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Meeting Report GO WHO CHINA: WORKING IN WHO 15 January 2018 Beijing, People's Republic of China GO WHO China: Working in WHO 15 January 2018 Beijing, People's Republic of China WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC English only MEETING REPORT GO WHO CHINA: WORKING IN WHO Convened by: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN PACIFIC Beijing, People’s Republic of China 15 January 2018 Not for sale Printed and distributed by: World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific Manila, Philippines February 2018 NOTE The views expressed in this report are those of the participants of the Go WHO Workshops to Improve Geographical Representation of WHO Staff and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the conveners. This report has been prepared by the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific for Member States in the Region and for those who participated in the Go WHO Workshops to Improve Geographical Representation of WHO Staff in Beijing, People’s Republic of China on 15 January 2018. CONTENTS SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 2 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Workshop objectives ..................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Participants .................................................................................................................................... 2 2. PROCEEDINGS ................................................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Session 1: Getting to know WHO ................................................................................................. 3 2.3 Session 2: Writing your résumé and written test ........................................................................... 3 2.4 Session 3: Competency-based interviews (theory and practice) ................................................... 3 2.5 Closing session .............................................................................................................................. 4 2.6 Participant feedback ...................................................................................................................... 4 3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................. 4 3.1 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 4 3.2 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 4 3.2 Recommendations for WHO ......................................................................................................... 4 ANNEXES .............................................................................................................................................. 6 Annex 1. Workshop programme Annex 2. Go WHO China: workshop announcement Annex 3. Participants list KEYWORDS: Health personnel/Capacity building/Staff development/Regional health planning/China SUMMARY The WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific has developed the Go WHO programme, including Go WHO workshops, as part of the Organization’s response to the issue of underrepresentation of some Member States among WHO staff members. The first Go WHO workshop in China was held on 15 January 2018, co-hosted by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China and Peking University. More than 200 participants attended and over 16 000 tuned in for the live stream via Weibo. The workshop was delivered in English as this is the primary language of communication in WHO offices in the Western Pacific Region. The workshop involved three key sessions: getting to know WHO, writing your résumé and the written test, and competency-based interviews (theory and practice). Through these sessions, participants were given insights on what WHO looks for in candidates and how to best prepare themselves in terms of building their skills and experience relevant to a career in global health. Participant feedback on the workshop was positive. Social media channels will be used to keep in contact with participants as well as share internship and other opportunities and news with participants. The WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific encourages the Government of the People’s Republic of China to consider the following: exploring options to coordinate with local initiatives to offer participants follow-up opportunities to develop their careers; establishing a more formal internship and volunteer arrangement with the Regional Office; and working with WHO and academic institutions to organize similar workshops in the future. 1 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background WHO’s human resources policy includes the desirability of recruiting staff from as wide a geographical basis as possible. However, 32% of Member States continue to be either unrepresented or under-represented in the international professional staff category. Member States have urged the WHO Secretariat to put in more effort to address the issue of non/under-representation. There are four under-represented Member States in the Western Pacific Region: China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore. To respond to this issue, a half-day workshop known as “Go WHO” was initiated in Japan in 2016. Japan’s Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare expressed appreciation of the workshop and the ministers of health of China and the Republic of Korea expressed their interest in similar workshops being convened in their countries. Accordingly, WHO, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China and Peking University jointly convened the first Go WHO China workshop on 15 January 2018. The workshop programme is available in Annex 1. The half-day workshop programme was developed jointly by the WHO Representative Office in China and the Country Support Unit and Regional Human Resources Management Unit of the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific. The programme was modelled on and incorporated lessons from workshops in Japan and the Republic of Korea. 1.2 Workshop objectives The objectives of the workshop were: 1) to raise awareness of the work of WHO and encourage young people to pursue a career in global health; 2) to attract talent from under-represented countries with a large human resource gap; and 3) to coach young professionals in how to prepare should they wish to join WHO. By the end of the workshop, participants were expected: 1) to be familiar with WHO’s core functions and role in international and global health; 2) to be familiar with WHO’s recruitment process and competency model; and 3) to understand how to respond to questions on the written test for WHO vacancies and in the competency-based interview using the STAR (situation, task, action, result) model. 1.3 Participants Attention was paid to appropriate selection and recruitment of applicants and placement in facilitated groups based on each participant’s level of experience and area of expertise. The workshop was announced through social medial platforms (Weibo and WeChat) for a two-week period. The workshop announcement is in Annex 2. Of more than 400 applicants, 200 were selected. A key requirement in selection was submission of a CV and letter of motivation in English. Of the participants selected, the majority were in their 2 twenties, with only 33 being over 30 years old. On the day of the workshop, there were 190 participants, not including the secretariat team of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Peking University and WHO. In attendance were 143 female (75%) and 47 male participants. Gender and geographical balance were also considered in the selection of the workshop facilitation team. Applicants from across China also participated, with 72 coming from Beijing. The participants list is in Annex 3. A live stream of the workshop was hosted by WHO China on Weibo (available at: https://www.yizhibo.com/l/zayUkh0aY-PGgBa3.html). More than 16 000 people tuned in to the workshop and this number continued to rise as people watched the recording in the following days. To stay in contact with participants after the workshop as well as share internship and consultancy opportunities and global health news, a Weibo group has been created. 2. PROCEEDINGS 2.1 Opening session The workshop was opened by the Dean of the School of Public Health at Peking University, Professor Meng Qingyue, who delivered the welcoming remarks. The Division Director of International Cooperation of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Ms Zhao Lina, delivered the opening remarks. WHO Regional Emergency Director in the Western Pacific, Dr Li Ailan, then shared a presentation on “Working at WHO: how you can make a career of making a difference, an overview of WHO’s work and objectives”. 2.2 Session 1: Getting to know WHO The first session focused on “Who is needed at WHO?”, specifically the experience required to work at the Organization, the average age of staff and average age of entry. It was noted that the