The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members one of the Technical Advisory Group on National Action Plans for Health Security. 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.
Background
All Member States have the responsibility to build and maintain effective capacities and systems for prevention, detection and response to public health emergencies of international concern and to abide by relevant international rules, including the implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). With a special focus on key functions and resources needed to ensure appropriate level of preparedness, readiness and response capacities to emergencies, the National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS) complements other national health strategies and capacity building plans and ensure country-wide priorities and capacities are planned, documented, built, strengthened and sustained. Building on the IHR (2005) and expending beyond, the NAPHS is central in ensuring appropriate level of engagement and commitment in the strengthening of national capacities, contributing to keep the world safe, serve the vulnerable and promote health and equity.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently developed a new NAPHS Strategy, which defines the WHO vision and framework to support national stakeholders in accelerating the development, implementation and monitoring of the National Action Plans for Health Security (NAPHS) from 2022-2026. The strategy will benefit from the advice of a Technical Advisory Group on National Action Plans for Health Security (the NAPHS “TAG”.)
Functions of the Technical Advisory Group on National Action Plans for Health Security
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO, the NAPHS TAG shall have the following functions:
1. To provide WHO with technical guidance, including practical advice and recommendations to improve engagement with multisectoral stakeholders, coordination and advocacy around the NAPHS Strategy 2022-2026, and more particularly:
- Ensure NAPHS remain relevant and aligned with the changing global architecture of health security.
- Obtain and maintain multi-sectoral and high level commitment and momentum at global, regional and national levels for NAPHS.
- Propose options ensuring the coherence of the NAPHS with other plans and/or initiative and the pooling or synergy of resources, as relevant,
- Streamline partner organizations’ support to avoid duplication and maximize use of technical and financial resources available.
- Advice on the development of a communication and awareness raising strategy.
2. To support WHO by providing technical review and guidance on the various tools, manuals and guidance materials to move the strategy forward.
- Advice on the development of practical tools and guidance that are practical for the country to move from assessments to the planning process and implementation.
- Advice on the development of country planning webpage to allow simplified ways to materialize the strategy by integrating existing tools and processes.
- Provide guidance on the operational planning component that can be contextualized for the regions and countries.
- Review and make recommendation to WHO on the NAPHS results framework with a linkage to existing indicators and metrics to monitor NAPHS implementation status and enable accountability and governance.
- Provide guidance on how to integrate the NAPHS into existing national planning and budget cycles and how to optimize funding mechanisms (domestic and external) for prioritized activities.
All advice and guidance provided by the group will contain recommendations that are based on evidence from country experiences on the challenges, best practices, successes, barriers and needs to support the implementation of the NAPHS, but also will take into consideration the diversity of countries profiles, vulnerabilities and coping capacities.
Operations of the Technical Advisory Group on National Action Plans for Health
Security
The technical advisory group shall normally meet at least once each year. However, WHO may convene additional meetings and in the initial [24 months] set-up of the TAG it is envisioned to meet at least twice a year. TAG meetings may be held in person (at WHO headquarters in Geneva or another location, as determined by WHO), virtually via video or teleconference, or in hybrid form through a combination of in-person and virtual attendance. The TAG meetings may be held in open and/or closed session, as decided by the Chairperson in consultation with WHO. The technical advisory group language will be English.
Who can express interest?
The NAPHS TAG will be multidisciplinary, with members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to health security and planning. Approximately 15 members may be selected.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from candidates with demonstrated national and international experience in managing large capacity development programmes in public health, health systems or in emergency management including on projects related to public health planning, multisectoral collaboration, assessment, monitoring and evaluation.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the National Action Plans for Health Security Technical Advisory Group, please submit the following documents by 31 December 2022 24:00h (midnight) Geneva time to naphs.helpdesk@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the [National Action Plans for Health Security Technical Advisory Group:
- 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; and
- 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. 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 (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 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 naphs.helpdesk@who.int well before the applicable deadline.