Consultant - Health inequality monitoring technical writing

Purpose of consultancy

The WHO Health Inequality Monitoring team in the Department for Data and Analytics (DNA) in Geneva is seeking a consultant to support with the conduct of literature reviews and the technical writing of reports, papers and other communication materials related to health inequalities.

Background

Monitoring health inequalities and their drivers is crucial to achieve health equity, which is a key element of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aspiration to “leave no one behind” as well as the World Health Organization’s 13th General Programme of Work (GPW 13). Health inequality monitoring is vital for tracking progress towards universal health coverage to ensure that disadvantaged populations achieve accelerated gains alongside overall improvement in the broader population, thus narrowing coverage gaps.

The health inequality monitoring team at the World Health Organization has developed a package of tools and resources to support inequality monitoring at global and national levels, including a health inequality monitoring handbook, two step-by-step manuals, the Health Inequality Data Repository, and the Health Equity Assessment Toolkit. WHO has substantial experience in developing inequality monitoring tools as well as in building capacity in this area among countries. In addition, WHO conducts monitoring of health inequalities and produces global and national reports of the state of inequality in various health topics.

The team has a five-year strategy (2022-2027) that includes three strategic goals: (1) strengthening capacity for health inequality monitoring at country, regional and global levels; (2) generating the latest evidence on health inequality; and (3) developing and refining health inequality monitoring methods, tools, resources and best practices.

Deliverables

• Within the period of the contract, the consultant will contribute to the following deliverables by conducting comprehensive literature reviews; summarizing the findings from data analysis; writing and editing report chapters; engaging with copywriting, proofreading, and layout/design during the production phase; and developing communication materials for dissemination.

  • Deliverable 1: Global, regional and national reports on the state of health inequality. This includes a global report exploring the state of inequality in noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors, and a global report on the state of health inequality.

  • Deliverable 2: A Global Health Inequality Monitoring Atlas of country policies, capacities and resources for inequality monitoring, identifying health inequality monitoring gaps, needs, and solution options for accelerating countries’ capacities to monitor inequalities.

  • Deliverable 3: Reports, journal articles and other communication materials related to inequality in immunization.

  • Deliverable 4: Reports, journal articles and other communication materials related to health inequalities and health inequality monitoring.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications

Essential:

• Advanced university degree in public health, population health, epidemiology, health communication, health information science, or related area.

Desirable:

• PhD in public health, population health, epidemiology, health communication, health information science, or related area.

Experience

Essential:

• Over 10 years of experience in writing technical reports and papers related to health inequalities, with at least 10 first-author papers published in peer-reviewed journals.
• Extensive experience in performing systematic literature reviews in the area of health inequalities.
• Extensive experience in interpreting health inequality data using a range of data sources on population health.
• Extensive experience in developing communication and dissemination materials for different audiences.
• Experience in report publication processes, including management of copywriting, proofreading, indexing, layout/design, and dissemination.

Skills/Knowledge

Essential:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and attention to detail.
• Excellent knowledge of the topic of health equity and health inequality monitoring.
• Clear understanding of research methods and epidemiological, demographical and statistical principles.
• Good knowledge of MS Office including SharePoint, Teams, Word and Excel.
• Ability to work independently and remotely in multidisciplinary and multicultural settings.

Languages and level required

Essential:

• Expert knowledge of English

Location

Offsite: Home-based

Travel

The consultant is not expected to travel.

Remuneration and budget (travel costs are excluded)

Remuneration

Band level C: USD 500 - 625 per day or USD 10,000 - 12,500 per month

Living expenses (A living expense is payable to on-site consultants who are internationally recruited)

N/A

Expected duration of contract

5 months, full-time or part-time (40%-80%). Remuneration will be pro-rated accordingly. Additional contracts up to a cumulative total of 11 months may be offered, subject to satisfactory performance, continued need and funding availability.

Additional Information:

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• 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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