PAHO Consultant - Intercultural Health

OBJECTIVE OF THE OFFICE/DEPARTMENT

This is a requisition for employment at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/Regional Office of the World Health Organization (WHO)

Contractual Agreement:

Non-Staff - International PAHO Consultant

Job Posting:

August 13, 2026

Closing Date:

August 26, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Primary Location:

Off Site

Organization:

DHE Social and Environmental Determinants for Health Equity

Schedule:

Full time

PURPOSE OF CONSULTANCY

In the framework of universal health and leaving no one behind, the Member States of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have prioritized actions to improve access to comprehensive, appropriate, timely, and high-quality health services without discrimination. As stated in the report of the High-level Commission “Universal Health in the 21st Century: 40 Years of Alma-Ata”, there is a need to develop people- and community-centered primary-health-care-based models that include interculturalism and ethnicity. Likewise, in recognition of the health inequities that certain ethnic groups— including Indigenous Peoples, people of African descent, and Roma people— face, the Member States unanimously adopted the Policy on Ethnicity and Health in 2017 (CSP29/7, Rev.1), stressing the need to act on social determinants and include cultural differences to improve people’s quality of life. Thus, to cooperate with Member States in its operationalization, PAHO launched the Strategy and Plan of Action on Ethnicity and Health 2019-2025 as guidance. The five priority strategic lines of action of the Policy on Ethnicity and Health are 1) the production of evidence; 2) the promotion of policy action; 3) social participation and strategic partnerships; 4) recognition of ancestral knowledge and traditional and complementary medicine; and 5) capacity development at all levels.
The purpose of this consultancy is to provide technical support to countries in incorporating an intercultural approach to health, with a focus on priority topics for Indigenous and Afro-descendant populations, as well as other groups living in situations of vulnerability. This includes contributing to the development of technical documents and strategies to guide Member States in implementing an intercultural approach to health priority topics. The consultant will also provide support in the preparation of strategic reports on advances in the Region, including recommendations from the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), as well as alignment with global processes such as the WHO Global Plan of Action for the Health of Indigenous Peoples.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:

PAHO addresses the health needs of diverse groups living in situations of vulnerability, taking into account their contexts and perspectives. In this regard, Indigenous Peoples and Afro-descendants have prioritized certain health topics that align with the lines of action in the policy on ethnicity and health, as well as with multiple indicators of the Strategy and Plan of Action on ethnicity and health 2019-2025. PAHO has also addressed the recommendations of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues related to Indigenous Peoples and continues to work with its Country Offices to report on them.

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide technical support for the development of strategic documents that promote respect for the worldviews of Indigenous Peoples and afro-descendants while addressing their health priorities, and to collect information on existing practices that promote an intercultural approach to health.

Objectives

• To provide technical cooperation and training to countries to incorporate an intercultural approach to health with a focus on priority areas, including immunization, sexual and reproductive health among Indigenous and afro-descendant populations.
• To contribute to the collection of information from the Region on advances in the health of Indigenous and Afro-descendant people, in line with the recommendations of relevant Rapporteurships and Working Groups, as well as the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
• To contribute to the implementation of the main recommendations of the final report of the Strategy and Plan of Action on Ethnicity and Health 2019-2025, with a focus on impact indicators.
• To consolidate relevant information from human rights mechanisms for the preparation and adaptation of knowledge dialogues in selected countries, with a focus on priority areas.

Deliverables

• Adaptation and validation of the knowledge dialogues methodology in selected countries, with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and early pregnancy, using a human rights-based approach.
• Report with relevan