Leadership &Partnership Bill Brieger | 12 Dec 2008 12:38 pm
A job with a difference
WHO is recruiting for the position of Director Global Malaria Programme (GMP). The Director is expected 1) to provide strategic and technical direction, 2) to undertake resource mobilization and management and 3) to facilitate Partnerships and Coordination.
Overall the GMP “is responsible for malaria surveillance, monitoring and evaluation, policy and strategy formulation, technical assistance, and coordination of WHO’s global efforts to fight malaria.” While WHO and its GMP are among the partners in the Roll Back Malaria partnership, some partners might be perceived as more equal than others – in part because WHO sees itself as “the foremost global authority on health.”
The GMP is a major source of the latest technical knowledge on all aspects of malaria ranging from case management to insecticides. The position of Director is such a group certainly demands wide ranging technical expertise, but even more, it requires skills in leadership. Since malaria control, elimination and eventual eradication requires the broad ranging collaboration among donors, technical agencies and civil society organizations as embodied in RBM, the Director of the GMP needs to exercise his/her leadership role in a special way.
A spirit of collegiality and inclusion is essential for the new Director, since no one agency or person has all the answers to the problem of malaria. Not surprisingly the job posting stresses a “Commitment to collaborate effectively with other key partners.” We encourage all those with such a commitment to apply.