Deadline for submission: 11 July 2023
21 June 2023
Call for experts
The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the WHO-UNICEF Technical Expert Advisory group on nutrition Monitoring (TEAM). This “Call for experts” provides information about the advisory group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.
Background
The Technical Expert Advisory group on nutrition Monitoring (TEAM) was set up to act as an advisory body to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on how to improve the quality of nutrition monitoring efforts at all levels, in accordance with the following terms of reference. The group aims to achieve this through the facilitation of shared learning and the development of harmonized standards, tools and approaches in several relevant sectors. The TEAM is also expected to identify emerging research questions and needs related to the implementation of monitoring initiatives and to communicate these to appropriate partners.
Functions of the TEAM
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO and UNICEF, the TEAM shall perform the following functions:
- assess existing indicators to monitor nutritional status, the implementation of nutrition programmes and policies, the description of policy environment in countries.
- develop frameworks to describe inputs, outputs, and outcomes linking underlying risk factors, policy and programme responses to nutrition outcomes.
- analyse constraints in the collection of data for different types of indicators.
- assess methods for data quality control.
- assess new technological approaches for data collection, processing and analysis.
- assess methods used to produce national, regional and global estimates using data from routine and survey sources.
- recommend priority indicators for monitoring global nutrition challenges and policy frameworks aimed at addressing them.
- recommend methodologies for data collection, analysis and presentation.
- recommend methodologies about integration of data collection by various sources.
- recommend methodologies for estimating progress at national, regional and global levels.
- recommend procedures for the interpretation of the indicators to trigger actions.
- recommend research priorities for existing and new indicators.
Operations of the TEAM
- The TEAM shall normally meet once each year. However, WHO may convene additional meetings. TEAM meetings may be held in person (at WHO headquarters in Geneva or another location, as determined by its Secretariat) or virtually, via video or teleconference.
- TEAM meetings may be held in open and/or closed sessions, as decided by the Chair or Co-chairs in consultation with WHO and UNICEF.
- Open sessions shall be convened for the sole purpose of the exchange of non-confidential information and views and may be attended by Observers (as defined in paragraph III.3 below).
- Closed sessions: The sessions dealing with the formulation of recommendations and/or advice shall be restricted to the members of the TEAM, and essential WHO and UNICEF Secretariat staff.
- The quorum for TEAM meetings shall be two-thirds of the members.
- WHO and UNICEF may, at their sole discretion, invite external individuals from time to time to attend open sessions of the TEAM, or parts thereof, as “observers”. Observers may be invited either in their personal capacity, or as representatives from a governmental institution / intergovernmental organization, or from a non-state actor. Observers invited in their personal capacity will be required to complete a WHO confidentiality undertaking and a WHO declaration-of-interests form prior to attending a session of the TEAM. Invitations to Observers attending as representatives from non-state actors will be subject to internal due diligence and conflict-of-interest considerations in accordance with the WHO Framework of Engagement with Non-State Actors (“FENSA”). Observers invited as representatives may also be requested to complete a WHO confidentiality undertaking. Observers shall normally attend meetings of the TEAM at their own expense and be responsible for making all arrangements in that regard.
- At the invitation of the Chair or Co-chairs, observers may be asked to present their personal views and/or the policies of their organization. Observers will not participate in the process of adopting decisions and recommendations of the TEAM.
- The TEAM may decide to establish smaller working groups (sub-groups of the TEAM) to work on specific issues. Their deliberations shall take place via teleconference or videoconference. For these sub-groups, no quorum requirement will apply; the outcome of their deliberations will be submitted to the TEAM for review at one of its meetings.
- TEAM members are expected to attend TEAM meetings. If a member misses two consecutive meetings, WHO, in consultation with UNICEF, may terminate her or his appointment as a member of the TEAM.
- Reports of each meeting shall be submitted by the TEAM to WHO and UNICEF. All recommendations from the TEAM are advisory to WHO and UNICEF, which jointly retain full control over any subsequent decisions or actions regarding any proposals, policy issues or other matters considered by the TEAM.
- The TEAM shall normally make recommendations by consensus. If, in exceptional circumstances, a consensus on a particular issue cannot be reached, minority opinions will be reflected in the meeting report.
- Active participation is expected from all TEAM members, including in working groups (if any), teleconferences, and interaction over email. TEAM members may, in advance of TEAM meetings, be requested to review meeting documentation and to provide their views for consideration by the TEAM.
- WHO and UNICEF shall determine the modes of communication by the TEAM, including between WHO and UNICEF, and the TEAM members as well as the TEAM members among themselves.
- TEAM members shall not speak on behalf of, or represent, the TEAM and/or WHO and /or UNICEF to any third party.
Who can express interest?
The TEAM will be multidisciplinary, with members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to broad range of disciplines relevant to Nutrition Monitoring. Approximately 3-5 may be selected.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from:
Scientists, healthcare professionals, and healthcare regulators with expertise the following areas: nutrition epidemiology; nutrition surveillance in the field; statistics; system science; medicine and biology; public health; food security; implementation science; economics; and nutrition biomarker specialists. The above are examples only.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the TEAM, please submit the following documents by 11 July 2023 24:00h (midnight) Geneva time to nfs@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the WHO-UNICEF Technical Expert Advisory group on nutrition Monitoring (TEAM)”:
- A cover letter, indicating your motivation to apply and how you satisfy the selection criteria. Please note that, if selected, membership will be in a personal capacity. Therefore, do not use the letterhead or other identification of your employer);
- Your curriculum vitae; and
- A signed and completed Declaration of Interests (DOI) form for WHO Experts, is available at https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest.
After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO and UNICEF. Due to an expected high volume of interest, only selected individuals will be informed.
Important information about the selection processes and conditions of appointment
Members of WHO advisory groups (AGs) must be free of any real, potential or apparent conflicts of interest. To this end, applicants are required to complete the WHO Declaration of Interests for WHO Experts, and the selection as a member of a AG is, amongst other things, dependent on WHO determining that there is no conflict of interest or that any identified conflicts could be appropriately managed (in addition to WHO’s evaluation of an applicant’s experience, expertise and motivation and other criteria).
All AG members will serve in their individual expert capacity and shall not represent any governments, any commercial industries or entities, any research, academic or civil society organizations, or any other bodies, entities, institutions or organizations. They are expected to fully comply with the Code of Conduct for WHO Experts (https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest). AG members will be expected to sign and return a completed confidentiality undertaking prior to the beginning of the first meeting.
At any point during the selection process, telephone interviews may be scheduled between an applicant and the WHO Secretariat to enable WHO to ask questions relating to the applicant’s experience and expertise and/or to assess whether the applicant meets the criteria for membership in the relevant AG.
The selection of members of the AGs will be made by WHO in its sole discretion, taking into account the following (non-exclusive) criteria: relevant technical expertise; experience in international and country policy work; communication skills; and ability to work constructively with people from different cultural backgrounds and orientations. The selection of AG members will also take account of the need for diverse perspectives from different regions, especially from low and middle-income countries, and for gender balance.
If selected by WHO, proposed members will be sent an invitation letter and a Memorandum of Agreement. Appointment as a member of an AG will be subject to the proposed member returning to WHO the countersigned copy of these two documents.
WHO reserves the right to accept or reject any expression of interest, to annul the open call process and reject all expressions of interest at any time without incurring any liability to the affected applicant or applicants and without any obligation to inform the affected applicant or applicants of the grounds for WHO’s action. WHO may also decide, at any time, not to proceed with the establishment of the AG, disband an existing TAG or modify the work of the AG.
WHO shall not in any way be obliged to reveal, or discuss with any applicant, how an expression of interest was assessed, or to provide any other information relating to the evaluation/selection process, or to state the reasons for not choosing a member.
WHO may publish the names and a short biography of the selected individuals on the WHO internet.
AG members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the AG or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of AG members to participate in AG meetings will be covered by WHO in accordance with its applicable policies, rules and procedures.
The appointment will be limited in time as indicated in the letter of appointment.
If you have any questions about this “Call for experts”, please write to nfs@who.int well before the applicable deadline.
