Equity and Social Determinants Short Term Consultant

Purpose of the Consultancy

The Consultant (STC) will support ongoing activities of the Equity and Social Determinants (ESD) team, Division of Health Systems, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, with a focus on governance for equity and strengthening attention to gender and equity through supporting gender-sensitive and equity focused programme and service delivery.

Background

The Sustainable Development Goals emphasize health and well-being for all at all ages. Meeting the health needs of vulnerable groups is a key aspect of universal health coverage, a specific target under SDG3 and a platform for bringing together health and development efforts. Attention to equity, gender and human rights issues in health is central to operationalising the vision of UHC and the SDGs in the Western Pacific Region. The SDGs also entail an emphasis on the underlying determinants of health, including attention to interlinkages between health and urbanization, migration and population ageing.  Ensuring health equity by leaving no-one behind is another key aspect of universal health coverage. Reversing growing inequities in health, especially in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, requires intersectoral action on the social determinants of health along with equity-focused, gender-responsive and human rights-based policies and actions within health. Advancing UHC entails reducing demand-side barriers that constrain access and use of services, including by promoting health literacy and reducing discrimination. Community-based participatory approaches can help give voice to affected communities.

The objective of this consultancy is to support technical work and related activities of the ESD team with a focus on governance for equity and addressing major determinants in health including gender and equity focused programme and service delivery in the Western Pacific Region.  

Planned timelines (subject to confirmation)

Start date:                   24 July 2018
End date:                    25 January 2018  

Note: The expected length of the contract is 6 months. The first three months will be probationary, i.e. the selected candidate will be offered a three months contract initially (24 July to 23 October) to be extended in case of satisfactory performance.

Work to be performed

Method(s) to carry out the activity

The work will involve background research, policy and programme support as well as qualitative and quantitative analysis. It will require contribution to development of documents, reports and workshop materials, event preparation, and project management, including coordination and consultation with relevant WHO country offices, other partners and other technical units in the Regional Office when appropriate.

Output/s

Output 1: Support technical collaboration and related activities of the ESD team with a focus on governance for equity and addressing major determinants in health including gender and equity focused programme and service delivery in the Western Pacific Region.  

Deliverable 1.1: Support review and implementation of a workplan to progress attention to gender and equity in programmes and services.  This includes but is not limited to:

• Review and finalization of draft ESD publications, including reports on non-discrimination, gender-sensitive and equity focused programme and service delivery, women’s leadership and others.
• Backstopping preparations for workshops and other activities on gender/ gender-based violence and equity (locations and dates tbc).

Deliverable 1.2:  Support establishment of a mechanism to facilitate cross-country problem solving and learning to strengthen governance for equity in three countries in the Region. This includes but is not limited to:

• Monitoring of implementation of the workplan on governance for equity, including related minuteing and reporting
• Contribution to development of documents and workshop materials
• Backstopping preparations for international meetings planned for November 2018 and January 2019, including logistical and technical support

Technical Supervision

The selected Consultant will work on the supervision of:

Responsible Officer:    Britta Baer, Technical Officer, ESD/DHS
Email:  baerb@who.int

Manager:   Kate Silburn, Coordinator, ESD/DHS
Email:   silburnk@who.int

Specific requirements

      - Qualifications required:

A Master’s degree in social sciences or related field.
- Experience required:

This is an junior consultancy position at the P.2 level. At least 3 years of professional experience is expected. Experience working with WHO (including internships, short-term consultancies and/or staff contracts) is desirable.

- Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:

Proven knowledge of cross-cutting issues in public health, including gender, equity, social determinants of health, ageing etc, including knowledge of WHO’s approaches in this field, is essential.

Knowledge of the WHO Western Pacific Region (including through previous work experiences) is desirable.

Proficiency in standard MS Office applications and skills in database, spreadsheet and statistical programmes is essential.

- Language requirements:

Excellent knowledge of spoken and written English is essential.

Competencies

•     Communication
•     Teamwork
•     Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences|
•     Producing Results
•     Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond

Place of assignment

WHO Office of the Western Pacific Region (WHO WPRO), Manila, Philippines

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

Travel

The Consultant is not expected to undertake any travel (mission) as part of this assignment. Return travel from the consultant’s permanent place of residence to and from Manila will be arranged by WHO, including any visa extension fees if 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 mission under the terms of this consultancy, the Consultant will receive subsistence allowance.

Visas requirements: it is the consultant’s responsibility to fulfil visa requirements and ask for visa support letter(s) if needed.

Budget and payment schedule

• Remuneration will be at USD 5,200 per month. In addition, WHO will pay a per diem of USD 600 per month.

    Total contract costs: USD 5,200 + USD 600 x 6 months = 34,800

Conditions for short-term consultancy
Please note that the results of your contribution may be used for official publication.Therefore, it is essential that any data and information that you obtain has the necessary release authorization for publication. Materials including the data and information obtained for this study are only limited for this specific study and shall not be used for other purpose or further circulation without prior permission form the Who Western Pacific Regional Office. Any publication resulting from this study is to acknowledge the support of WHO WPRO. Authority for finalization of the final product for use in official publication will reside with WHO WPRO.

All rights in the work, including ownership of the original work and copyright thereof, shall be vested in WHO, which reserves the right (1) to revise the work, (b) to use the work in a different way from what originally envisaged, or (3) not to publish or use the work.

Application

Interested should submit the following documents to the Supply Officer at wprosao@who.int by 26 June 2018. Please use Tender Notice No. 73093 as subject to all submissions.

• Expression of Interest
• WHO personal history form or CV

Please note that the application maybe closed before the indicated closing date if a sufficient number of applications are received. Only the successful candidates will be contacted.