Deadline: June 22, 2026, 23:59 CET
The WHO Regional Office for Europe is seeking experts to serve as members of the Regional Validation Committee (RVC) for validation of elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B virus and validation of elimination of viral hepatitis B and/or C as a public health problem in the WHO European Region. This “Call for experts” provides information about the committee in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.
Background
The mission of the Regional Validation Committee (RVC) for validation of EMTCT of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B virus and validation of elimination of viral hepatitis B and/or C as a public health problem is to provide independent advice to WHO regional Secretariat to support country efforts toward EMTCT of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B virus and validation of elimination of viral hepatitis B and/or C as a public health problem and to achieve and maintain global validation standards.
Functions of the RVC
The functions of the RVC are:
- To review national validation reports from the National Validation Committee (NVC) to determine and advise WHO on their compliance with the global criteria for validation of EMTCT of HIV, syphilis and/or HBV, and/or criteria for elimination of viral hepatitis B and/or C as a public health problem, get additional information or clarification as required, and determine eligibility for country validation assessment.
- To coordinate with the Regional Validation Team (RVT) to support country validation assessments via in-country mission or virtual assessment using the four validation assessment tools for EMTCT (programme evaluation and assessment; data assessment and verification; laboratory evaluation and assessment; and human rights, gender equality and engagement of civil society in the EMTCT process) and/ or the validation assessment tools for HBV and/or HCV elimination as a public health problem.
- To coordinate the preparation of the regional validation assessment report to inform WHO regarding compliance with global criteria for validation of EMTCT of HIV, syphilis and/or HBV and/or criteria for elimination of viral hepatitis B and/or C as a public health problem.
- To advise WHO as to whether candidate countries’ achievements in EMTCT of HIV, syphilis and/or HBV and/or in elimination of viral hepatitis B and/or C as a public health problem can be recommended to GVAC (through the RVS) for validation; or to issue recommendations to countries to address gaps and/or barriers to validation discovered through the country assessment process.
- To collaborate with the RVS, NVS, NVC and Global Validation Secretariat to ensure monitoring for maintenance of validation, including review and re-evaluation of validation impact and process indicators and provide recommendations to the GVAC (through the RVS) regarding maintenance of validation of previously validated countries.
- To monitor the current context for legal or political changes or practices that could threaten countries’ ability to apply or maintain EMTCT validation or validation of elimination of HBV and/or HCV as a public health problem in the region.
- To support capacity building of countries or NVCs where needed.
At a minimum, RVC members should be able and willing to:
- Serve on the committee for an initial appointment of 3 years (with possibility of reappointment).
- Participate in (at least) one annual RVC meeting.
- Participate in additional RVC calls and meetings based on country submission of national reports.
- Review national validation reports to assess compliance with minimum global standards and present findings at RVC meetings.
- Biannually, review data on maintenance of validation for countries who were successfully validated.
- As needed, participate in country validation missions/assessments.
- Support capacity building activities in countries, including those for national validation committees where needed.
RVC members will not be remunerated for their participation in the RVC. However, reasonable expenses such as travel expenses incurred by attendance at RVC meetings and participation in regional and country EMTCT and/or HBV and/or HCV elimination activities will be compensated by WHO in accordance with the applicable rules and policies of WHO. RVC members should not receive any financial or other incentives from any other source in relation to their RVC functions.
Operations of the RVC
The RVC will have a face-to-face or virtual meeting at least once a year. The WHO regional Secretariat shall provide any necessary technical and other support for the RVC. WHO will convene additional scheduled meetings, including on an ad hoc basis. Membership in the RVC may be terminated by the regional Secretariat for various reasons, including but not limited to:
- failure to attend three consecutive RVC calls or meetings.
- change in affiliation resulting in a conflict of interest.
- a lack of professionalism involving, for example, a breach of confidentiality.
A formal report of all RVC calls and meeting recommendations to countries will be written by the regional Secretariat and submitted back to the RVC for comments. The RVC will have two weeks to edit the reports. All recommendations from the RVC are advisory to WHO, which retains full control over any subsequent decision or actions regarding any proposals, policy issues or other matters considered by the RVC. Information and documentation to which members may gain access in performing RVC related activities will be considered confidential and proprietary to WHO and/or parties collaborating with WHO. RVC members shall not purport to speak on behalf of, or represent, the RVC or WHO to any third party. In this regard, RVC members may be approached by non-WHO sources for their views, comments and statements on matters of public health concern and asked to state the views of the RVC or of details related to RVC discussions. RVC members should refer to all such enquiries to WHO.
Who can express interest?
The RVC will be multidisciplinary, with members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and/or hepatitis B and elimination of viral hepatitis B and/or C as a public health problem.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from scientists, public health professionals, clinicians, community members and healthcare regulators with expertise in any of the following areas:
- Strategic information (surveillance and monitoring and evaluation)
- Public health programme management: HIV, sexually transmitted infections, viral hepatitis (including HBV immunization); maternal and child health; sexual and reproductive health;
- Clinical management of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and viral hepatitis;
- Laboratory services, including services related to quality assurance in testing for HIV, syphilis, HBV and HCV infection;
- Key populations, community of people living with HIV and/or hepatitis B, marginalized and vulnerable groups; Gender and human rights with a focus on people at higher-risk and vulnerable groups.
At least two women shall be included in the composition of the RVC: one living with HIV and one with hepatitis.
In selecting members, attention shall be paid to attaining an adequate distribution of technical expertise, gender balance and geographical representation in the WHO European Region.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the RVC, please submit the following documents by June 22, 2026, at 23:59h (midnight) Copenhagen time eurohiv@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the RVC”:
- 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, available at https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declaration-of-interests
After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO. Only selected individuals will be informed.
Important information about the selection processes and conditions of appointment
Members of the RVC 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 the RVC 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 RVC members will serve in their individual expert capacity and will 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). RVC 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 RVC.
The selection of members of the RVC 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 RVC members will also take account of the need for diverse perspectives from different countries of the WHO European Region, 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 the RVC 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 RVC, disband an existing RVC or modify the work of the RVC.
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.
RVC members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the RVC or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of RVC members to participate in RVC meetings will be covered by WHO in accordance with its applicable policies, rules and procedures.
The appointment will be time limited as indicated in the letter of appointment.
If you have any questions about this “Call for experts”, please write to eurohiv@who.int well before the applicable deadline.