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Qualifications

Purpose of consultancy

Under the direct supervision of the Health Operations Manager and the WHO Representative (WR), the national communications consultant will support WHO Romania initiatives in improving vaccination coverage in Romania through the formulation, development, and implementation of targeted communication campaigns to address vaccine hesitancy, combat misinformation and build healthcare worker capacity.

The consultant will additionally improve national visibility for WHO Emergency Programming in Romania and support WHO Country Office colleagues with the implementation of public health initiatives requiring a communications component.

Background

Despite the availability of free childhood vaccinations in Romania and the inclusion of vaccination as a major component in the national health agenda, immunization coverage for vaccine preventable disease (VPD) including TB, COVID, Measles and Hepatitis falls far short of WHO recommended targets. Like in many countries, vaccination uptake also decreased in Romania following the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by ‘vaccine fatigue’ combined with growing rates of vaccine hesitancy secondary to rapidly spreading misinformation. The threat of an infectious disease outbreak has thus been greatly increased, with the country currently experiencing concurrent outbreaks of both measles and influenza (in addition to endemic TB). The movement of over 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees into Romania, with similarly poor vaccination profiles has further exacerbated concerns of a major disease outbreak in Romania.

Deliverables

Objective 1: Support WHO Romania’s Immunization Communication Strategy for 2024
Deliverable 1.1: Support the development of a 6-month Country Office corporate communication plan to guide public communication messages for routine immunization and ensure maximisation of WHO’s visibility in Romania, by conducting an in-depth review the media landscape, setting SMART objectives based on WHO Country Office’s activities and resources available, identifying audiences and tailor messages to their needs and determining information delivery channels and materials

Objective 2:  Support improving national visibility for WHO’s Emergency Programming in Romania 

Deliverable 2.1: Create engaging written and visual communication materials promoting a high visibility of the projects and the work carried out by the technical colleagues at WHO CO ROM related to immunization and other areas of public health interventions.
Deliverable 2.2: Contribute to writing human interest stories that reference immunization (and other) activities conducted by WHO, national authorities and the Ministry of Heath which have induced changes in behaviour or changed the lives of individuals, children, families and communities in Romania.
Deliverable 2.3: Facilitate organization of media interviews with WR, Health Operations Manager and other technical colleagues and support colleagues in drafting scripts or talking points and ensure placement of WHO information materials in the national press.
Deliverable 2.4: Ensure strong social media presence highlighting key WHO immunization and other health promotional activities.
Deliverable 2.5: Monitor social media trends to rapidly identify and address misinformation or disinformation pertaining to immunization.
Deliverable 2.6: Oversee operations of contracted photographers at CO meetings and events to ensure receipt of high-quality visibility assets.
Deliverable 2.7: Ensure all communications and communication materials aligns with WHO EURO’s communications guidelines, including the use of the WHO logo.

Objective 3: Promote communication between WHO and national / international partners

Deliverable 3.1: Support colleagues in development of monthly newsletters, situational reports, and other information material for dissemination to internal partners and national and international partners, by reporting on past activities, developing stories and selecting relevant materials.
Deliverable 3.2: Support the design and development of digital and print resources for WHO events and meetings.
Deliverable 3.3: Ensure technical compliance of the activities and events by testing sound and video equipment, interpretation devices and placement of visibility items.

Objective 4: Support colleagues within risk communication to Ukrainian beneficiaries

Deliverable 4.1: Monitor social media and news platforms and report key findings relevant to immunization, health care sector developments or emergencies in Romania to WR, Health Operations Manager and other relevant colleagues.
Deliverable 4.2: Support technical colleagues to develop targeted communication material to combat vaccination misinformation, address vaccination concerns and increase vaccine uptake, by researching misinformation sources and messages and developing messages that address the relevant  issues according to WHO standards.

Qualifications

Educational Qualifications

Essential:
•    Bachelor’s degree in journalism, communications, public relations, social sciences, or humanities.

Desirable:
•    Master’s degree in journalism, communications, public relations or other relevant fields.

Experience

Essential:
•    Minimum 2 years of experience in public relations or communications.
•    Experience with implementing and coordinating communication strategies.
•    Experience in writing communications products and press releases.
•    Experience in developing materials for social media.
•    Experience in social media content creation and page management.
•    Experience in leveraging media connection to achieve positive coverage in major news outlets.
•    Experience organizing interviews and other media events.

Desirable:
•    Experience working in public health or science related communication.
•    Experience working in WHO or comparable international organizations.
•    Experience working in an emergency humanitarian setting.

Skills/Knowledge

Essential:
•    Excellent writing skills and storytelling abilities.
•    Ability to design, manage, analyze, and coordinate production of communications materials.
•    Solid knowledge of web, social media and audio-visual tools and products.
•    Creative thinking and ideation abilities.
•    Ability to work in close collaboration with team members and external partners.
•    Ability to organize visibility events with partners and donors, aligning all messages and preparation activities.
•    Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work under pressure.
Desirable:
•    Basic design skills.
•    Tact, discretion, and ability to promote consensus.

Languages

Essential:
Advanced knowledge of both English and Romanian languages.

Location

On-site: WHO Office, Bucharest, Romania

Travel

The consultant is expected to travel to various locations during the consultancy in order to support the content creation process of communication materials or aid in the visibility activities or events of the WHO Country Office.

Remuneration

a.    Remuneration: RON 25,274 per month. (The pay band reflects the NO-B salary scale of the country, matched to the labour market in Romania.)
b.    Locally contracted consultant
c.    Tentative expected duration of contract: 8 months (1 April 2024- 30 November 2024)

Additional Information

• This vacancy notice may be used to identify candidates for other similar consultancies at the same level.
• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
• A written test may be used as a form of screening.
• If your candidature is retained for interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.
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• 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 [email protected].
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