.
Note: Please note that this advert will be used to fill other similar positions.
The non-communicable diseases (NCD) Team is part of and contributes to the work of the Universal Health Coverage – Communicable and Non-communicable diseases (UHC/UCN) cluster of the WHO Regional Office for Africa. The work of the UCN cluster is guided by its strategic agenda: “disease burden reduction through using analytics to inform tailored interventions and guide disease control investments”. Objectives pursued by UCN thereby – to which the NCD team and all members of the NCD team contribute – are to: (i) provide leadership on disease control coordination, partnership and resource mobilization; (ii) contribute to the development of WHO disease control technical products, services and tools including adoption of new technologies and innovations; (iii) support generation and use of strategic information for action and decision making including optimizing investment; and (iv) facilitate country support – Technical assistance in deployment of WHO technical products and institutional capacity building including support to national disease programmes and regulatory authorities – towards improved program governance, improved interventions coverage and improved interventions quality. UCN investments towards these objectives are developed and delivered as guided by two guiding principles: comprehensive whole of society approach; and people-centred, integrated approach. The comprehensive whole of society approach involves coherent implementation of a triple response to priority diseases: (a) technical response involving deployment of disease specific normative guidance, and intervention mixes and medical commodities; (b) health systems response involving health systems capacity strengthening especially in disease mapping and stratification, interventions tailoring, and integrated sector/subsector planning; and (c) multi-sectoral response involving empowerment of prioritized high risk communities and their non-health and private sector stakeholders and philanthropies, to manage socio-economic and environmental determinants of diseases, and demand accountability from local health systems stewards. The people centered, integrated approach to disease control involves: (a) integrated disease control guidance specific for each health service delivery platform, a move away from stand-alone disease specific operational manuals; and (b) integrated disease control investing in strengthening the capacity of each health services delivery platform to deliver optimally for disease control as well as life course programmes, deploying technologies and analytics to guide stratification of diseases risks across population groups, develop and deploy comprehensive packages of interventions specific to the population group that enters the health system through each health service delivery platform, and monitor interventions access, coverage and impact on each population group to leave no one behind.
The incumbent will :
• Support Member States to develop and implement-evidence informed policies and legislations and strengthen the health systems response to public health problems related to alcohol and substance use inclusive of prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation in line with the Regional Framework to Strengthen the Implementation of the Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013 to 2030 in the African Region (AFR/RC72/5) and the Framework for implementing the Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022-2030 in the WHO African Region AFR/RC73/8
• Provide technical support and advice to Member States and WHO Technical staff in developing strategies and action plans on reducing health consequences of alcohol and substance use and facilitating evidenced based treatments for alcohol and substance use disorders, scaling up evidence-based integrated interventions for the prevention of alcohol and substance use disorders, and provision of quality person centred care for people with alcohol and substance use disorders across the continuum of care, across the life span and inclusive of emergency situations.
• Plan, develop, implement and monitor capacity building activities at country, subregional and regional levels to respond to public health problems attributable to alcohol and substance use enabling countries to adapt and implement WHO technical packages including the SAFER interventions to Prevent and Reduce Alcohol-related harm, the WHO Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) for integration of mental health and alcohol and substance use care into primary health care services, the WHO Package of Essential NCDs interventions (WHO PEN) and other relevant public health approaches to alcohol and substance use prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation.
• Support the development and strengthening of surveillance and monitoring systems for alcohol and substance use and support global reporting mechanisms on alcohol and substance use burden and treatment coverage at country, subregional and regional levels to support data collection, analysis, and dissemination of strategic information in order to influence policy and decision-making processes.
• To foster research and promoting innovations on alcohol and psychoactive substance use.
• To strengthen surveillance, monitoring and evaluation for alcohol and psychoactive substance including the GPW 13 impacts and outcomes, global and regional health trends, Sustainable Development Goals indicators, health inequalities and disaggregated data.
• To support the inclusion of Alcohol and substance abuse into the national Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system in order to strengthen individual disease/condition-based surveillance.
• Foster collaboration and partnerships with other AFRO programmes and initiatives in the area of substance use and public health.
• To foster multisectoral collaboration in support of alcohol and substance use prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation including technical support and advice to civil society organizations and relevant stakeholders as appropriate and support partnership, collaboration with all stakeholders and sub-regional mental health alliances in order to harmonize and streamline country support for integrated alcohol and substance use prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation.
• Prepare and revise technical documents, briefing notes, meeting reports, information products and content of AFRO website related to work under the incumbent's responsibility, as appropriate.
• To contribute to mobilizing resources for integrated effective mental, neurological and substance use prevention, treatment care and rehabilitation by using innovative resource mobilization techniques.
• To perform other related responsibilities as assigned, including replacing and backstopping for others as required.
Essential: Medical degree with specialization in psychiatry from an accredited/ recognized institute.
Desirable: Post-graduate qualification or specialized training in (a) public health, public mental health or global mental health; or (b)alcohol and substance use prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation.
Essential: A minimum of 5 years' experience in developing, and implementing policies, strategies and action plans for alcohol and substance use prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation at the international and national level, of which at least 2 years inclusive should be at the international level.
Desirable:
• Experience in capacity building, developing, and promoting collaborative partnerships;
• Relevant work experience in International Organization, UN agencies, non-governmental or humanitarian organizations;
• Field experience in developing countries.
• Extensive area-specific, technical, and programmatic knowledge of programmes and approaches for integrated capacity-building programmes for MH and alcohol and substance use conditions;
• Working knowledge of district hospital care, Universal health coverage, in-service and pre-service training and capacity building, Essential MH drugs, PHC delivery systems;
• Demonstrated ability to provide clear advice and guidance to multiple stakeholders and partners.
• Willingness to share technical knowledge.
• Promoting the Organization’s position in Health Leadership
• Producing Results
• Communication
• Teamwork
• Moving forward in a Changing Environment
Essential: Excellent knowledge of English or French.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of any other UN official languages.
WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 64,121 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 2901 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.
• This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test and/or an asynchronous video assessment may be used as a form of screening.
• In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
• According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.
• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.
• Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.
• The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
• The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its staff. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int
• An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.
• Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with WHO and an underlying premise of the international civil service. Candidates appointed to an international post with WHO are subject to mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world.
• WHO also offers wide range of benefits to staff, including parental leave and attractive flexible work arrangements to help promote a healthy work-life balance and to allow all staff members to express and develop their talents fully.
• The statutory retirement age for staff appointments is 65 years. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.
• Please note that WHO's contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at shws@who.int.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• For information on WHO's operations please visit: http://www.who.int.
• *For WHO General Service staff who do not meet the minimum educational qualifications, please see e-Manual III.4.1, para 220.
• In case the website does not display properly, please retry by: (i) checking that you have the latest version of the browser installed (Chrome, Edge or Firefox); (ii) clearing your browser history and opening the site in a new browser (not a new tab within the same browser); or (iii) retry accessing the website using Mozilla Firefox browser or using another device. Click this link for detailed guidance on completing job applications: Instructions for candidates