Background

The FCTC 2030 project provides support to countries that demonstrated commitment to advance tobacco control; the project, is jointly conducted by the World Health Organization, the Secretariat of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Funding is provided by the Governments of United Kingdom, Australia, and Norway.  The FCTC 2030 project aims to accelerate achievement of the SDGs through strengthening the tobacco control measures that countries have pledged to adopt by becoming parties to the Convention. Suriname, with its model comprehensive Tobacco Act of 2013, was among the countries selected through a successful competitive application process.

Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC requires Parties to “act to protect [tobacco control] policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law”. This overarching principle was subsequently elaborated into the Guidelines for Implementation of Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC. Based on the UNDP discussion paper “WHO FCTC Article 5.3 - Elements to consider for strengthening measures to prevent tobacco industry interference in Suriname” and WHO FCTC Guidelines to implement article 5.3, stakeholders’ consultations were conducted. This resulted in a document brief describing the next steps and semi-final ‘Guidelines for dealing with the Tobacco Industry’, accompanied by a checklist.

Rationale

Tobacco industry Interference (TII) is a cause for concern in the Americas– including Suriname. By becoming parties to the WHO FCTC many countries in this region achieved significant progress in implementing recommended tobacco control interventions; however, there are insufficient mechanisms to protect public health policy from TII, as set forth in FCTC’s Article 5.3 . The influence of the industry’s commercial and other vested interests impacts tobacco control progress and efforts to strengthen regulations. Like in other regions, the tobacco industry has used various tactics to influence governments and block, delay, or weaken tobacco control policies.
The Ministry of Health is committed to further enhance implementation of art. 5.3. The 2022 tobacco amendment act submitted to parliament includes an amendment on the Tobacco Act article 8 (Corporate social Responsibility) with the addition of 2 paragraphs:
-    The tobacco industry shall be prohibited from exercising any influence in the development, implementation, or enforcement of tobacco policy.
-    By decree of the Minister, further guidelines shall be laid down for government officials on how to address the tobacco industry.

Objective

This consultancy is a follow-up to the 2021 consultancy and is to provide technical support to the Ministry of Health in the implementation of WHO FCTC article 5.3.  
The consultant will work in collaboration with the Ministry’s legal department and consultant and other relevant government sectors involved, towards finalizing the guidelines and checklist (incl. the Conflict of interest (COI) for all civil servants. Furthermore, the consultant will develop a training module on “Preventing TI interference for civil servants” and subsequently conduct 2 training sessions for civil servants and policy makers (incl. selected members of parliament).

Timeframe

September 15, 2023 – November 20, 2023

Are you interested?

•    To read more about the full Scope of Work and Requirements for Consultants, please click:

•    To apply, please submit both a cover letter and your most recent CV to SURPWR@paho.org
•    Deadline for submissions:  September 4, 2023