OBJECTIVE OF THE OFFICE/DEPARTMENT
This is a requisition for employment at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO)
Contractual Agreement: Non-Staff – International PAHO Consultant
Job Posting: May 26, 2023
Closing Date: June 15, 2023, 11:59 PM Eastern Time
Primary Location: Off Site
Organization: HIM Health Emergencies Information and Risk Assessment
Schedule: Full time
PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY
Objectives of the Department The objective of the Health Emergencies Department (PHE) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) is to increase health sector resilience to emergencies and disasters. PHE assists Member States to strengthen the health sector’s capacities in prevention, risk reduction, preparedness, surveillance, response, and early recovery for emergencies and disasters related to any hazards (natural, man-made, biological, chemical, radiological and others) and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain disasters, including outbreaks, and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. PHE is responsible for ensuring the implementation and updating of the PAHO/WHO Institutional Emergency and Disaster Response policy.
Organizational Context The incumbent is a member of the Health Emergency Information & Risk Assessment (PHE/HIM) Unit, and he/she has a key role in the design, development and implementation of standardized information systems in emergencies. As part of the PHE/HIM Unit, the incumbent works with the DVA Team and helps on the process for gathering epidemic intelligence, outbreak verification, and information management; work requires interacting with National IHR Focal Points and PAHO/WHO Country Offices to gather information required for risk assessment.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:
Background
Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) system has been implemented in the America’s Region since early 2020. As of May 2023 more than 10 countries are implementing EIOS at national level and the EIOS community is growing substantially. As the event-based surveillance must be maintained and continued in the Region, it is anticipate that new Member States will join the EIOS initiative in the coming years, with each requiring reviews, updates, and additions to the publicly available information sources in the system. Additional Member States are planned for EIOS expansion in2024-25, also necessitating the ongoing review and addition of information sources. The work to be carried out under this contract has the aim to improve and broaden the sources feeding into the EIOS system, increasing its capacity for early detection and enhancing the ability to detect and verify information, especially in vulnerable areas that are not otherwise captured.
Outputs
1. Familiarize with the EIOS initiative and system
- Undergo the EIOS training
- Undergo the EIOS sources training
2. Clean up, improvement and expansion of sources in the EIOS system
- Support the collection and document needs for additional sources for Member States
- Identify and document additional sources where needed. This includes performing a landscape analysis of official and unofficial publicly available information sources for Member States in the Region of the Americas
- Prioritize newly identified sources as requested by the EIOS Regional team
- Work closely with the EIOS Regional Sources Coordinator to integrate newly identified sources
- Review, update and contribute to improvement of geographic identification of sources and subject type where possible
3. Support the ongoing evolution and enhancement of the EIOS system for its use in public health emergencies:
- Support and contribute to the semantic web of public health intelligence data – a dynamically evolving network of distributed, semantically linked data relevant for public health functions stored in different public health intelligence systems as well as in diverse other information systems and datasets that provide relevant contextual information.
4. Collaborate and contribute to the development and implementation of regional, national, and subnational health information systems (HIS) in epidemic prone diseases, for optimizing the generation, identification, collection, processing, storage, and dissemination of quality data and strategic information for policy- and decision-making in public health.
5. Working in close consultation and collaboration with the Epidemiologists and the Regional Sources Coordinator, participate in the design and development of IT tools for use in emergencies.
The consultant will also be expected to participate in EIOS weekly team meetings and bi-weekly meetings hosted by WHO HQ.
Qualifications:
Advanced degree (Master’s or higher) in public health, epidemiology, data science, computational epidemiology or other related technical disciplines.
Experience: Required: At least 5 years of demonstrated knowledge of infectious diseases and the organization and management of large complex datasets.
Duration of contract: One year. The incumbent is expected to work on a part-time basis.
Compensation: $2,800 monthly
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
- Successful candidates will be placed on the roster and subsequently may be selected for consultancy assignments falling in this area of work or for similar requirements/tasks/deliverables. Inclusion in the Roster does not guarantee selection to a consultant contract. There is no commitment on either side.
- Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
- All applicants are required to complete an on-line profile to be considered for this consultancy. For assessment of your application, please ensure that your profile in Stellis is updated; all experience records are entered with elaboration on tasks performed at the time. Kindly note that CV/PHFs inserted via LinkedIn are no accessible.
- 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. PAHO/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/. PAHO will also use the databases of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation http://www.chea.org/search/default.asp and College Navigator, found on the website of the National Centre for Educational Statistics, https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator to support the validation process. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
- Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to PAHO/WHO Regulations, and e-Manual.
- For information on PAHO please visit: http://www.paho.org
- PAHO/WHO is committed to workforce diversity.
- PAHO is an ethical organization that maintains high standards of integrity and accountability. People joining PAHO are required to maintain these standards both in their professional work and personal activities.
- PAHO also promotes a work environment that is free from harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and other types of abusive behavior. PAHO conducts background checks and will not hire anyone who has a substantiated history of abusive conduct.
- PAHO personnel interact frequently with people in the communities we serve. To protect these people, PAHO has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. People who commit serious wrongdoing will be terminated and may also face criminal prosecution.
- PAHO/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.
- 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 PAHO and the Consultant.
- PAHO/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 PAHO/WHO.