The WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO-AFRO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Regional Technical Advisory Group on Urogenital Schistosomiasis (FGS/MGS). 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
Female and Male Genital Schistosomiasis (FGS/MGS), clinical manifestations of urogenital schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma haematobium, remain neglected within public health and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) frameworks despite their significant burden. FGS affects an estimated 56 million women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa and is increasingly recognized as a contributor to infertility, HIV acquisition, cervical dysplasia, and adverse reproductive health outcomes. MGS, though less studied, also presents important implications for male reproductive health. While effective interventions such as preventive chemotherapy with praziquantel exist, progress is hindered by underdiagnosis, lack of standardized screening protocols, absence of clinical job aids, inadequate integration into SRHR services, and limited country-level prioritization. This has left affected populations undiagnosed and without access to care.
In its role, WHO-AFRO, has advanced regional disease elimination efforts through its normative and technical work, guided by the needs of Member States as well as by emerging and evolving evidence and supported by experts. In this respect, the ESPEN FGS/MGS (Urogenital Schistosomiasis) Expert Advisory Committee will provide strategic, technical, and normative guidance on FGS/MGS in Africa. Its role is to advise on critical gaps in advocacy, screening, diagnosis, interventions and integration into SRH platforms, mental health, HIV programmes, and other relevant platforms, as well as harmonization of tools and approaches across endemic countries.
The Advisory Group (AG) will guide regional and national responses, foster advocacy, and promote research and policy development in line with the WHO 2021–2030 NTD Roadmap and ESPEN’s mandate to support Member States.
Functions of the Regional Technical Advisory Group on Urogenital Schistosomiasis (FGS/MGS)
In its capacity as an advisory body to WHO-AFRO through ESPEN, the Group will:
- Provide technical advice on regional strategies for FGS/MGS advocacy, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and integration;
- Support the development and harmonization of screening, diagnostic and reporting protocols, job aids, and clinical guidelines;
- Advise on methodologies for population at risk mapping of urogenital; schistosomiasis and estimation of FGS/MGS burden at regional and national levels;
- Advise on integration of FGS/MGS into SRHR, mental health, HIV, and cervical cancer programmes;
- Review and recommend operational research and pilot models for service delivery;
- Support advocacy and partnerships to elevate FGS/MGS as a public health priority;
- Advise on monitoring, evaluation, and reporting mechanisms, including incorporation of FGS/MGS indicators into national health information systems.
Members will act in their personal technical capacity, not as institutional representatives.
Operations of the Advisory Group
The AG shall normally meet once each year. However, WHO-AFRO may convene additional meetings. AG meetings may be held in person (at WHO-AFRO in Brazzaville, Congo, or another location, as determined by WHO-AFRO) or virtually, via videoconference.
AG meetings may be held in open and/or closed session, as decided by the Chairperson in consultation with WHO-AFRO.
Who can express interest?
The Advisory Group will include up to 15 members, appointed by the WHO Regional Director for Africa, with a range of expertise including parasitology, SRHR, gynecology, urology, HIV, mental health, epidemiology, cervical cancer, gender, and health systems strengthening. Geographic and linguistic balance will be maintained. Members will serve a renewable two-year term.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from qualified experts with skills and experience relevant to FGS/MGS and public health.
Required competencies and qualifications include:
- Advanced university degree (MD, PhD, MPH, or equivalent) in a relevant discipline;
- At least 7 years of professional experience in NTDs, SRHR, HIV, Mental Health, or related clinical, research, or public health programmes;
- Excellent written and spoken proficiency in English or French.
Desirable:
- Scientific publications or recognized programme leadership;
- Knowledge of FGS/MGS epidemiology and experience working in Africa or with bilateral, multilateral or NGO partners;
- Proficiency in Portuguese is an added advantage.
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered, please submit the following documents by 30 November 2025, 24:00h (midnight) Brazzaville time (GMT+1) to espenafro [at] who.int (espenafro[at]who[dot]int) using the subject line: “Expression of interest – FGS/MGS Regional Technical Advisory Group”
Required documents:
- A cover letter describing motivation and suitability
- A curriculum vitae (including nationality/ies)
- A signed and completed WHO Declaration of Interests (DOI) form for WHO Experts, available at https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declaration-of-interests
Important information about the selection processes and conditions of appointment
Members of WHO-AFRO 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-AFRO determining that there is no conflict of interest or that any identified conflicts could be appropriately managed (in addition to WHO-AFRO’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-AFRO Secretariat to enable WHO-AFRO 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-AFRO 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-AFRO, proposed members will be sent an invitation letter and a Memorandum of Agreement. Appointment as a member of the AG will be subject to the proposed member returning to WHO-AFRO the countersigned copy of these two documents.
WHO-AFRO 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-AFRO's action. WHO-AFRO 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-AFRO 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-AFRO may publish the names and a short biography of the selected individuals on the WHO-AFRO 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-AFRO in accordance with its applicable policies, rules and procedures.
The appointment will be limited in time as indicated in the letter of appointment.
For queries regarding this Call for Experts, please write to: espenafro [at] who.int (espenafro[at]who[dot]int) well before the applicable deadline.