National Consultant: Sub-national Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Purpose of the consultancy

This consultancy will support the WHO Cambodia Health Emergencies Programme (WHE) to further strengthen sub-national preparedness and readiness system for public health emergencies (PHE), leveraging the current system built during COVID-19 pandemic. The consultant will work directly under the supervision of the responsible Technical Officer and overall direction of the WHE Team Leader. In particular, s/he will support subnational preparedness, planning, coordination, and monitoring of progress. Direct leadership of provincial governorates, in the context of decentralization and deconcentration (D&D), is critical to ensure this sustainable impact on building system resilience and readiness on the ground with local ownership and contextually relevant solutions. This is in line with “Innovation, System approach, and Grounds-up” in the “For the Future” framework in the Western Pacific Region.

Background

In the Western Pacific Region, the Asian Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies (APSED III) has been the common strategic framework guiding the joint action of Member states, WHO and partners to advance implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005). Through building the core capacities required under the IHR (2005), countries can save lives and protect health during outbreaks and health emergencies such as demonstrated during COVID-19 pandemic.

The WHO office in Cambodia provides technical support and guidance to the Ministry of Health (MOH) and provincial health departments (PHDs) on overall health security including the COVID-19 pandemic. An innovative strategy developed and implemented during the pandemic has been to enhance subnational preparedness at the province and lower levels using the APSED (III) “two-tier” approach. Through WHO’s support for subnational preparedness efforts, Cambodia has strengthened its incident management system (IMS) at the national and provincial levels, equipped with Emergency Operations Centres (EOC), and development of subnational preparedness plans to implement a whole-of-government, multi-sectoral coordination in all provinces effectively. Most importantly, these efforts have contributed to and build a legacy of ensuring a resilient and “fit for the future” health security framework for any emergency, with long-lasting benefits for health for Cambodian people beyond COVID-19 itself.

Additionally, COVID-19 pandemic provided additional excellent opportunity to facilitate and guide safe traditional food markets (TFM), and food safety measures. This allows sharing, learning of best practices and challenges across provinces, which adapt measures based on locally specific context to strive for safer, healthier, and sustained livelihoods in the community. Cambodia, under leadership of MoH with collaboration with relevant sectors and support from provincial authorities, has adapted and developed Manual Five Keys for Safer Traditional Food Markets: Risk Mitigation in Traditional Food Markets in Cambodia, initiated community education and awareness on safer TFM in selected provinces, and development of monitoring checklist and tools for safer TFM.

The overall objectives of this role will be the following:

• To guide and support MoH and relevant sectors to prepare and conduct joint external evaluation (JEE)
• To serve as liaison officer for subnational preparedness to coordinate within the WHE to provide overall technical support to the MOH, PHDs, provincial governorate, and other stakeholders;
• To provide technical support and advice to MOH, PHDs, and relevant sectors in developing roadmap and multisectoral and provincial action plans for Safer Traditional Food Markets (TFM) in Cambodia
• Provide strategic guidance, advocacy and advice to MOH, provincial governorate, PHDs, and relevant sectors in implementation of national and subnational health security action plan for Cambodia;
• To coordinate with the C4H officer to develop communication plans and communication materials on five keys for safer TFM risk mitigation measures to different target groups; and
• To guide and support each province in continuously monitoring (using tools and indicators for new subnational health security action plan) and documentation to prioritize and advance their capacity and readiness system

Deliverables

Under the guidance of the relevant Technical Officer and overall direction of the WHE TL, the consultant will undertake any other relevant activities that arise within Emergencies Preparedness, including traditional food market (TFM).

The consultant will be responsible for delivering the following:

Output 1: Develop, implement and monitor implementation of roadmap and multisectoral provincial action plans for Safer Traditional Food Markets (TFM) in Cambodia Deliverable 1.1— Adapt "Multisectoral Roadmap for Safer TFM in Asia Pacific Region", and develop national and provincial action plan, and roadmap; Deliverable 1.2— Facilitate and document consultations, meeting, capacity building to all key actors at all levels to ensure timely and effective implementation of priority activities with focus on impact-based approach Deliverable 1.3— Review existing policies and legislation framework at national and subnational levels for traditional food markets, and identify gaps or areas for improvement to support implementation of TFM Deliverable 1.4— Develop implementation plan to scale up implementation on safer TFM to other provinces in Cambodia Deliverable 1.5— Coordinate with C4H officer to develop communication plan and materials on five keys for safer TFM risk mitigation measures to different target groups

Output 2: Provide strategic guidance, advocacy and advice to MoH, provincial governorate, PHDs, and relevant sectors in implementation of national and subnational health security action for Cambodia, with prioritized activity plans and resources; and support monitoring and oversight to guide the process.

Deliverable 3.1—Support development and implementation of national and subnational health security action plans (NAPHS) for Cambodia Deliverable 3.2— Develop subnational monitoring plan that includes key performance and capacity indicators to routinely monitor and track progress, and identify areas of prioritization Deliverable 3.3— Design and innovate the modality and approach that can be utilized to sustainably advance subnational health security system and capacity Deliverable 3.4 — Support field investigation and response to build capacity and health security system at subnational level using “learning and improving”, and “grounds-up” approach; Deliverable 3.5— Support and facilitate to conduct JEE

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications:

Essential: Advanced university degree in medical sciences, public health, international development, or other related field. Experience required:

Essential: At least 7 years of experience in strengthening health security systems and capacities; Demonstrated experience in leading workshops on at least one key technical area in health security, including food safety and one health e.g. subnational preparedness, monitoring, advocacy, Desirable: Experience working with WHO or other UN organization and/or with the Cambodian Ministry of Health will be an asset.

Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:

Expertise in least one key area of health security (Incident Management System; Surveillance, risk assessment, and response; Public Health and Social Measures; Risk Communication and Community Engagement; Clinical Management and Patient Pathways; Food Safety); Project management; monitoring and evaluation; Excellent organizational and coordination abilities in the context of CDC/MOH Cambodia are desirable.

Language requirements:

Written and spoken fluency in English and Khmer are required.

Place of assignment (on-site)

The consultant will be assigned to WHO Cambodia Office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on full-time basis.

Travel

Duty travel will be required within Cambodia and will be covered according to WHO rules.

Remuneration and budget:

a. Remuneration : TBD b. Expected duration of contract : 11 months

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. • The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits workforce regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics. 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 [email protected] • 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]. • In case the recruitment website does not display properly, please retry by: (i) checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefox); (ii) clearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browser); or (iii) retry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click the link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates.

..