Consultant - Strengthening Legal Frameworks for Health

BACKGROUND
 

The Western Pacific Regional Action Agenda on Strengthening Legal Frameworks for Health in the Sustainable Development was endorsed by Member States at the 69th session of the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific (RC69) in October 2020. The action agenda provides guidance to countries on prioritising action areas, improving processes, and enhancing capacities of stakeholders. Direct support to countries on the strengthening of legal frameworks for health is a key priority for the Health Law and Ethics Unit (HLE).

As part of these efforts, HLE is supporting countries to review and strengthen their legal frameworks for health emergencies and managing public health risks in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic are testing the capacity of domestic legal frameworks for public health emergencies. The experience has revealed that legal frameworks in many countries require strengthening to an enable an effective, coordinated, and balanced response to a long-term, wide-scale emergency such as COVID-19. Countries require technical support to develop modern and effective legal frameworks for health and navigate the lawmaking process. HLE is targeting technical support to countries with existing demand and those with outdated or under-developed legal frameworks.

PURPOSE/SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THE ACTIVITY
 

The general purpose of this consultancy is to support HLE in assisting Member States of the Western Pacific to strengthen legal frameworks towards achieving health in the Sustainable Development Goals. Specifically, the consultant will support HLE in the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office response on COVID-19 through analysis and development of tools related to health and human rights in the COVID-19 era.
 

DESCRIPTION/METHODS OF ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT

Output 1: Analysis of the relationship between health and human rights during a pandemic, with a focus on COVID-19 issues, that includes key areas of work underway with WHO (e.g. provision of essential health services, community engagement, and Reaching the Unreached thematic priority).

Deliverable 1.1: Technical paper on health and human rights linkages across key areas of WHO’s COVID-19 response, including country examples related to WHO’s work in countries.

Deliverable 1.2:Presentation and related communications materials related to content of the technical paper.

Output 2: Adaptation of existing human rights related tools to support strengthening of legal frameworks for health, including a focus on the emergency response, and government administrative decisions that are impacted by/impact on human rights

Deliverable 2.1: Country-focused tool to support understanding and analysis of human rights and health in the COVID-19 era.

Deliverable 2.2:  Presentation of tool to selected country teams and regional office to demonstrate how this will support the COVID-19 response.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE 

Qualifications required:
Bachelor of Laws. Post-graduate qualification in human rights, public policy and/or public health is an advantage.

Experience required:
Minimum 7 years' relevant experience in human rights law or related health law and policy experience. Experience in low-resource settings is an advantage

Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:
Experience in legal research, applying international human rights legal frameworks to domestic legal settings, and understanding of human rights tools. Experience working in the health sector desirable.

Language requirements:
Expert in Written English.

Competencies: 

• • Communicating in a credible, effective, and culturally competent way
• • Moving forward in a changing environment
• • Producing results

PLACE OF ASSIGNMENT

Home based

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Tentative starting date: 31 August 2020

Duration: 6 months

APPLICATIONS

Qualified and interested specialists should submit their CV (with proposed professional rate) and Expression of Interest to the Supply Officer through WP RO UNGM at  < wproungm@who.int > by 20 August 2020. 

Please use Tender Notice No. 112012 as subject to all submission. Only successful candidates will be contacted.