International Consultant – To support in managing and containing outbreaks of high-threat diseases like cholera in the Region

Purpose of consultancy

The Infectious Hazard Preparedness unit (IHP) of the WHO-Health Emergencies program (WHE) supports and coordinates closely with 22 countries and territories in the Region to prepare for, manage and control the high-threat pathogens outbreaks including cholera. Guided by the global cholera roadmap 2030, this supports includes coordination and strategic planning, capacity building for timely outbreak detection, confirmation, and rapid response, in addition to implementation and monitoring of preparedness/response plans. Led by the multi-disease outbreak incident manager (MDO-IM), this support is basically coordinated by a multi-disciplinary dedicated cholera cell (DCC) made of technical experts covering different response pillars such as surveillance and health information management, laboratory, case management/IPC, risk communication and community engagement, vaccination, and WASH. Guided by the EMR regional cholera control roadmap, the DCC is mandated to coordinate, support, and monitor implementation of cholera-related interventions -including supporting implementation of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) campaigns using the newly recommended single dose strategy – at the country level.

To advance the regional cholera control agenda, the IHP is seeking an expert consultant to support in implementing the regional cholera control strategy at both regional and national levels.

Background

Cholera is a highly infectious acute diarrheal bacterial disease that poses major public health challenges in many countries worldwide. Seven distinct pandemics of cholera have been recorded over the past two centuries. The seventh pandemic, which is still going on now, is considered to have started in 1961.During the first two decades, following (re)introduction, many countries transitioned to becoming cholera endemic. While global incidence greatly decreased in the late 1990s, cholera remains prevalent in parts of Africa and Asia.

After decades of progress against cholera, cases are again on the rise, even in countries that had not seen the disease in years. In 2022, there were 473,000 cholera cases reported to WHO – double the number from 2021. Further increase of cases by 700 000 was estimated for 2023 with 31 countries officially reporting cholera cases.

WHO classified the global resurgence of cholera as a grade 3 emergency in January 2023. Based on the number of outbreaks and their geographic expansion, alongside the shortage of vaccines and other resources, WHO re-assessed the risk at the global level as very high and the event remains classified as a grade 3 emergency.

In the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), AWD/Cholera continues to be one of the major outbreaks affecting several countries. Poor WASH infrastructure, increasing urbanization, poor living conditions, protracted emergencies, continuous population movement, in addition to natural disasters, climate change, and inadequate health systems performance are among the key factors increasing the frequency and burden of the cholera outbreaks in the EMR.

In 2023, as of 31 December, cholera outbreaks were reported from 8 countries of the Region. A total of 417,699 AWD/suspected cholera cases, including 415 associated deaths were reported: Afghanistan (222,230 cases; 101 deaths), Iraq (1,332 cases; 7 deaths), Lebanon (2,197 cases;0 death), Pakistan (200 cases; 0 death), Somalia (17,805 cases; 46 deaths), Sudan (8,804 cases; 240 deaths), Syria (161,620 cases; 7 deaths), and Yemen (3,279 cases; 14 deaths). However, under reporting due to weak surveillance systems in several countries make interpretation of cholera data challenging.

Despite the huge efforts exerted by WHO, cholera control in the EMR continues to face many challenges. The fragility of the health system in several countries with inadequate surveillance and confirmation capacity is one of the main challenges. Reduced access to quality curative healthcare services and inadequate health seeking behavior remain among the main barriers. The global shortage of cholera supplies (RDTs and OCV) is also contributing to poor management of cholera outbreaks. On the other hand, funding constraints and inadequate multi-sectoral coordination at the national level play a major role in delaying response to cholera outbreaks and epidemics that integrates these interventions.

Work to be performed

Under the leadership of MDO-IM, the consultant needs to perform the following:

OUTPUT 1: -Develop strategic planning, coordination, and partnership for cholera control at the regional and country-levels:

Deliverable 1.1: Facilitate coordination and documentation of the DCC activities

Deliverable 1.2: facilitate communication and coordination between WCOs, the DCC, cholera control program/HQ, GTFCC, GAVI and other relevant departments/entities within and outside the regional office,

Deliverable 1.3: develop/update country-specific governance/guiding documents such as the cholera risk profile, the cholera control roadmaps, and national cholera control plans (NCPs), when relevant,

Deliverable 1.4: establish and facilitate the multisectoral coordination for cholera control at national level and facilitate/support the priority areas for multi-sectoral intervention (PAMI) exercises when relevant,

Deliverable 1.5: Coordinate /facilitate the organization of sub-regional workshops to discuss cross border issues including surveillance and OCV,

Deliverable 1.6: Incorporate feedback from priority countries on global and regional policies to strengthen recommendations made at the global and regional levels and ensure feasibility of implementation at the national level.

OUTPUT 2: Provide guidance on building the regional, national/subnational capacities for cholera preparedness and outbreak management including the capacity for OCV implementation:

Deliverable 2.1: identify gaps and urgent needs of the different response pillars (surveillance, laboratory, case management, infection prevention and control/IPC, OCV, WASH and RCCE) at national/subnational levels and develop capacity building plans,

Deliverable 2.2: conduct capacity building activities including implementation and expansion of OCV trainings in collaboration with the different technical units/departments within WHO,

Deliverable 2.3: Coordinate mobilizing the resources needed for building cholera preparedness and control capacities national and subnational levels including the development of funding proposals,

Deliverable 2.4: Develop a regional cholera epi data hub aligned with the existing WHO global and regional data tools, developdata management and presentation, in addition to generation of information products and dissemination to the relevant stakeholders.

OUTPUT 3: Support implementation of evidence-based cholera preparedness and control interventions at national and subnational levels:

Deliverable 3.1: coordinate with the priority WCOs to develop/update multi-sectoral cholera outbreak preparedness/response plans including OCV planning,

Deliverable 3.2: coordinate with the priority WCOs and DCC to develop/update cholera-related technical guidelines/ protocols/SOPs and tools (surveillance, laboratory, case management, IPC, OCV, WASH and RCCE) aligned with GTFCC and WHO guidelines,

Deliverable 3.3: Analyze and plan resources mobilization (human, financial, and supplies/materials) for implementing evidence-based cholera preparedness and control interventions- including the OCV implementation- at the national and subnational level,

Deliverable 3.4: facilitate the implementation of reactive OCV campaigns at national and subnational levels including the development/review of OCV requests, microplanning, supplies/resources allocation, campaign monitoring, and coverage surveys,

Deliverable 3.5: Provide support at least to one priority country- in the development of applications for preventive OCV and submission to the Gavi Independent Review Committee (IRC).

OUTPUT 4: Support monitoring and evaluation of cholera control interventions, and learning:

Deliverable 4.1: facilitate the development of progress/monitoring tools and reports,

Deliverable 4.2: conduct supportive visits to the affected districts to monitor the implementation of cholera control activities,

Deliverable 4.3: Identify priority countries to conduct cholera outbreak response evaluations/reviews (inter/after action),

Deliverable 4.4: Develop an evidence-based documentation of lessons learned and sharing experiences between affected countries.

Deliverable 4.5: Align priority countries in the conduction of analytical/descriptive studies such as OCV effectiveness studies and implementation of research as needed

Educational Qualifications

Essential: Master’s degree in medicine, public health, epidemiology, infectious diseases, or communicable diseases.

Desirable: Post-graduate degree in epidemiology, public health or health policy, infectious diseases, or communicable diseases.

Experience

Essential: A minimum of 10 years of progressive international experience in developing, designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating of the public health interventions for cholera outbreaks control in low and/or middle-income countries.

Desirable: Experience in the development of capacity building tools and databases for monitoring and evaluation purposes, introduction process of new vaccines, monitoring of vaccination program including demand generation through inclusive community engagement approach and vaccines management.

Skills/Knowledge

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language.
• Organization and efficiency skills.
• Data handling and analysis skills.
• Interpersonal communication and collaboration skills.
• Familiarity with the UN system, including knowledge of WHO country, regional and global functions. Ability to work as a team member, and sensitivity to working in a multi-cultural environment.

Languages and level required

Essential Excellent oral and written communication skills in English language.

Desirable Intermediate level of Arabic/French Language is an asset.

Location

EMRO office and countries in the region. This consultancy will be required to travel countries in EMR.

Medical clearance

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

Hiring Unit

WHO EMRO WHE IHP

Remuneration and Expected duration of the contract(Maximum contract duration is 11 months per calendar year)

• Remuneration: Band level “C”.
• Expected duration of the contract 11 months, starting from 1 September 2024.

WHO Competencies

Enhanced WHO Global Competency Model: Enhanced WHO global competency model

Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to apply online through Stellis. For assessment of your application, please ensure that:

a)Your profile on Stellis is properly completed and updated.

b)All required details regarding your qualifications, education, and training are provided.

c)Your experience records are entered with elaboration on tasks performed at the time.

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 an 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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• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

• Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.

• WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and is committed to putting the WHO Values Charter 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 final candidates.

• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority. The execution of the work under a consultant contract does not create an employer/employee relationship between WHO and the Consultant.

• WHO shall have no responsibility whatsoever 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.