Public Health Law Expert

Mission and objectives

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations Public Health Organization established in 1948. The objective of the World Health Organization shall be the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. World Health Organization achieves its goals by performing its essential functions: 1. Take a leadership role in key health issues and create partnerships when joint action is needed; 2. Set research priorities and encourage the acquisition, application and dissemination of useful knowledge; 3. Setting standards and criteria and encouraging and monitoring them; 4. Develop ethical and evidence-based policies 5. Provide technical support, be an agent of change and build institutional capacity in a sustainable way; 6. Monitor health status and assess health trends.

Context

The World Health Organization (WHO) was established in 1948 as the United Nations’ specialized agency for health. Its mandate is to promote health, keep the world safe and serve vulnerable populations. Within the Health Systems and Services Cluster, the Health Financing and Governance Team provides technical support on health governance, strategic planning and economic evaluation, stewardship and policy dialogue, legal and regulatory frameworks for health, and broader health system strengthening. The Health Financing and Governance Team under the Health Systems and Services Cluster supports Member States and countries within the Region to generate evidence at country levels to support advocacy for the needed legal reforms. This will help to inform planning for the needed legal reforms, tracking and reporting on progress in improving laws in the regional. To facilitate this, an assessment of the current status of UHC laws in AFRO countries was conducted in all countries to establish and also inform targeted country support for the required legal reforms to facilitate progress towards UHC. From 2026 onwards, the team will deliver an expanded portfolio of UHC legal reform activities to ensure updated evidence and effective support to the increasing countries’ requests. The Public Health UN Volunteer will provide in-house legal expertise and analytical support to strengthen delivery against country and donor commitments.

Task Description

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Team Lead – Health Financing and Governance or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UN Volunteer will : • Provide in-house legal analysis to support the team’s work on health law and UHC legal reform across Member States. • Review and analyse health-related legislation, regulations and legal frameworks across countries, identifying gaps and opportunities for reform. • Maintain and regularly update the repository of country UHC-related laws, regulations and legal materials, ensuring systematic country follow-up and coordination with regional data hub teams. • Coordinate the validation of legal country profiles, including engagement with parliamentarians, and support the production of final country reports. • Review and produce legal country profiles ready for publication for each validated country profile. • Provide legal input into country-level processes, including health sector reviews, policy dialogue, regulatory reform and strategic planning. • Support country engagement on health policy dialogue, stewardship and regulatory work, including preparing background notes and follow-up actions. • Contribute to the drafting and dissemination of legal briefs, policy briefs, technical notes and other analytical products on health governance, health law and UHC legal reform. • Contribute to internal technical reviews and analytical outputs supporting the team’s broader UHC and health systems work. • Support documentation of the UHC-related laws initiative, including the development of thematic papers in coordination with relevant Health Systems and Services (HSS) units. • Document and analyse country validation methodologies, including conducting comparative analyses and generating lessons learned. • Support team and cluster reporting on the legal and governance workstreams to donors and the wider region, including quarterly progress reports. • Support the organisation and documentation of technical meetings, working groups and legal capacity-strengthening events for Member States. • Contribute to the design and delivery of capacity-building activities. • Coordinate with country offices, partner agencies and AFRO clusters on joint governance activities. • Collaborate closely with technical officers within the Health Financing and Governance Team and the broader Health Systems and Services Cluster. • Participate in meetings and activities in line with AFRO working hours.

Competencies and values

• Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Producing results • Communication • Teamwork • Professionalism • Self-management • Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

Living conditions and remarks

The Republic of Congo is a low-to-middle-income country, located in Central Africa sub-region. The country shares boundaries with Gabon in the South-West, Cameroon and Central Republic Africa in the North and North-East, the Democratic Republic of Congo in the East, Angola and Atlantic Ocean in the South. Since 2014, the Republic of Congo is experiencing an economic downturn, affecting the economic growth (-5 per cent in 2017). Because of the persistent drop in the price of oil, this situation drove to the decline of the gross domestic product per capita, from $3,196 in 2013 to $1,658 in 2017. Nevertheless, the country is globally stable and safe in the main urban and rural areas. Frequent disruptions are recorded in the electricity supply, particularly in Brazzaville (political capital) and Pointe-Noire (economic capital). The living cost is relatively affordable, but some concerns with the cost of decent housing should be noted. The population enjoys dressing in style and loves music both profane and religious. According to United Nations security standards, life and travel in Brazzaville and in the other areas major are secure. The Republic of Congo is a unique country. It provides for an interesting and enriching environment, but also requires a mature level of cultural awareness, as well as more stamina and commitment than elsewhere to make life comfortable and affordable. Therefore, flexibility and the ability and willingness to live and work in harsh and potentially hazardous conditions, involving physical hardship and little comfort, are essential.