Call for experts – Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent health (GAMA) Advisory Group (AG)

The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as new members on the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent health (GAMA) Advisory Group (AG).

This “Call for experts” provides information about the AG in question, the profiles of the experts being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.

Background

Improving health outcomes for adolescents aged 10-19 years is a priority for WHO and its partners, as outlined in the second edition of the Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents (AA-HA! 2.0)[1]. To track progress towards this goal, evidence-informed measurement of adolescent health behaviours and determinants, outcomes, and policy implementation is essential.

In 2018, WHO, in collaboration with the UN H6+ partnership agencies (UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women, the World Bank Group, and the World Food Programme (WFP)), established the GAMA AG.

The objectives of GAMA are to:

• provide technical guidance to WHO, UN H6+ agencies and other relevant measurement groups to define a core set of adolescent health indicators, for the purpose of harmonizing efforts around adolescent health measurement and reporting;
• promote harmonized guidance for adolescent health measurement, supporting countries and technical organizations in collecting useful data to track progress in the improvement of adolescent health.[2]

Through a structured and participatory five-year process, GAMA has selected 47 indicators across six domains that are recommended for global, regional and national adolescent health measurement. GAMA has described the process, results and engagement of partners in over 20 publications, available on the GAMA website.² GAMA has also established a global network of partners involved in adolescent health measurement including early adopter countries that form the foundation for uptake of the indicators and continued alignment of adolescent health measurement at all levels. Through its regular meetings, GAMA also provides a forum for important discussions, updates and review of new evidence around adolescent health measurement.

Functions of the GAMA AG

The GAMA AG acts as an advisory body to the WHO and the UN H6+ partnership agencies and has the following functions:

• to advise WHO and UN H6+ agencies on strategies to further improve global, regional and national adolescent health measurement;
• to advise on updating the workplan and the deliverables to reach the objectives of GAMA;
• to advise on and support the dissemination and uptake of the GAMA-recommended indicators at global, regional and national levels;
• to advise on and recommend priorities related to the research agenda to address adolescent health measurement gaps;
• to support the delivery of products defined in the workplan, and contribute to drafting documents;
• to act as advocates for and representatives of GAMA’s work;
• to collaborate with partner AGs related to health measurement across the life course.

Operations of the GAMA AG

The Secretariat of the GAMA AG is ensured by WHO, supported by a Steering Committee formed by representatives of the UN H6+ agencies.

The GAMA AG generally meets twice a year. Additional meetings may be convened as deemed necessary by the Secretariat. GAMA AG meetings may be held virtually or in person. Virtual meetings are generally held in sessions of no more than three hours on two consecutive days organized by the Secretariat. In-person meetings are generally held over two or three days at a time at either WHO headquarters in Geneva or another location, as considered appropriate.

GAMA AG meetings may be held in open and/or closed sessions.

(a) Open sessions: Open sessions shall be convened for the sole purpose of the exchange of non-confidential information and views and may be attended by Observers.

(b)  Closed sessions: The sessions dealing with the formulation of recommendations and/or advice to WHO and UN H6+ agencies shall be restricted to the members of the GAMA AG and essential Secretariat staff.

The Secretariat may invite external individuals from time to time to attend the open sessions of an AG meeting, or parts thereof, as “observers”, which category will include invited presenters and persons invited in an ad hoc capacity for their specific technical expertise. Observers may be invited either in their personal capacity, or as representatives from a governmental institution, intergovernmental organization, or from a non-state actor.

The Secretariat may decide to establish smaller working groups (sub-groups of the GAMA AG) to work on specific issues. Their deliberations will take place virtually and the outcome of their deliberations will be submitted to the GAMA AG for subsequent review.

GAMA AG members are expected to attend meetings. If a member misses two consecutive meetings, WHO may end their appointment as a member of the group. At meetings, active participation is expected from all members, including in working groups and over email. GAMA AG members may, in advance of meetings, be requested to review relevant documentation and to provide their views for consideration by the group.

All recommendations from the GAMA AG are advisory to WHO and UN H6+ agencies, who retain full control over any subsequent decisions or actions regarding any proposals, policy issues or other matters considered by the AG.

The working language of the GAMA AG is English and meetings will be conducted in English. All documentation, including reports and working documents, will be provided in English.

The GAMA AG includes 2-4 co-chairs. Co-chairs are expected to participate in monthly conference calls organized by the Secretariat; provide written comments on relevant documents; and engage in product development and dissemination of information produced by GAMA.

Who can express interest ?

A total of 15-20 new experts will be selected to serve for a period of two years, including 2-6 young experts.

Members of the GAMA AG must have excellent technical knowledge, including at least some of the following:

• Broad knowledge of adolescent health epidemiology;
• Familiarity with methods for generating information on adolescent health, particularly in low and middle-income country contexts (including through health information systems; health facility, household and school surveys; policy surveys; and demographic surveillance systems);
• Familiarity with tracking progress towards and setting targets for reducing adolescent mortality, morbidity and health risk factors, and towards improving adolescent well-being, including proper monitoring and evaluation;
• Knowledge in measurement areas identified as needing further development[3] including but not limited to quality of care, school health, and well-being;
• Experience in supporting countries with adolescent health measurement including through implementation of proper age disaggregation in health information systems and surveys;
• Experience in reviewing and refining adolescent health indicators.

The young experts must be 18-29 years of age and have: 

• A health-related academic background; 
• Broad understanding of adolescent health; 
• Broad understanding of the methods for generating health information, particularly in low and middle-income country contexts (be it through health information systems; health facility, household and school surveys; policy surveys; or demographic surveillance systems); 
• Experience in representing young people in global, regional or national fora and discussions.

Submitting your expression of interest

1. To register your interest in being considered as an expert or young expert on the GAMA AG, please submit:
1. A brief curriculum vitae (max. 2 pages);
2. A list of authored papers to demonstrate area(s) of expertise and contribution to the field of measurement;
3. One relevant example of a work product or report.
4. A signed and completed Declaration of Interests (DOI) form for WHO Experts, available at https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest. After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO. 
2. The Secretariat will review the submissions and identify up to 20 proposed members, considering:
1. Technical knowledge and experience in health metrics, epidemiology, monitoring and evaluation related to adolescent health;
2. Gender balance;
3. Geographic balance;
4. Coverage of the main health issues adolescents face.
3. Candidates who are not nominated will be informed.
4. Submissions should be sent to gama@who.int, labelled:
1. “GAMA AG - expert” for expert submissions; or
2. “GAMA AG - young expert” for young expert submissions. 
5. Closing date: 15 July 2024.

Important information about the selection processes and conditions of appointment

Members of WHO AGs must be free of any real, potential or apparent conflicts of interest. To this end, applicants are required to complete the WHO DOI for WHO Experts, and the selection as a member of an 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 (https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest). 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 an 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 gama@who.int well before the applicable deadline.