages;

13. Identify and strengthen the systems needed for sustainable long-term community engagement and empowerment, to support communities beyond COVID-19.

14. Perform any other related incident-specific duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

Educational Qualifications

Essential

ü University degree in degree in social sciences, behavioural sciences, development sciences, communications, humanities or related fields from an accredited/recognized institute.

Desirable:

ü Master level in any of the above.

ü Training in public health, health education, health communication, or health promotion is desirable.

Experience

Essential

ü At least five years of related experience, at the national and international levels, in RCCE, working in disease outbreaks or health emergencies. Proven experience in the development and implementation of RCC's strategies and plans.

Desirable:

ü Sound knowledge on program management, performance monitoring, and evaluation methods

ü Proven experience in formulating and implementing complex communication strategies

ü Experience managing and liaising with diverse stakeholders

ü Practical knowledge and proven skills in emergency/disaster management concepts and tools and their applications, especially related to managing health emergency/disaster operations.

ü Practical knowledge and proven skills in emergency/disaster management concepts and tools and their applications, especially related to managing health emergency/disaster operations.

ü Experience working nationally and internationally with marginalized communities and children.

ü The expertise of RCCE concepts and guidance; how to strengthen trust between and amongst communities understand how communities respond (who and what they listen to), create two-way dialogue, etc. Ability to contextualize and guide different populations and support the development and dissemination of relevant RCCE strategies.

ü Experience in designing and/ or community engagement projects in development and/or humanitarian contexts- participatory approaches

Skills/Knowledge

ü Demonstrated ability to design, manage and analyze complex information system projects, computer-based applications and databases, web-based tools

ü High level of analytical skills.

ü Knowledge of programme management and functioning of WHO and the UN system is an asset.

WHO Competencies

ü Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond

ü Communication

ü Creating an empowering and motivating environment

ü Teamwork

ü Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

Languages required

Essential

ü Expert knowledge of either English or French or Portuguese depending on the official language in the duty station where deployed.

Desirable:

ü Working knowledge of an additional UN language.

Location

On-site – Multiple duty stations with AFRO.

Travel

(If travel is involved, a medical certificate of fitness for work will be 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 a mission under the terms of this consultancy, the Consultant will receive subsistence allowance.

Visa requirements

The Consultant’s responsibility is to fulfil visa requirements and ask for visa support letter(s) if needed.

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded):

Remuneration:

USD 7,000 - 9,980 per month

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

A living expense is payable to on-site consultants.

Expected duration of contract

Contract duration varies depending on needs.

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.
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• The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply for WHO jobs.
• Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int
• An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. 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 (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) 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 short-listed candidates.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority.
• WHO shall have no responsibility 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.
• Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at [email protected].
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Potential interview questions

Added 2 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: who.int