Emergency Roster of Consultants – Anthropologist at World Health Organization

Purpose of consultancy

• The purpose of the roster is to provide short-term support during acute events for up to three months, which may be extended up to six months to one year, depending on operational needs. Placement on the roster entails a general commitment from the external candidate to be deployed within 1 to 2 weeks from when a request for availability is made.
• The Anthropologist will provide specialized technical, strategic and situational Anthropological advice and support to the WHO and the health sector both during development and emergency planning, response and recovery.
• Through communication and engagement and the empowerment and participation of stakeholders, communities, implementing partners and government counterparts, s/he promotes measurable Anthropological programming, which contributes to achieving sustainable and concrete results.

Deliverables

•  An inception report with all the relevant field tools
•  Technical reports
•  Daily situational and strategic briefs to the response during emergencies
•  FAQs
•  EOM (End Of Mission) reports

Specifically, The Anthropologist Perform The Following Functions:

• Support WHO and the health sector study and understand the health-seeking behavior and mistrust in the communities and interventions of interest
• Support the After-Action Reviews (AARs) and conduct parallel Anthropological After-Action Reviews (AARs) to understand what the response did well and why, what it didn’t do well and why, what is needed to improve future and any other important issues that the AAR planning team rationalises
• Provide social listening support to the response team during emergency outbreaks by conducting strategic and situational Anthropological behavioural studies on knowledge, perceptions, practices, attitudes and beliefs with transmission implications and provide the team with the FAQs and technical reports
• Support the development of IECs by participate in all IEC development meetings and supplying the FAQs where possible
• Conduct power mapping and lead community engagements, support RC and complex investigations both as part of the RRT and the response teams during outbreaks and in the recovery phases in any response of interest
• Provide technical support to the Survivors Program following VHF outbreaks by conducting strategic and situational Anthropological behavioral studies, support the body fluid review program by leading engagements with the survivors to pull out design and implementation gaps to be addressed and persuade non-compliant survivors to provide samples to be reviewed
• Humanize SDBs by supporting integration of ethics, safe cultural and belief systems in the process, collecting information on the gaps driving mistrust, supporting the program understand and response the concerns and fears of affected family and leading engaging with the bereaved to stem possible mistrust and dissatisfaction from derailing the response
• Work with the epidemiologists to investigate and persuade high risk contacts to voluntarily turn-up at the isolation unit, identify and support the team identify and address gaps that affect acceptance of isolation, analyse options for isolation and highlight the safest and acceptable options
• Work with epidemiologists and the EMS to support to persuade mistrustful and runaway suspected cases in shrines, private facilities, community and religious places to accept evacuation to the treatment units
• Provide weekly and daily briefs to the response team on the situation, gaps and recommendations on a pillar-by-pillar basis
• Map groups of people that are vulnerable to future outbreaks based on socio-economic, belief and cultural practices, perceptions, attitudes and knowledge levels for risk management purposes
• Continuously input to the strategy for addressing the socio-culturally driven resistance to the current EVD response. This is being done but remains an ongoing process until the response closes
• Identify design and implementation gaps pillar by pillar in the response
• Supporting the re-integration of discharged cases to the community and to stem community-based stigma.
• Lead documentation and publication in peer reviewed journals of all Anthropological related data gathered including securing IRB clearances at the beginning of the response, where need be. The Anthropologist will also conduct systematic reviews of interest after the responses
• The anthropologist shall support the vaccine programs as the vaccine acceptance advisor
• Perform any other role the team or IM/supervisor may determine. 

Essential

Educational Qualifications

• A university degree in Social/Medical Anthropology/Sociology of health from a respectable University.

Desirable

• An education background in infectious diseases is an added advantage.

Experience

Essential

• At least 5 years of experience in research, conceptualizing and technical support and leading stakeholder engagements in the area of emergency planning, response and recovery and development programming or in community mistrust/resistance prone sectors
• Proven skills in social research methods including systematic review of evidence, qualitative operational research skills, and translation of evidence into practice.
• Proven previous experience with similar work and specifically, delivery of programmes in areas of public health, infectious diseases, humanitarian response will be an added advantage in Africa
• Excellent workshop facilitating skills
• Evidence of similar work before, especially within the African Region
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or WHO is considered an asset.

Skills/Knowledge

• Excellent writing and analytic skills
• Languages required

Essential

• Expert knowledge of either English or French or Portuguese, depending on the official language in the duty station where deployed 

Desirable:

• Working knowledge of an additional UN language.