FINAL TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. Background

During the seventy-fifth World Health Assembly in May 2022, the Director General of World Health Organization (WHO) set out ten proposals to strengthen the global architecture for health emergency preparedness, response, and resilience (HEPR), based on the principles of equity, inclusivity, and coherence, and under the aegis of a new a World Health Organization convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response . The area post COVID-19 demanded a better coordination and interconnection between public health domains. The global architecture built on 5 interconnected and coordinated core subsystems at global, regional and national levels namely i) Emergency coordination, ii) Access to countermeasures, iii) Clinical care, iv) The collaborative surveillance, and v) Community Protection. The community protection sub- system focuses on strengthening the resilience of community by a) proactive risk communication and infodemic management to inform communities and build trust, b) community engagement to co-create mass population and environment interventions based on local contexts and customs and c) multisectoral action to address community concerns such as social welfare and livelihood protection. WHO AFRO is leading the Africa Infodemic Response Alliance (AIRA) a network of regional and local stakeholders to manage the infodemic in the African Region by improving the tracking and debunking of misinformation while increasing the reach and impact of verified public health information. The alliance is composed of 14 active members (UN Global Pulse, IFRC, UNICEF, Gavi etc.) and of associated members (Fact Checking organizations, Social Media Platforms, Local and Regional Media). Kenya has been one of the strategic countries supported by AIRA in managing infodemics during health crises. An infodemic manager was recruited for Kenya in 2021 and was tasked to set up an infodemic management system for Covid-19 with WHO’s partners in the country. Over time, the system put in place has proven to be agile enough to cover different health crises, including polio and cholera. The next phase of infodemic management in Kenya is to reinforce WHO’s leadership in that field, establish new partnerships, reinforce collaboration with the RCCE and Communication units at WHO and at MoH and demonstrate how infodemic management can be a community protection tool to strengthen community resilience in the country. A strong collaboration with the RCCE, health promotion and communication stakeholders at WHO, at the Ministry of Health and at other partners’ agencies in Kenya is essential to achieve that goal. AIRA will play a strong technical supporting role to ensure that the activities delivered meet the highest quality standards. The Infodemic Manager will dedicate 100% of her/his time to lead the infodemic management activities in Kenya at the national and sub-national levels.

2. Deliverables

1. Strengthening of sustainable Infodemic Management system in Kenya

• The Infodemic Manager will support national stakeholders to evaluate existing infodemic management systems and to propose an action plan to adapt them for longer-term health issues;
• Based on the validated action plan, the Infodemic Manager will provide technical support to the national IM working group to meet the action plan objectives.
• Support with the establishment of Infodemic Management working groups whenever relevant;
• Support with developing information ecosystem analyses, rumor tracking systems, production of analytical reports, supervise and guide the implementation of country infodemic management interventions;
• Liaise with the AIRA Viral Facts team and Kenya WHO Country Office communication team to produce targeted health literacy and debunking content;
• Provide technical leadership on infodemic management at strategic forums at the national level; – Support with the creation, operationalization, and mostly localization of infodemic management tools.

2. Capacity Building

• Design and deliver training sessions to improve national country capacity on infodemic management, in relation with community protection.
• Conduct post-training monitoring to ensure the knowledge acquired translates into action;
• Design and implement long-term Infodemic management strategies and incorporating ongoing research findings into intervention design;
• Facilitate best practices and experience sharing between infodemic management stakeholders at national and sub-national levels.

3. Monitoring, evaluation, reporting

• Systematically document the successes, challenges, and lessons learned;
• Help with the design of an M&E framework, tools and guidelines to measure the impacts of the implemented IM activities in Kenya;
• Document and disseminate best practices and lessons learnt in case study reports or similar exercises.
• Contribute to donor reporting and any other reporting duties identified by the line manager and technical supervisor.

4. Infodemic Research and social listening

Support AIRA’s research and social listening activities by providing technical inputs and by following-up on the implementation of social listening recommendations with the Kenya WHO Country Office and its partners in Kenya.

5. Partnership Building and Coordination

• Ensuring effective coordination and collaboration between stakeholders at Kenya national and sub-national levels
• Build new strategic partnerships and ensure effective coordination with national infodemic management stakeholders in Kenya.
• Actively participate in coordination meetings with other teams at WHO Kenya, including the RCCE and Communication teams.

3. Qualifications, experience, skills and languages

Functional Skills and Knowledge

Essential:

1. Thorough knowledge of the principles, techniques, and practices of online dissemination of information, via social media mechanisms and the web and.
2. Thorough understanding of the impact of communications on the reputation, image, and success of an organization, as well as the role the web and social media has in this regard.
3. Fluency in using Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Desirable:

Fluency in using social listening tools.

Education

Essential:

Master’s degree in public health, health communication or any related field.

Desirable:

Specialised training on Infodemic Management, Risk Communication and Community Engagement, Social Behaviour Change, and etc.

Experience

Essential:

At least five (5) years of experience in Risk Communication Community engagement (RCCE), Infodemic management or in health promotion. Proven work experience in multistakeholder engagement and coordination. Commitment to WHO’s values and objectives. Ability to work flexibly within short deadlines in a changing environment with competing priorities. Share a results-oriented work ethic. Fostering integration and teamwork. Ability to Creating an empowering and motivating environment. Ability to communicate with respect, tact, and diplomacy.

Desirable:

1. Fluency in using social listening tools (Talkwalker, Spike, Meltwater, Crowd tangle, etc.)
2. Prior work experience with WHO, a UN agency or with a national public health agency.

Languages and level required Essential:

Excellent English writing and editing skills. Fluent in Swahili.

4. Technical Supervision

For his/her responsibilities, the Infodemic Manager will report to the EPR Cluster lead at WHO Kenya, Dr. Martins Livinus livinusm@who.int, and will be technically supervised by the AIRA Country Support Lead, Yara El Moussaoui, ely@who.int.

5. Location

On site: WHO Kenya Office, Block P, Level 1, UN Gigiri Complex, Gigiri Avenue.

6. Travel

1. Place of assignment; Nairobi 2. Travel; n/a

7. Remuneration and budget (travel costs excluded)

The consultancy contract will be for 11 months and will use consultancy rates at NOB or NOC level depending on level of experience.

Currency: Kenya Shilling.

Work schedule (if applicable) :n/a

Additional Information (For HR use only):

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

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