Objectives of the programme
The mission of WHO’s Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Programme (WHE) 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. The Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment (HIR) Programme area of the EPR focuses on three major streams of work: i) enhancing public health intelligence for early detection and risk assessment of health events; ii) strengthening public health surveillance and epidemiology based on the IDSR framework; and iii) modernizing information management systems and data analytics.

The WHO in the African Region has been implementing the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy for the past two decades as a platform for public health surveillance. The IDSR framework achieved major milestones over the years, with huge surveillance infrastructure established in 45 Member States in the African region. None-the-less, implementation of IDSR also encountered several challenges. These gaps became apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic when IDSR structures and systems were overwhelmed, with no capability to adapt. In the bid to strengthen public health surveillance in the African region, WHO AFRO developed the Transforming African Surveillance Systems (TASS) Flagship Initiative to consolidate progress and address gaps in IDSR implementation in all Member States in the region. The TASS project will focus on fully implementing the IDSR strategy including leveraging new technologies to reduce the time to identify and control public health threats.

Purpose of the position
The primary objective of this position is to routinely monitor the implementation of IDSR and epidemiological surveillance by Member states, by analyzing weekly reports, extracting meaningful data points, and providing appropriate interpretations of epidemiological data for timely detection of public health events.

Description of duties
Within the framework of the delegated authority, the incumbent is assigned all or part of the following duties:

• Establish early warning systems for epidemic and pandemic-prone diseases for early detection and response to public health events of national and international concern
• Conduct real-time analysis of IDSR weekly reports, outbreak intelligence data on infectious diseases, for epidemic forecasting and detection
• Monitor and evaluate the core surveillance, alert and response capacities for event detection, verification and response in accordance with the core requirement for implementation of IHR 2005
• Collaborate with the national health authorities to develop appropriate plan of action for building the core surveillance, alert and response capacities in accordance with the requirement for IHR 2005
• Provide technical expertise to develop cross-border plans and programmes for strengthening epidemiological and laboratory surveillance system for prevention and control of disease with epidemic and pandemic potentials in accordance with IHR 2005
• Develop surveillance guidelines, protocols, tools and standard operating procedures (SoPs) for detection, verification and response to public health events of national and international concern
• Conduct field investigation for outbreak verification, risk assessment and provide technical support for rapid public health response to public health emergencies emanating from known or unknown disease pathogens;
• Perform other related duties as assigned, including replacing and back stopping for others as required.
• Perform other related duties as assigned, including replacing and back stopping for others as required.


Required qualifications
Education
Essential:
Master’s degree in Epidemiology or Public Health

Desirable:
• Medical degree with post graduate degree in Epidemiology or Public Health or PhD in Epidemiology or public health informatics.
• Specialized training in infectious disease epidemiology and outbreak response

Experience
Essential:
At least a minimum of 7 years’ experience in disease surveillance, prevention and control, with at least 3 years practical experience in disease prevention and control programs at subnational and national level. Proven experience and knowledge of implementing IDSR at country level. Practical working use of advanced statistical software packages (e.g., R, STATA, SAS) for epidemiological analysis during emergencies will be an asset.


Desirable:
• Working experience on emergencies in Africa. Experience in conducting disease surveillance, prevention and control in humanitarian settings. Experience of working with WHO or other UN agencies would be an asset.
• Experience in WHO and/or the UN System in the areas of outbreak preparedness and response; field experience in public health programmes or emergency response programmes in developing countries.
• Experience in routine analysis and reporting of time-sensitive public health data. Good understanding of the IDSR strategy and its implementation is an asset.
• Field experience in epidemiology, surveillance and/or control of acute public health events experience in resource limited countries; experience of working with event-based surveillance; good understanding in inter-agency collaboration or in WHO, UN, UN Agencies or other international organizations.
• In-service training in field epidemiology such as Field Epidemiology (and Laboratory) Training Programmes (FELTP), the European Program for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service programme, or equivalent experience.


Skills
Sound strategic and tactical thinking with ability to formulate clear comprehensive policies, strategies and plans. Superior organizational skills with ability to multi-task and produce results under pressure. Excellent interpersonal with proven ability to communicate in a clear and effective way, with tact, diplomacy and courtesy. Authoritative and comprehensive knowledge of the theory, principles, methods and techniques in international emergency risk management and humanitarian response, with a broad-based understanding of its growing complexity including knowledge of the workings of relevant international policy-setting bodies.

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

Use of Language Skills
• Essential: Expert knowledge of French
• Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of English
• The above language requirements are interchangeable

Remuneration
WHO offers staff in the Professional and higher Category an attractive remuneration package, which for the above position includes an annual net base salary starting at 77.325 (USD), (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable).
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.