Serial number: 2022/May/60
Name of advisory group: Technical Advisory Group on Risk Communication and Community Engagement in the WHO European Region
Deadline for submission of applications: is now extended until 23:59 CET on Sunday 4 September 2022
The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of its Technical Advisory Group on Risk Communication and Community Engagement in the WHO European Region. This “Call for experts” provides information about the advisory group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection. The deadline for applications has been extended to encourage more candidates to apply, in particular from the WHO Health Emergencies Programme’s priority countries and territories in the European Region.
Background
The WHO European Region stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific and comprises 53 countries – see the full list of these countries. The WHO European Region WHO’s Action plan to improve public health
preparedness and response in the WHO European Region 2018–2023 commits
the Regional Office for Europe to continuously update and evaluate the
risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) support it offers
Member States to ensure targeted interventions for emergency
preparedness and response.
RCCE as defined by WHO covers a wide range of activities. These range from building health authorities’ capacity to speak to journalists to working with local-level civil society organizations on community empowerment projects. Our understanding of what constitutes best practice and how to measure impact across all these diverse activities is informed by both experience on the ground and input from academics and experts working in a range of different disciplines.
The Technical Advisory Group ("the TAG") will advise the WHO Regional Office for Europe unit on: 1) the current “state of the art” in RCCE related research, analysis and innovation in best practice and; 2) how this might be applied to the design, implementation and evaluation of RCCE strategies, plans, guidance, projects, tools, campaigns and capacity building initiatives in the specific context of the European Region
Functions of the Technical Advisory Group on RCCE in the WHO European Region
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO, the TAG on RCCE in the WHO European Region shall have the following functions:
- To provide independent advice on and review of the scientific technical, best practice and strategic aspects of RCCE actions, campaigns, guidance, tools, support services and programmes being developed or implemented by WHO in the European Region;
- To provide independent advice on appropriate methods and technical strategies for evaluating WHO RCCE interventions, campaigns, policies, tools, services and programmes in the European Region;
- To recommend priorities for RCCE related research, provision of support services / tools or other interventions to the WHO Regional Office for Europe;
- To advise the WHO Regional Office for Europe on the current “state of the art” in RCCE related research, analysis and innovation in best practice and recommend how this might be applied by WHO in the context of the European Region to RCCE interventions, campaigns, policies and programmes.
Operations of the Technical Advisory Group on RCCE in the WHO European Region
In most circumstances, the TAG on RCCE in the WHO European Region will hold one-hour online meetings every four to six weeks to review evidence and advise on RCCE interventions being developed by WHO Regional Office for Europe and its Sub-Regional Hubs. When WHO is responding to an acute emergency online meetings may be held more frequently than this.
At least once every year the TAG will hold a face-to-face meeting to discuss its annual work plan and priority medium-to-long term work. This meeting may be held at WHO’s Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark at its Centre for Preparedness for Humanitarian and Health Emergencies in Istanbul, Turkey or at other locations in the WHO European Region.
The working language of the group will be English.
Who can express interest?
The TAG on RCCE in the WHO European Region will be multidisciplinary, with members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to RCCE. Approximately fifteen (15) members may be selected.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from:
- Academics,
researchers, consultants and practitioners with expertise and a track
record of research (especially applied and / or rapid research),
innovation and / or operational and field experience, in some or all of
the following areas:
- Risk communication and crisis communication, especially as applied to health emergencies;
- Community engagement and empowerment in the context of health emergency preparedness and response
- Measuring & analysing societal trust in government, and health authorities in particular, including identifying the key factors that can build, maintain or erode such trust.
- Detection, monitoring and analysis of misinformation and rumours, including how to manage and if needed respond to such misinformation and rumours.
- Social science research, analysis and advice relevant to RCCE. This may include, but is not limited to: anthropology, risk communication, community engagement, history, political science, public opinion research, public relations, psychology, political science, social psychology, sociology
- Measurement and evaluation of communication and / or community engagement interventions, particularly in the context of the response to acute health emergencies
- Public health system development and capacity building, particularly in the context of health emergency response and / or RCCE.
- Applied research to guide or evaluate RCCE during health emergencies, including especially the design and piloting of innovative techniques for rapid research / data gathering.
- Translating research results, data and other kinds of social science evidence into information for public health action by decision makers. Experience of doing this in the context of emergency response will be particularly relevant.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the appointment to this Technical Advisory Group, please submit the following documents by 23:59 Central European Time on Sunday 4 September 2022 to bduncan@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the Technical Advisory Group on RCCE in WHO European Region”:
Required
- A cover letter, indicating your motivation to apply and how you satisfy the selection criteria. Please note that, if selected, membership will be in a personal capacity. Therefore do not use the letterhead or other identification of your employer;
- Your curriculum vitae;
- A signed and completed Declaration of Interests (DOI) form for WHO Experts, available at https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest.
Optional (you may submit either or both if you wish)
- A list of your publications. This can include contributions to grey literature, such as national or international guidance or evaluations, as well as peer reviewed publications.
- A short overview of your operational and field experience in designing and implementing RCCE interventions in response to health emergencies and / or in helping health authorities reinforce their RCCE capacity.
After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO. Due to an expected high volume of interest, only selected individuals will be informed.
Important information about the selection processes and conditions of appointment
Members of WHO advisory groups (AGs) must be free of any real, potential or apparent conflicts of interest. To this end, applicants are required to complete the WHO Declaration of Interests for WHO Experts, and the selection as a member of a AG is, amongst other things, dependent on WHO determining that there is no conflict of interest or that any identified conflicts could be appropriately managed (in addition to WHO’s evaluation of an applicant’s experience, expertise and motivation and other criteria).
All AG members will serve in their individual expert capacity and shall not represent any governments, any commercial industries or entities, any research, academic or civil society organizations, or any other bodies, entities, institutions or organizations. They are expected to fully comply with the Code of Conduct for WHO Experts . AG members will be expected to sign and return a completed confidentiality undertaking prior to the beginning of the first meeting.
At any point during the selection process, telephone interviews may be scheduled between an applicant and the WHO Secretariat to enable WHO to ask questions relating to the applicant’s experience and expertise and/or to assess whether the applicant meets the criteria for membership in the relevant AG.
The selection of members of the AGs will be made by WHO in its sole discretion, taking into account the following (non-exclusive) criteria: relevant technical expertise; experience in international and country policy work; communication skills; and ability to work constructively with people from different cultural backgrounds and orientations .The selection of AG members will also take account of the need for diverse perspectives from different regions, especially from low and middle-income countries, and for gender balance.
If selected by WHO, proposed members will be sent an invitation letter and a Memorandum of Agreement. Appointment as a member of a AG will be subject to the proposed member returning to WHO the countersigned copy of these two documents.
WHO reserves the right to accept or reject any expression of interest , to annul the open call process and reject all expressions of interest at any time without incurring any liability to the affected applicant or applicants and without any obligation to inform the affected applicant or applicants of the grounds for WHO's action. WHO may also decide, at any time, not to proceed with the establishment of the AG, disband an existing TAG or modify the work of the AG.
WHO shall not in any way be obliged to reveal, or discuss with any applicant, how an expression of interest was assessed, or to provide any other information relating to the evaluation/selection process or to state the reasons for not choosing a member.
WHO may publish the names and a short biography of the selected individuals on the WHO internet.AG members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the AG or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of AG members to participate in AG meetings will be covered by WHO in accordance with its applicable policies, rules and procedures.
The appointment will be limited in time as indicated in the letter of appointment.
If you have any questions about this “Call for experts”, please write to bduncan@who.int well before the applicable deadline.
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On 30 June 2022, the content of this article was updated to extend the deadline for applications until 4 September 2022. Applications from experts based in, or with strong professional links to, WHO's priority countries in the European Region for core capacity strengthening are particularly welcomed.