Pre-World Health Assembly Workshop 2018: Call for Organising Committee

The call for members of the 6th Youth Pre-World Health Assembly Workshop (Pre-WHA) Organising Committee is now open.

What is the Youth Pre-WHA?

The Youth Pre-World Health Assembly Workshop is a yearly 4-day international activity organised by IFMSA, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland. This year’s edition will take place from the 17th until the 20th of May 2018.  IFMSA has been the official representative of medical students to the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1969, which has given our federation the unique opportunity to send an annual delegation of young people to the World Health Assembly (WHA). The WHA is the highest decision-making body of the WHO; it takes place immediately after the workshop.

The aims of the Youth Pre-WHA is to equip young health advocates with the skills and knowledge to be actively involved in the meeting, as well as for youth organisations to align their strategies and prepare for the meeting to achieve a maximum impact.

The Organising Committee (OC)

The OC will be in charge of organising the workshop and is expected to be present and have a supportive and coordinating role during the WHA as well. As it has been done during the previous edition, the Liaison Officer to the WHO will not be the chair of the OC, which means that this crucial spot is open. The L-WHO will supervise the OC as the person from the IFMSA Team of Officials who’s responsible for the Pre-WHA, and will function as the Program Coordinator of the OC.

The suggested constitution of the OC, including main tasks, is as follows:

• 1 Chair of OC: Coordinate the team and all ongoing processes, ensures successful planning and implementation of preWHA, send out agendas for meetings, follow-up on everyone’s work, follow-up on the timeline, submit the reports for PreWHA and WHA together with the Liaison Officer to the WHO and the OC
• 1 Vice-Chair of OC: Support the head of OC, set-up and monitor the registration system, manage the google drive
• 1 Finances Coordinator: Create and follow-up on the budget, keep track of expenses, fundraising and handle contracts/agreements
• 1 Public Relations and Social Media Coordinator: PR for registration, the streams, create delegate manual, manage publications and communication during the Youth PreWHA and WHA
• 1 Program Coordinator: the LOWHO, coordinates the overall program, coordinates and supports stream coordinators, serves as WHO focal point.
• 1 Logistics Coordinator: Manages accommodation, catering, transportation, and is preferably a member from swimsa-Switzerland, living in Geneva.
• 3-4 Stream Coordinators: responsible for each stream and overall program together with the Program Coordinator, create agenda for streams, find trainers and speakers, coordinate the participants. Streams are tracks of the preWHA that relate to certain global health topics relevant to the agenda of the upcoming WHA and of special interest to IFMSA. They will be selected according to our federation’s priorities.

The OC will also be responsible for the delegation and logistics during WHA. The constitution of the OC may slightly change depending on received applications.

You may find here the final reports from the 5th Youth Pre-WHA Workshop and the 70th World Health Assembly, respectively.

How do you apply?

• Step 1: Fill out this form this google form before September 28th 23:59 GMT.
• Step 2: Send the following documents to [email protected] before September 28th 23:59 GMT:
  • Motivation Letter (No longer than 2 pages)
  • Curriculum Vitae with relevant experience (No longer than 2 pages)
  • Candidature Form (Click here) with signature and stamp of the NMO President

Incomplete applications will not be considered. The applicants will be evaluated based on the following selection criteria:

1. Motivation
2. Relevant Experience in Global Health,Events Organization and Skillset
3. Previous Experience in PreWHA/as PreWHA OC
4. Time availability from now until May and during the preWHA and WHA
5. Overall impression of the candidature

Should you have any questions regarding the application process, please feel free to email us at [email protected].