Welcome to the WHO eManual
The WHO eManual serves as the centralized authoritative source of information on the World Health Organization's policies.
It is mandatory for all staff to comply with the policies and procedures contained therein.
As from 28 September 2011, the WHO eManual replaces the former WHO Manual and incorporates the HR e-Manual.
Development of the WHO eManual
The development of the WHO eManual project has been led by the Assistant Director-General for General Management, who will continue to oversee its maintenance. A key objective in the development of the WHO eManual has been to present WHO’s policies in a concise and readable manner. Following a consultative process involving regions, existing policies were compiled, consolidated and, as necessary, updated by responsible leads in headquarters.
The WHO eManual is a living document: its content will be updated by the responsible leads whenever required, and staff will be informed of these modifications on a regular basis.
Any specific policies introduced at the regional or country level must be in alignment with the global policies presented in the WHO eManual and must be cleared with the responsible lead.
Procedures and processes that involve GSM will need to be adapted by those offices that do not use GSM (AMRO/PAHO, IARC).
Purpose
As the centralized authoritative source of information on the Organization's policies, the WHO eManual promotes equity of treatment, transparency and consistency in the interpretation and application of WHO policies, as well as greater responsibility and accountability in the management of the Organization at all levels. By facilitating a uniform implementation of the Organization's policies, the WHO eManual also serves to promote a "One WHO".
Structure and design
The WHO eManual consists of 18 parts, which have been further divided into sections and sub-sections (also referred to as “policy pages”). The general structure of the WHO eManual is shown on the left hand side of the screen - and this toolbar can also be used to navigate through the different policy pages. The WHO eManual is structured according to the main functional division of WHO’s work, taking into account, where applicable, the programmatic cycle of the Organization.
The Organization’s policies appear in the middle of the screen. These policies are complemented by documents referred to as “related content”, listed on a box on the right-hand side of the screen. These documents provide additional background information and /or outline the relevant procedures and processes through which the policies are being implemented. Examples of related content include Standard Operating Procedures and Information Notes. New GSM processes and terminology are reflected in the policies and in the related content, wherever relevant.
The aim of the WHO eManual is to provide staff with a user-friendly and easily accessible tool. Users can print policy pages, as well as search for policies and related content by using keywords. Cross-referencing between policies helps users find all relevant information on a given topic. Staff can also access on-line guidelines that explain how to best navigate through the system.
References in the WHO eManual in the masculine gender apply equally to men and women unless a contrary intention is evident from the context.
Queries
For any questions regarding the WHO eManual, users should consult the FAQ section.
If this does not resolve the issue, users can send general queries or comments to: emanual@who.int. All queries pertaining to Emergencies should be sent to emanualemergency@who.int.
For specific policy related questions, users should contact the focal points for the part or section in question. Focal points are listed in this document.
Important to note: while the WHO eManual allows easy printing of policy pages, staff should be aware that only its electronic version is the authoritative source of information for WHO policies.
