Roster of International consultant – Strategic planning, costing, monitoring, and evaluation for antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

Area of expertise

Roster of International consultant – Strategic planning, costing, monitoring, and evaluation for antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Purpose of consultancy

The WHO South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO) seeks to establish a roster of qualified consultants to provide technical support to Member States in the development, implementation, costing, monitoring, evaluation, review, and strengthening of National Action Plans (NAPs) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

Selected consultants may be engaged to support regional and country-level activities aligned with the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, the WHO SEARO Regional Roadmap on AMR 2025-2030, and the One Health approach.

Background

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a major threat to public health, food security, economic development, and health system resilience. Countries in the WHO South-East Asia Region have developed and are implementing National Action Plans on AMR; however, varying levels of capacity, financing, governance, monitoring systems, and multisectoral coordination continue to challenge effective implementation.

To support Member States in strengthening AMR national programmes and advancing implementation of the WHO SEARO Regional Roadmap on AMR 2025-2030, WHO requires a roster of technical experts capable of providing specialized support across strategic planning, costing, resource mobilization, monitoring and evaluation, programme review, governance strengthening, and One Health coordination.

The roster will enable WHO to rapidly mobilize qualified experts to support national and regional priorities as needs arise.

Deliverables

Under the overall guidance of WHO technical unit, consultants may be requested to perform one or more of the following assignments (a more specific Terms of Reference (TORs), including the exact deliverables, duration of assignment and place of assignment will be shared with the selected candidate at the time of hiring for a specific assignment):

Deliverable 1: National Action Plan Development and Revision

• Conduct situational and strategic analyses.

• Facilitate stakeholder consultations and multisectoral engagement.

• Develop or update AMR National Action Plans.

• Prepare implementation frameworks and operational plans.

• Support national validation and endorsement processes.

Deliverable 2: Costing, Budgeting and Financing

• Develop costed implementation plans.

• Conduct budget and financing analyses.

• Estimate resource requirements and investment needs.

• Develop financing scenarios and sustainability plans.

• Prepare resource mobilization strategies and investment cases.

• Assess cost-saving potential, cost-effectiveness and return on investment for AMR interventions and implementation options.

Deliverable 3: Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability Frameworks

• Develop theories of change and results frameworks.

• Design logical frameworks and performance indicators.

• Establish monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

• Develop accountability and learning frameworks.

• Design data collection and review tools

Deliverable 4: Mid-Term and End-Term Reviews

• Develop review methodologies and assessment tools.

• Conduct programme performance reviews.

• Facilitate stakeholder consultations and review workshops.

• Analyse implementation progress and bottlenecks.

• Produce review reports and recommendations.

Deliverable 5: Capacity Development

• Develop training materials and guidance documents.

• Deliver workshops and technical training sessions.

• Provide mentoring and coaching to national teams.

• Strengthen national capacity in planning, costing, monitoring and evaluation.

Deliverable 6: Reporting and Policy Products

• Prepare technical reports and progress reports.

• Develop policy briefs and evidence summaries.

• Produce national and regional assessment reports.

• Develop strategic planning and investment documents.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational qualifications

Essential

For Band level B: A first university degree or medical degree in one or more of the following fields: Public Health, Health Policy and Management, Health Economics, Epidemiology, Monitoring and Evaluation, International Development, Health Systems Strengthening, One Health, Veterinary Public Health, Environmental Health, Public Administration, and/or Business Administration.

For Band level C: An advanced university degree or medical degree with postgraduate specialization in one of the fields listed above or another field relevant to the assignment.

Desirable: Additional postgraduate training or professional certification relevant to the technical profile.

Experience

Essential:

For Band level B:

• At least five years of of progressively responsible experience in one or more of the advertised technical profiles.

• Demonstrated experience supporting programme planning, monitoring, evaluation, policy development, or health systems strengthening

• Experience working with governments, international organizations, development partners, or academic institutions

For Band level C:

• At least ten years of progressively responsible experience in one or more of the advertised technical profiles.

• Demonstrated expertise in strategic planning, programme review, financing, monitoring and evaluation, health financing, policy development, or One Health implementation.

Desirable:

• Experience supporting national or regional programmes in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in the WHO South-East Asia Region.

• Experience working with WHO, UN agencies, development partners, or government institutions is desirable.

• Experience facilitating multidisciplinary or multisectoral work and transferring skills to national teams.

• Publication record in peer-reviewed journals or authorship of technical guidance, national reports or evidence-synthesis products.

Skills/Knowledge

Essential

• Expertise in one or more of the following areas: AMR policy and strategy development, National Action Plan development and revision, Health economics, costing and budgeting, Resource mobilization and investment case development, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), Results-based management, Programme performance assessment, Public health planning, One Health implementation, Governance and multisectoral coordination, Facilitation of national reviews and assessments, Strategic planning and operational planning, and Development of policy briefs and technical reports.

• Ability to apply relevant WHO standards, methods and tools to national or regional contexts.

• Ability to analyse complex information, assure data quality, interpret findings and formulate practical recommendations.

• Excellent technical writing, presentation and communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex findings clearly to technical and policy audiences.

Desirable

• Excellent facilitation and stakeholder engagement skills.

• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines.

• Ability to work effectively in multicultural and multidisciplinary settings and to deliver quality outputs within agreed timelines.

• Knowledge of adult learning, training design, facilitation and mentoring approaches.

Languages and level required

Essential: Expert knowledge of English

Desirable: Intermediate or expert knowledge of another official United Nations language or a language used in a WHO South-East Asia Region Member State, where relevant to the assignment.

Location

• Consultancies may be: Home-based, Country-based, Regional Office-based,, or a combination of remote and in-country support.

• The duty arrangement for each consultancy will be specified in the individual Terms of Reference.

Travel

The consultant may be expected to travel to one or more WHO South-East Asia Region Member States for country assessments, technical consultations, training or other assignment-related activities. Travel dates, locations and purpose will be specified in the individual Terms of Reference and arranged in accordance with applicable WHO policies.

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded)

Remuneration: Band level B and/or Band level C, as applicable to the assignment. The daily or monthly rate will be established in accordance with the applicable WHO consultant remuneration guidance and stated in the individual Terms of Reference.

Living expenses: Not applicable for home-based work. When an assignment requires on-site presence or travel, applicable travel and subsistence arrangements will be specified separately in accordance with WHO policies.

Expected duration of contract: Roster assignments may range from short inputs to several months, up to a maximum of 11 months per calendar year. Each individual Terms of Reference will specify the contract duration, number of working days and, for part-time assignments, the expected percentage or level of effort.

Additional information

• This vacancy notice is being issued for establishing Roster of International consultant – Strategic planning, costing, monitoring, and evaluation for antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

• A written test may be used as a form of screening.

• If your candidature is retained for 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.

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• The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. 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 for WHO jobs.

• 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 (https://www.who.int/about/who-we-are/our-values) 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 short-listed candidates.

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

• Consultants shall perform the work as independent contractors in a personal capacity, and not as a representative of any entity or authority.

• WHO shall have no responsibility for any taxes, duties, social security contributions or other contributions payable by the Consultant. The Consultant shall be solely responsible for withholding and paying any taxes, duties, social security contributions and any other contributions which are applicable to the Consultant in each location/jurisdiction in which the work hereunder is performed, and the Consultant shall not be entitled to any reimbursement thereof by WHO.

• 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.

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