Risk Communications Officer, P3

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme (The Programme) is to help countries, and to coordinator international action, to prevent, prepare for, detect, rapidly respond to, and recover from outbreaks and emergencies.Objectives of the Country Health Emergency Preparedness & IHR (CPI) Programme\:Country Health Emergency Preparedness & IHR (CPI) unit is responsible for monitoring and evaluation of countries' preparedness for health and humanitarian emergencies, the planning and country capacity building for critical capacities and the Secretariat of the International Health Regulations (2005). CPI has an all-hazards approach and involves all three levels of the Organization. CPI prioritizes support to the most vulnerable and low capacity countries.Within CPI, the Preparedness, Readiness and Core capacity (PCB) Unit provides technical support to countries and WHO country offices in their effort for all hazards preparedness and readiness for outbreaks and emergencies and to strengthen intersectoral national capacity for the early detection, timely and effective response, to all public health emergencies as required under the International Health Regulations (2005). Working closely with the other WHE staff, the PCB Unit ensures that needs listed in national action plansare translated into targeted capacity building in the priority/vulnerable countries.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

1. Act as the focal point for ERC capacity building\:a. Enrol in and implement the ERC five-step capacity building package.b. Train and prepare country-level counterparts for emergency risk communication.c. Participate in ERC and/or technical country missions under IHR to evaluate and build risk communications capacity.d. Support national authorities to convene stakeholders and co-develop a national risk communication strategy and plan. e. Underpin the national assessment of risk communication capacity and/or oversee the running of simulation exercises to test and improve the national capacity.f. Support national authorities to adopt ERC action plans and to conduct lessons learnt exercises to further strengthen emergency risk communication.g. Establish a roster of ERC consultant and train them in ERC capacity building; h. Represent ERC within the IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework; i. Liaise with partner organizations (i.e. UNICEF and ECDC) to coordinate guidance and support to European countries.j. Work closely with HQ risk communications counterparts to receive support on processes and guidance, provide input on global guidance documents (including risk communications guidelines, KAP surveys, community engagement) and to maximize visibility of EURO activities in the context of global Health Security.k. Work closely with the social science experts to integrate findings from knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) surveys, focus group discussions and other feedback from community engagement activities into risk communication activities and products.2. Support ERC response in the IM system during outbreaks and emergencies, as needed\:a. Support the development, elaboration and implementation of the ERC plan as part of the health response operations. b. Liaise with affected country office(s) providing support to ERC needs. c. Liaise closely with the other levels of the organization for ERC ensuring coherence of strategy, materials and messages. Ensure that technical material produced integrates risk communication principles and practice.d. Ensure quality control for ERC products such as talking points, press statements, public information, web and social media content; brochures, leaflets and posters; radio and TV scripts; ERC guides for stakeholders. e. Report regularly in risk communication activities and issues to the IM, respective RO and HQ counterparts.f. Contribute to resource mobilization and donor communication in the area of risk communication. g. Deploy to affected or at-risk countries as needed.3. Perform any other related incident-specific duties, as required by the functional supervisor.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential\: University degree in social sciences, behavioral sciences, development sciences, communications or public health from an accredited/recognized institute.
Desirable\: Training in public health, health education, health communication, or health promotion.

Experience

Essential\: --> At least five years of ERC related experience, at the national and international levels, part of which working in disease outbreaks or health emergencies. --> Proven experience in ERC capacity building.--> Proven experience in the development and implementation of risk communications strategies and plans.
Desirable\: --> Experience with behavioural change communications, social marketing or anthropology.--> Prior working experience with WHO, the UN, health cluster partners, recognized humanitarian organizations or other international organizations, including at country level.

Skills

--> Excellent interpersonal skills. --> Effective negotiation, facilitation and consensus building skills. --> Ability to work under pressure while producing results. --> Ability to “think out of the box” and to make innovative proposals related to ERC. --> Tact, discretion and diplomacy.--> Knowledge or understanding of WHO mandate and goals in the emergency incident management context.--> Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork
Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Communication
Building and promoting partnerships across the organization and beyond
Promoting innovation and organizational learning

Use of Language Skills

Essential\: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable\: Intermediate knowledge of EURO official lang.

REMUNERATION

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 59,151 (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 2543 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.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• 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 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.

• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.

• For information on WHO's operations please visit\: http\://www.who.int.

• WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

• WHO has a mobility policy which can be found at the following link\: http\://www.who.int/employment/en/. 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.

• Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged.

• For WHO General Service staff who do not meet the minimum educational qualifications, please see e-Manual III.4.1, para 220.
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