Health Research Officer

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations Public Health Organization established in 1948. The objective of the World Health Organization shall be the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health.
World Health Organization achieves its goals by performing its essential functions:
1. Take a leadership role in key health issues and create partnerships when joint action is needed;
2. Set research priorities and encourage the acquisition, application and dissemination of useful knowledge;
3. Setting standards and criteria and encouraging and monitoring them;
4. Develop ethical and evidence-based policies
5. Provide technical support, be an agent of change and build institutional capacity in a sustainable way;
6. Monitor health status and assess health trends.

Founded in 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) which aims to bring all people to the highest possible level of health, health being defined as " state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not only consisting of an absence of illness or infirmity.

In line with this mission, the Assistant Regional Directors (ARD) Cluster at WHO’s Regional Office for Africa plays a crucial role in driving health improvements across the African Region. The ARD Cluster performs cross-cutting technical functions, collaborating closely with countries and programme areas across various clusters, such as UHC Life Course, UHC Communicable and Non-Communicable, UHC Healthier Population, and Emergency Preparedness and Response. Its focus is on key subject areas to prepare WHO and Member States to make evidence-based decisions and leverage cutting-edge research and innovations.

To further WHO’s goal of Universal Health Coverage and the One Health approach, the ARD Cluster ensures that strategic priorities—such as integrated service delivery, diagnostics, laboratory services, antimicrobial resistance, research and innovation, and data analytics—are embedded in programs at all levels. While each unit within the cluster has distinct responsibilities, their collective purpose is to offer technical support and expert advisory services, strengthening coordination, platforms, and partnerships between WHO, Member States, and regional and global partners.

Among the six technical teams in the cluster is the Research Coordination Unit, guided by the Assistant Regional Director (ARD). The overall objective of the Research Coordination Unit is to lead and facilitate the processes for conducting country-led, well-coordinated, cross-organizational, high-quality, and outcome-focused research to generate impactful health research and improve the health of populations in the African Region. This contributes to building and sustaining resilient health systems that provide equitable access to quality essential health services to people across the life course using people-centered approaches.

The Unit seeks to facilitate the process of applying research to achieve impact on people’s health in the areas of health research and development in the WHO African Region by supporting countries in developing and implementing policies and strategies for scaling-up the translation of new evidence and impact in Member States, promoting and supporting priority research in countries according to the unmet needs of Member States, including strengthening partnerships, and promoting appropriate options for governance for research, including promoting ethical considerations in related decision-making.

To support this initiative, the ARD Cluster is seeking a Health Research Officer to support the coordination of health research at the regional office. The Health Research Officer will report to the Team Lead of the Unit.

• Support the Research Coordination team in the implementation of current and future initiatives;
• Ensure coordination of health research across the regional office’s clusters, programme and units;
• Participate in the implementation of the research coordination workstream and coordination of activities around health research
• Support the implementation of the health research priorities in the regional office;
• Strengthen the health research network in the region;
• Assist in donor reporting and proposal preparation;
• Support the development and strengthening of national and regional health research systems across member states;
• Support the publication system and ethics committee activities at the regional office;
• Support the harmonization of existing and future health research activities in AFRO;
• Support the strengthening of collaborations and engagement on health research in the region;
• Support the implementation and coordination of key research activities;
• Establish and strengthen partnerships with research institutions and networks in the region to strengthen research and evidence generation;
• Support coordination, convention and harmonization of research;
• Support the organization of internal and external meetings and training activities on health research;
• Support the coordination of the activities of the regional advisory bodies and networks for research in the region;
• Support the documentation and dissemination of lessons learnt and best practices in research and their translation to evidence to support countries;
• Support the team lead in communicating the achievements and results of health research initiatives;
• Undertake any other assignment as requested by the supervisor.