Bilingual Consultancy for the Regional Adaptation of the Public Health in Emergencies (PHiE-A) Training Package – Americas Region

## **Organizational Context**

The Americas region is frequently affected by emergencies requiring public health interventions by National Societies (NS). National Response Teams (NRTs) are a well-established mechanism for building NS-led response capacity: standardized volunteer rosters with recognized training curricula, a certification system, and a regional trainer registry, generally managed through the IFRC CREPD Reference Center. This regional tradition provides a strong institutional foundation for expanding health NRT capacity, promoting the localization agenda in the Americas.

Based on the success of the global-level Public Health in Emergencies (PHiE) B-level training, the global IFRC Health Surge Technical Working Group has recently also made strong progress working on a PHiE A-level training — a foundations-focused, competency-based package designed specifically to support NS in building health NRT capacity. Existing PHiE-B materials in Spanish and PHiE-A pilot materials in English provide a solid basis for regional adaptation in the Americas region. The Americas Region also has a natural pool of future NRT facilitators, including a 2024 cohort of previous PHiE-B trainees, as well as IFRC and PNS staff typically involved in strengthening NS health capacity, and experienced NS health focal points.

The PHiE-A approach is designed to be demand-centered and adaptable. A pre-training assessment mechanism — for which a methodology and tool already exist — will be integrated into the training flow, enabling facilitator teams and host National Societies to identify actual training needs and tailor the training agenda accordingly. The package will be structured in a modular format, allowing individual sessions, exercises, and components to be flexibly configured based on assessment results and NS priorities.

The current Health in Emergencies project, funded and technically supported by Norwegian Red Cross, brings these elements together. The purpose of this consultancy is to support the consolidation of available PHiE-A materials into a NS-validated (and therefore regionally adapted) training package in both Spanish and English; the certification of a regional facilitator roster; and accompaniment of the in-country piloting. The result will be a NS-led health NRT training system ready for sustained, use across the Americas, as well as a foundational input to the global PHiE-A training agenda.

## **Alignment to IFRC’s Objectives and Strategy**

This consultancy contributes directly to IFRC Strategy 2030 priorities on emergency response in health, specifically the objective of ensuring that National Societies are well-equipped to deliver quality, people-centered health services during crises. It also supports the IFRC commitment to localization and NS strengthening, by building NS-led health response capacity.

The consultancy aligns with the IFRC’s global PHiE framework and the work of the Health Surge Technical Working Group on PHiE-A competency-based training, ensuring that regional adaptation builds on — rather than duplicates — global investment.

**Project Objectives:**

The consultancy has three interconnected objectives:

**· Training package adaptation**

Consolidate, adapt and translate available PHiE-A materials into a complete, bilingual (Spanish/English) training package that is contextually relevant, competency-based, active learning methodology-based, modular and locally adaptable, and incorporates a pre-training assessment mechanism to enable demand-centered customization. Facilitation guidance including sessions plans, and exercise guides will also be developed to enable more accessible use of the training package. The consultant will provide subject-matter leadership throughout the adaptation process, including co-facilitating the Regional Review Group workshop (in close collaboration with the IFRC CREPD Reference Center, which will provide methodological guidance). The consultant will be responsible for translating the Review Group's priorities into a coherent set of training package documents.

**· Facilitator certification program**

Provide subject-matter input and accompaniment to the virtual regional facilitator certification program, led by the IFRC CREPD Reference Center, to establish a regional roster of accredited PHiE-A facilitators.

**· Pilot training accompaniment**

Accompany at least one of the two country-level PHiE-A NRT pilot trainings in a facilitator/course organizer role, working alongside certified NS facilitators, under supervision of the IFRC ARO Health Lead and in close consultation with Norwegian Red Cross

## **Job Duties and Responsibilities**

**Desired Outcomes**

• A finalized, regionally adapted and NS-validated PHiE-A training package in Spanish and English in line with the IFRC response system and surge system, hosted on the regional web repository and ready for independent NS-led delivery

• A regional roster of certified PHiE-A NRT facilitators

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