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Qualifications
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME
The mission of WHO's Emergency Preparedness & Response (EPR) Cluster is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations. Within EPR, the Strategic Support Unit coordinates EPR-related strategic activities at the regional level, including strategy planning, innovation, external relations, external communications, grant management as well as coordinates monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning activities across the EPR programme areas and countries. The STS team works together and collaborates with colleagues across the EPR Cluster and beyond to contribute to the delivery of the vision/goals of the EPR Cluster.
PURPOSE OF THE POSITION
In early 2022, WHO AFRO (World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa), along with its partners, launched three flagship programmes to strengthen health Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) in the African region: Promoting Resilience of Systems for Emergencies (PROSE), Transforming African Surveillance Systems (TASS), and SURGE (Strengthening and Utilizing Response Groups for Emergencies). The optimal success of these programmes as well as other initiatives within the EPR Cluster, which leads the flagships, requires a strong Monitoring, Evaluation, and Accountability and Learning System (MEAL) system supported by regular performance monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning activities.
The purpose of this position is to support the establishment and operationalization of the MEAL system for the programmes as well as other activities of the Cluster. The incumbent will work closely with the EPR leadership and technical staff to manage information and reporting processes and products to ensure professional, high-quality communication about the EPR Cluster’s programmatic activities and results, and facilitate change management processes in line with the EPR strategic objectives and evolving emergency context with a view to implementing and adapting the Global Architecture for Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience in the African context. This includes improving the ecosystem of information management, data quality and use, and strengthening knowledge sharing, accountability and learning across the EPR Cluster.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
The ultimate mission of the officer is to ensure that the EPR Cluster delivers on its mission of supporting Member States to build their EPR systems and eventually save lives. The officer will contribute to this by assuming responsibility for the full cycle of the MEAL process within the Cluster. Success for this position is defined by the officer's ability to set up an effective MEAL system and deliver high quality MEAL products and activities that enhance the quality of decision making and the overall performance and impact of the flagships. Success will also be defined by the ability of the officer to develop appropriate methodologies and tools to monitor processes, design evaluations, build and oversee a robust EPR staff accountability framework and learning programme. The officer is expected to support the different programme areas of the EPR cluster to strengthen MEAL in their projects and initiatives. Additionally, the officer is expected to contribute to capacity building for staff at the regional office, hubs and country offices in the area of MEAL.
The specific duties for the position include but are not limited to the following:
- Strengthen the establishment and adaptation of the MEAL system
- Develop, implement, and assess MEAL frameworks for all EPR Cluster flagships, partnerships and projects in collaboration with the EPR management team.
- Develop and monitor a project management plan to systematically document performance (including staff performance) to improve accountability.
- Support the development of grant proposals, especially in integrating the MEAL requirements into the existing in-house system.
- Align MEAL approaches with partners, in particular regional partners like Africa CDC.
- Lead initiatives aiming to strengthen MEAL withing the EPR Cluster
- Lead the process for establishing MEAL tools and information and technology systems
- Enhance the operationalization of the MEAL system
- Oversee EPR operational planning and reporting of WHO’s general programme of work, verify results-oriented formulations and prepare the EPR semi-annual monitoring, mid-term review, end-of-biennium assessments as well as other specific reports.
- Facilitate design of “SMART” objectives, logic models, monitoring frameworks, and evaluation plans during the WHO biannual work-planning process as well as oversee the development of biannual EPR workplans to identify project targets and ensure inclusion of MEAL activities.
- Maintain existing indicator tracking tools, develop additional databases and tracking tools as needed to demonstrate the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of project interventions.
- Analyse data for accuracy, flag validation or quality issues, and contribute to system fixes.
- Aggregate and analyse data from across EPR information platforms to contribute to management decision-making and reporting.
- Generate monthly indicator reports for tracking EPR cluster progress against key indicators as needed.
- Manage the development of the EPR quarterly MEAL reports and ensure their timely submission.
- Ensure quality and timely submission of monthly reports from countries implementing EPR flagship programmes.
- Conduct MEAL field visits for data validation and to monitor the quality and completeness of data sets; coordinate data collection to monitor programme development and ensure timely compilation and reporting of data; capture and document lessons learned; and champion the scaling-up of best practices.
- Provide technical leadership and support to EPR staff in planning and implementing MEAL systems and activities, data-based programme decision-making, and results reporting; provide training as needed.
- Lead the EPR learning agenda in alignment with the WHO learning strategy and WHO evaluation methods for knowledge generation and building of community of practice & knowledge networks for the continuing learning and capacity building on emergency preparedness and response across the AFRO region.
- In accordance with the WHO accountability framework, oversee the development and monitoring of the EPR accountability framework for the achievement of the set objectives and expected results at individual, hub, programme and cluster levels with regard to WHO’s general programme of work, the EPR flagship initiatives, Member States and other stakeholders’ expectations.
- Align MEAL approaches with partners, in particular regional partners like Africa CDC.
- Manage MEAL resources and support services
- Support recruiting, interviewing, and training of new MEAL staff, consultants and/or UNVs.
- Collaborate with other MEAL officers to deliver on their common missions
- Oversee the implementation of independent evaluations, and or support from external firms in generating MEAL products or delivering activities.
- Oversee the acquisition of IT tools and systems necessary for effective delivery of MEAL activities.
- May act as STS Manager in the absence of the incumbent.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education