Date of last update: 29/04/2021 2021-04-29
WHO began when our Constitution came into force on 7 April 1948 – a date we now celebrate every year as World Health Day. We are now more than 7000 people from more than 150 countries working in 150 country offices, in 6 regional offices and at our headquarters in Geneva.
Our primary role is to direct and coordinate international health within the United Nations system and our main areas of work are health systems; health through the life-course; noncommunicable and communicable diseases; preparedness, surveillance and response; and corporate services.
We support countries as they coordinate the efforts of governments and partners – including bi- and multilaterals, funds and foundations, civil society organizations and the private sector.
Working together, we attain health objectives by supporting national health policies and strategies.
WHO works worldwide to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable.
Our goal is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and well-being.
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OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME
For the Future: Towards the Healthiest and Safest Region outlines a vision for WHO work with Member States and partners in the Western Pacific. Strong, resilient, sustainable health systems are integral to delivering the four thematic priorities. Up to 60% of people living in some countries in the Region do not have access to safe, quality and affordable health services and medicines. One in five families spend 10% of their income on health care. This threatens individuals, families, communities and economies. DHS will contribute to taking forward the vision of, and the thematic priorities in For the Future. DHS will support Member States with high quality advice and assistance on health financing, health workforce, medical products, quality and safety, law and governance, women and children, rehabilitation, surgery and health services including primary health care so that they can build resilient, responsive and sustainable health systems.
UNIT MANDATE:
Health Policy and Service Design (HPS) - HPS supports Member States to develop and implement policies, strategies, and plans and service delivery design, including primary health care, to strengthen governance, financing, health workforce in order to ensure access to needed promotive, preventative, curative, rehabilitative and palliative services without financial hardship.
Essential Medicines and Health Technologies (EMT) - EMT supports Member States to strengthen pharmaceutical systems and regulations, including for traditional medicines to ensure equitable access to quality-assured, safe and effective therapies and health technologies and works along with other programmes to accelerate the fight against antimicrobial resistance in the Western Pacific Region.
Maternal Child Health and Quality Safety (MCQ) - MCQ supports Member States to improve health systems to provide the best and safest possible health facility services to all people, regardless of race, beliefs, gender, economic and social condition and to ensure UHC serves all people, starting from women and children.
Health Law and Ethics (HLE) - HLE supports Member States to understand, develop and implement quality and ethical legal frameworks for health. Grounded in human rights and international good practice standards, legal frameworks for health guide transformative policies and innovative programming.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
Under the guidance and supervision of the Director, Health Systems and Services, the general guidance of the Director of Programme Management (DPM) and in close collaboration with Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) technical division directors, the incumbent will have the following responsibilities:
1. Provide technical guidance and leadership on health system governance and legislation in the Regional Office and in support of country office teams.
2. Implement the Western Pacific Action Agenda on Strengthening Legal frameworks for Health in the Sustainable Development Goals and review country health system legislation in general and with a specific focus on universal health coverage.
3. Assist Member States in the legislative process related to the development and implementation of national and subnational health policies, stratefies and plans, including problem analysis; development and drafting; implementation; and monitoring of health laws and regulations.
4. Manage and supervise country reviews on legislation and policies in health systems including policies and regulation for different sectors and/or other stakeholders, including COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 public health related legislation.
5. Lead the management of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentarian Forum on Global Health.
6. Lead knowledge management and sharing of experiences and lessons learned in the area of health systems legislation and governance in the Region and beyond.
7. Lead the development of guidance and technical support to Member States on the application of public health ethics and clinical ethics in addressing health priorities.
8. Manage the secretariat activities for the Asia-Pacific National Ethics/Bioethics Committees network, including capacity-building and direct country-support actions.
9. Supervise the capacity-building of knowledge on health law for Member States and WHO staff through the development and maintenance of the Health Law Webtool to provide legal information on a range of health topics in the Wester Pacific Region, and through regional-and country-specifc workshops on governance and legislation.
10. Manage the technical support and guidance of Member States on disability-inclusion within health systems, including through the focus on removing or reducing discrimination within health service delivery.
11. Supervise and coordinate the work of the Health Law and Ethics team in undertaking the abovementioned duties:
a. Manage planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and reporting of programme area;
b. Manage the HLE team to make the best use of the expertise of each member and create a positive environment for joint team efforts;
c. Establish close working relationships with WHO headquarters, country offices, other WHO regions, units within DHS, other divisions in the Regional Office and build partnership with development partners, including collaborating centres to support countries' specific requests on legislation planning and policy development.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Essential: Bachelor's degree in health sciences, social sciences or related fields with a master's degree (or higher) in law; or bachelor's degree in law with a master's degree (or higher) in law, health sciences, social sciences or other related fields.
Desirable: Postgraduate degree in international development or related areas.
Experience
Essential: Minimum ten years of relevant professional working experience, at national and international levels, in the areas of law reform or health governance including the review and development of legislation and regulation. Experience in team management and leadership.
Desirable: Experience in law reform related to countries in the Western Pacific Region.
Skills
-Ability to conduct health governance analysis.
-Capacity to analyse legislative proposals and impact on health and health systems.
-Sound knowledge of legal principles for public health.
-Communication skills with the ability to present clearly and logically in written and oral form.
-Organizational skills with the ability to work within strict deadlines.
-Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and ability to maintain effective partnerships and working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity.
WHO Competencies
Use of Language Skills
Essential: Expert knowledge of written and spoken english.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of other UN languages.
REMUNERATION
WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 89,837 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 3608 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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Type of contract: Staff (Permanent and Fixed Term)
Macro-area: South / East Asia and Pacific
Level of experience: Senior Professional, more than 5 years
Area of work Definition: Democracy, Governance, Human Rights, Law, Public Administration
Type of organisation: Multilateral Organisations