WHO EMRO/UNSSC Leadership Programme on Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Response

COVID-19 Pandemic Cohort

Epidemics and pandemics pose unique challenges to public health leaders. The COVID-19 pandemic is an embodiment of this reality. During the response phase of a health crisis like COVID-19, public health leaders work under stressful conditions to save lives, build and sustain the morale of their teams, engage with diverse partners and communicate confidently - and yet they are expected to maintain a strategic focus at all times. The Leadership Programme on Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Response addresses these stressors and provides insights from a variety of top-notch experts in the field.

Jointly designed by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO/EMRO) together with the United Nations Systems Staff College (UNSSC), this programme was designed for WHO representatives and senior leaders of Ministries of Health in the Eastern Mediterranean region. However, all course materials, such as the Leadership Lecture recordings and resources, and the Learning Resources, are openly accessible.The element that is exclusive for programme participants includes individual coaching and mentoring.

Topics discussed include leadership in times of crisis, preparedness, adopting a systems approach, strategic thinking, emotional resilience and multisectoral partnership building. The program blends best practices in leadership, tailored mentoring and coaching sessions, and provides an online platform of easily accessible resources.

The program's first cohort of COVID-19 pandemic responders in Eastern Mediterranean countries will run from July to November 2021.

Please open the syllabus under "Learnings" and explore the material under "Leadership Lectures", "Learning Resources", and "Background Material". Enjoy!

Should you have any questions on the programme, please contact the WHO EMRO and UNSSC team at [email protected].

Thank you!

Your WHO EMRO and UNSSC team

Course information

This leadership programme is designed to equip WHO Country Representatives (WRs) in the Eastern Mediterranean region, and national counterparts, to lead in times of uncertainty, crisis of epidemics and pandemics.

Learning objectives:

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Lead more comfortably in times of uncertainty
• Manage (remote) teams in times of uncertainty
• Build emotional and individual resilience
• Communicate more effectively, internally and externally
• Partner more effectively
• Gain insights from leaders in the field and
• Gain knowledge of large scale emergency preparedness and response

For more information, please see the details on the **Programme here.

Course contents

• Leadership Lectures:

  In this section, you will find relevant recordings, presentations and other documentation from the monthly leadership lectures held as part of this course.

• Learning Resources:

  In this section, you will find self-paced online leadership modules, which are released on a monthly basis.

• Relevant Readings:

  In this section, you will find background readings and other multimedia materials to assist you in your learning journey.

• Coaching:

  This section is relevant for course participants enrolled within the official programme outside of OpenWHO.

• Mentoring:

  This section is relevant for course participants enrolled within the official programme outside of OpenWHO.