National Consultant - Climate Change and Health Institutional Assessment

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Qualifications

Purpose of consultancy

In collaboration with the WHO Vanuatu Country Liaison Office, WHO Division of Pacific Technical Support (DPS) office and the Government of Vanuatu primarily the Ministry of Health, Environmental Health Unit and Policy and Planning Unit, the local consultant will provide the following technical support under the GEF LDCF project “Building resilience of health systems in Pacific Island LDCs to climate change”: 

1. Prepare a Baseline Institutional Assessment Report on the MoH’s structure, policies, and legislation related to environmental health and climate change.

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2. Review and update the Environmental Health Strategy of the MoH.

Background

Vanuatu is one of the highly vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change. Climate change poses significant risks to public health, including increased incidence of vector-borne diseases, heat-related illnesses, respiratory conditions, and impacts on food and water security. The Ministry of Health (MoH) plays a critical role in safeguarding population health through its structures, legislation, and standards. However, integration of climate-related health risks into national health policies and guidelines remains limited.

WHO has been providing support to the Ministry of Health, Vanuatu to increase the capacity of national health systems and institutions, and sub-national level actors, to manage long-term climate sensitive health risks through the implementation of the GEF project. 

The GEF Project has the following outcomes:

1. Governance of health system and institutional capacities strengthened by mainstreaming climate-related risk and resilience aspects into health policy frameworks.

2. Capacities of health system institutions and personnel strengthened in managing health information and weather/climate early warning systems.

3. Improved coverage and quality of health services addressing climate-related diseases and reduced climate-induced disruptions in the function of healthcare facilities.

4. Enhanced south-south cooperation fostering knowledge exchange, the provision of technical assistance and scientific advisory, and the integration of national health policy frames and related adaptation plans with ongoing National Adaptation Plan (NAP) -related processes.

    

The Short-Term Consultant will be responsible for providing technical assistance to the Vanuatu MoH to deliver key planned deliverables under outcome 1 of the GEF Project.

Deliverables

Job Description

The consultant is expected to apply a participatory and evidence-based approach, including:

• Prepare an inception report with a work plan on how to implement the activities and achieve the output/deliverables as outlined in the terms of reference.

• Conduct baseline assessment of MoH’s structure, policies and legislation related to environmental health and climate change

• Review and prepare draft of updated Environmental Health Strategy of the MoH 

• Facilitate organization of review workshop and submit the updated Environmental Health Strategy for endorsement.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

The consultant will review relevant Ministry of Health institutional mechanisms, policies and legislations and identify opportunities to integrate climate change and health risk and resilience considerations into these. The specific deliverables include:

Output 1:  Submit an Inception Report with a work plan for the work to be performed and completed.
Deliverable 1.1: Develop and submit an inception report with detailed workplan with methodologies on how to implement activities to achieve outputs and deliverables of the assignment and a time frame for each deliverable.

Output 2: Baseline Assessment Report on the MoH’s structure, policies, and legislation related to environmental health and climate change.
Deliverable 1.1: Conduct desk review of relevant documents, undertake stakeholders’ consultations and analyze MoH’s structure, policies and legislation related to environmental health and climate change
Deliverable 1.2: Review existing coordination mechanisms for climate change and human health activities and recommendations for its strengthening. 
Deliverable 1.3: Based on the deliverables 1.1 and 1.2, produce the baseline assessment report with recommendations for integrating climate related health risks into national standards and guidelines.

Output 3: Review and draft the updated Environmental Health Strategy of the MoH.
Deliverable 3.1: Review existing Environmental Health strategy and related documents with climate change and health risk and resilience considerations. 
Deliverable 3.2: Develop the draft of Environmental Health strategy for review.
Deliverable 3.3: Conduct the national review workshop in Port Vila and submit the workshop report.

Output 4: Submit a final assignment report
Deliverable 4.1: Produce the Final Assignment Report with updated Environmental health Strategy.

All deliverables shall be submitted in English in editable Word format and PDF.

Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Educational Qualifications

Essential: University degree in Public Health, Environmental Health, Climate Change, Health Policy, Public Policy, Health Systems / Health Administration or related fields.

Desirable: An advanced degree (Master’s) in Public Health, Environmental Health, Climate Change, Health Policy, Public Policy, Health Systems / Health Administration or related fields.

Experience

Essential: At least 2 years of demonstrated experience in conducting policy/legislation reviews, institutional capacity assessments, and development of policy documents.

Desirable: Proven experience and a strong track record in reviewing and developing policy documents within government or public sector institutions.

Technical skills and knowledge

1. Proven skills in policy analysis and technical report writing, specifically related to climate change and health issues in the context of Pacific Island countries.
2. Excellent organizational and communication skills, with experience and abilities in dealing with government and donor institutions. 
3. Overall competence in working within a public sector setting.

Languages:

Essential: Fluency in the English and Bislama language.

Competencies

• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communicating in a credible and effective way
• Producing results 
• Fostering integration and teamwork
   

Location

The consultant will be based full-time onsite in WHO Vanuatu Office in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Travel

The consultant will be based in Port Vila and may be required to travel to the surrounding outer islands in Vanuatu. The travel arrangements will be made by WHO, and WHO will not be responsible for tickets purchased by the Consultant without the express, prior authorization of the WHO.

Remuneration (travel costs are excluded)

• Remuneration: The remuneration for this position is between VUV 679,987.25 and VUV 814,326.25 per month, subject to qualifications and experience.
• Expected duration of contract: 100% FTE for 3 months, from 1 July to 30 September 2026 (subject to completion of selection process).

Additional Information:

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• This role is subject to local recruitment and will be filled by Vanuatu nationals recruited in the local commuting area of the duty station.
• 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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