The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of WHO’s Strategic Technical Advisory Group on Economics for Health (STAG-ECON). 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 WHO Strategic Technical Advisory Group on Economics for Health (STAG-ECON) provides advice and enables knowledge sharing among experts with the goal of supporting WHO to benefit from the best possible scientific and strategic advice in the development and application of economic evidence for health policy, planning, priority setting and investment decisions. The STAG-ECON supports WHO in its efforts to assist Member States to strengthen the use of economic evidence to inform resource allocation and progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as part of the broader strategy on the Economics of Health for All. It serves as a scientific and strategic platform to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, production and application of economic methods and metrics by WHO and across sectors and settings, and to strengthen the translation of WHO guidance into operationally relevant tools for country use. The STAG-ECON will act as an advisory body to WHO in health economic methods and metrics, in general topics and specific areas where its respective expertise applies.Functions of the STAG-ECON
- To inform WHO on needs, demand and use cases for economics in normative products for health policy, planning and financing, including macroeconomic and fiscal policy.
- To advise WHO on strategic priorities for WHO’s normative programme of work (methods guidance, tools, data and metrics) on economics and financing for health.
- To advise on innovations in economic methods, evidence and analyses, and undertake horizon scanning, to strengthen knowledge translation into country capacity and implementation.
- To advise on methods development and review for the generation of economic evidence and analysis by WHO and others.
- To review WHO guidance on economic and financing related methods, tools, frameworks and analyses for scientific robustness, policy relevance, and applicability.
- To advise on approaches to monitor and evaluate how WHO supports Member States in strengthening the use of economics and financing analyses in decision-making.
- To enhance WHO’s joint collaborative agenda in partnership with external stakeholders in the field of economics and financing.
Operations of the STAG-ECON
- The STAG-ECON shall normally meet at least once each year. However, WHO may convene additional meetings. STAG-ECON meetings may be held in person (at WHO headquarters in Geneva or another location, as determined by WHO) or virtually, via video or teleconference. STAG-ECON meetings may be held in open and/or closed session, as decided by the Chairperson in consultation with WHO. (a) Open sessions: 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 2 below). (b) Closed sessions: The sessions dealing with the formulation of recommendations and/or advice to WHO shall be restricted to the members of the STAG-ECON and essential WHO Secretariat staff.
- The quorum for a STAG-ECON meeting shall be two thirds of the members.WHO may, at its sole discretion, invite external individuals from time to time to attend the open sessions of an advisory group, 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.
- WHO will request observers invited in their personal capacity to complete a confidentiality undertaking and a declaration of interests form prior to attending a session of the advisory group. Invitations to observers attending as representatives from non-state actors will be subject to WHO internal due diligence and risk assessment including conflict of interest considerations in accordance with the Framework for Engagement with Non-State Actors (FENSA). Observers invited as representatives may also be requested to complete a confidentiality undertaking. Observers shall normally attend meetings of the STAG-ECON at their own expense and be responsible for making all arrangements in that regard. At the invitation of the Chairperson, 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 STAG-ECON.
- The STAG-ECON may decide to establish smaller working groups (sub-groups of the STAG-ECON) to work on specific issues. Their deliberations may be held in person (at WHO headquarters in Geneva or another location, as determined by WHO) or virtually, via video or teleconference. For these sub-groups, no quorum requirement will apply; the outcome of their deliberations will be submitted to the AG for review at one of its meetings.
- Reports of each meeting will be submitted to WHO (Assistant Director-General, HSD) through the Director of the Performance, Financing and Delivery (PFD) Department. All recommendations from the STAG-ECON are advisory to WHO, which retains full control over any subsequent decisions or actions regarding any proposals, policy issues or other matters considered by the STAG-ECON. The STAG-ECON 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 STAG-ECON members, including in working groups, teleconferences, and interaction over email.
- STAG-ECON members may, in advance of STAG-ECON meetings, be requested to review meeting documentation and to provide their views for consideration by the STAG-ECON.
- WHO shall determine the modes of communication by the STAG-ECON, including between WHO and the STAG-ECON members, and the STAG-ECON members among themselves.
- STAG-ECON members shall not speak on behalf of, or represent, the STAG-ECON or WHO to any third party.
- The working language of the STAG-ECON will be English.
Who can express interest?
The STAG-ECON will consist of members who have a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to economic or financing analysis, methods and metrics for health policy and planning. Candidates should have strong expertise in one or more areas such as: economic evaluation methods; priority setting methods including health technology assessment; economic modelling, econometrics and quantitative methods; macroeconomic and fiscal policy analysis related to health; public financial management; analytics for health financing and investment; expenditure tracking; valuation and costing of health interventions and systems; and economic methods to assess health systems, efficiency and equity.
Experience supporting the application of economic evidence in country decision-making processes or global analyses is highly desirable, as is familiarity with digital technologies and data innovations relevant to economic analysis.
Approximately 20 members may be selected. We are looking for a range of individuals with different levels of seniority and encourage applications from mid-level as well as people in senior positions.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the STAG-ECON, please submit the following documents by
27 November 2026 by 24:00 (midnight) Geneva time to whochoice@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the STAG-ECON":
·
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 (including your nationality/ies) and
·
A signed
and completed Declaration of Interests (DOI) form for WHO Experts, available at https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest.
After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO. Due to an expected high volume of interest, only selected individuals will be contacted.
Important information about the selection processes and conditions of appointment
Members of WHO strategic technical advisory groups (STAGs) 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 STAG 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 STAG 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).
Selection process
After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO and applicants will be informed when the selection has been completed.
At any point during the selection process, 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 STAG.
The selection of members of the STAGs 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 STAG 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 receive an invitation letter to join the STAG and will be required to send their short biography and sign and return a Confidentiality undertaking.
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 STAG, disband an existing STAG or modify the work of the STAG.
WHO may publish the names and short biographies of the selected individuals on the WHO internet.
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.
STAG members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the STAG or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of STAG members to participate in STAG 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 whochoice@who.int well before the applicable deadline.