Internship – Strategic Planning and Partnership/WHE

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The mission of the WHE Programme is to build the capacity of Member States to manage health emergency risks and, when national capacities are overwhelmed, to lead and coordinate the international health response to contain outbreaks and other health emergencies and to provide effective relief and recovery to affected populations.

The Strategic Partnership and Planning (SPP) team housed within the Executive Director’s Office of the WHE Programme provides overall leadership and coherence for strategic planning, performance and partnerships across the WHE Programme, ensuring harmonized and coherent strategic planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The team also works to ensure the quality and timeliness of delivery against defined objectives and builds partnerships and relations to support the delivery of the Programmatic work across the three-levels, and with other technical areas of WHO. The team strongly liaises with Director-General’s Office and Deputy Director-General’s Office to manage corporate processes and ensure quality and timeliness of related preparations and products.

SPP plays a key role in both emergency response, and operational readiness and preparedness. In the context of emergency response, SPP supports the emergency management team to develop comprehensive Strategic Response plans with Member States and country offices, particularly those in fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable settings as well as for acute emergency responses. These plans are monitored and updated through operational reviews and lessons learning exercises. In the context of operational readiness and preparedness, SPP works with the information produced by the emergency preparedness teams on risk and vulnerability mapping, and contingency and operational readiness planning to inform development of global strategies.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

Terms of reference
Under the supervision of a technical expert in the respective area, the intern is assigned the agreed terms of reference:
– Assist in drafting, formatting, and editing technical reports, briefing notes and other documents
– Support development and design of communications/knowledge products and activities
– Assist in tracking and reporting on key performance indicators and products
– Participate in on-going departmental projects

– Assist in organizing strategic workshops, meetings, conferences, events
– Organize data and documents

Learning objectives
The purpose of the WHO Internship Programme is to provide an enriching learning experience for students and recent graduates. The Learning Objectives outlined within each internship vacancy are a key component of the programme.
Within this internship, the intern will:
– Understand the objectives of the programme/area of work
– Communicate clearly about the programme/area of work
– Know how to assemble data and conduct analyses
– Prepare background documents for meetings

DURATION OF INTERNSHIP

Tentative start date: 8 or 22 April 2024
Duration: 24 weeks

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education
Have completed the equivalent of three years of full-time studies in Public Health, Public Policy or mass communication at a university or equivalent institution prior to commencing the assignment; AND be enrolled in a course of study at a university or equivalent institution leading to a formal qualification (applicants who have already graduated may also qualify for consideration provided that they apply to the internship within six months after completion of their formal qualification).

Skills
Core competencies
– Teamwork
– Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
– Communication

All interns should be able to demonstrate the following skills in line with the WHO core competencies:
– Communicating effectively orally and in writing
– Showing willingness to learn from mistakes
– Producing and delivering quality results
– Working collaboratively with team members

In addition, interns need to be familiar with commonly used computer programmes, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

Experience
– Strong, concise writing skills.
– Experience in research and/or in drafting reports
– Experience in project management, knowledge management and communications, including tools and principles.
– Experience in the subject area through academic work or research
– Experience with data analysis and communicating health information with visual display.

Languages

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of French. Intermediate knowledge of other UN languages.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Interns do not receive a salary. They do however receive a living allowance. The allowance depends on the duty station and other external support (grant, scholarships, etc.) received by the intern. In Geneva, the maximum amount of the allowance provided by WHO is CHF 1620 per month. The exact amount of the living allowance will be calculated for each intern, after selection, based on a legal financial disclosure form that the individual will complete. In addition, all interns in Geneva will receive a lumpsum of CHF 20 for each working day to buy lunch at WHO campus or elsewhere. WHO also provides all interns with accident and medical insurance coverage.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

– Please note that internships at WHO are very competitive and only a small number of applicants will be accepted every year. Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
– Living abroad is expensive and finding accommodation can be challenging. All intern candidates should be aware of these factors before they consider applying for a WHO Internship.
– If selected for a WHO Internship, candidates will be required to provide certified copies of proof of enrolment in an eligible course of studies, a completed WHO medical certificate of fitness for work, and the contact details for reference checks.
– Interns are not eligible to take up a consultant or other non-staff contract in WHO for a period of three months following the end of the internship. However, no such restriction applies to temporary or longer-term staff positions if the vacancy has been advertised and a competitive process completed.
– WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates.
– The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
– The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply.
– Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to reasonableaccommodation@who.int
– WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
– Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at shws@who.int.