Ethiopia: WASH Specialist (Emergency - Roving)

Jul 6, 2023 | United Nations Children's Fund
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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, UNICEF works for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. For every child, opportunity.

Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa and is the second most populous country on the continent with an estimated population of 115 million. It borders six African countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, and covers 1,104,300 square kilometers. Approximately 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures with Middle Eastern and African cultures evident in the religious, ethnic, and language composition of its people.

Over the past two years, children and their families across Ethiopia faced multiple and complex emergencies, such as the conflict in the northern Ethiopia and the drought, which resulted in millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. UNICEF has programmes in Child Protection, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Social Policy, and Education and serves over 15 million children in Ethiopia. Join UNICEF Ethiopia to contribute to improving the lives of children and women.

Watch a video about making daily clean water a reality in Ethiopia here.

The Role

 

The Roving WASH Specialist will support the WASH Section in Ethiopia on the drought, cholera and flood response. He/she will work closely with the WASH Specialist, the UNICEF WASH Rapid Response Mechanism coordinator, with the WASH team and the government in expanding the capacity for effective humanitarian preparedness and technical support to field regions affected by emergencies in Ethiopia.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Support to Programme development and planning & alert of new crisis
2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
3. Technical and operational support to Programme implementation
4. Networking and partnership building
5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

 1. Support to Programme development and planning

 

  • Support the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis for emergencies to ensure that current and comprehensive data on WASH issues are available to guide UNICEF’s strategic policy, advocacy, intervention, and development efforts on WASH in emergency programmes.
  • Alert of new crisis: through UNICEF field offices and via the WASH Cluster, the Health Emergency Operation Cells / Regional Health Bureaus, and the IOM Displacement Tracing Matrix (DTM) keep a close watching brief on humanitarian situation and raise an alert of any new displacement or water borne disease outbreak.
  • Assessments: Following the alert, lead and activate RRM committee comprised of WASH RRM specialist, WASH Section Chief/Specialist, WASH Cluster Coordinator, and Field Operations Emergency Specialist. To assess the information available to determine if a rapid assessment is required. This will be done in collaboration with the WASH Cluster and other existing rapid response mechanism lead agencies (IOM, IRC, etc.) and the SWAN consortium. If a rapid assessment is required, RRM Coordinator to arrange and deploy staff/partner organizations to the affected sites to gather information on needs within 48 hours for 2-3 days. Results will be shared within UNICEF as well as OCHA and the relevant Clusters to ensure a coordinated humanitarian response.
  • Participate in strategic Programme discussion on the planning of WASH in emergency programmes. Respond to emergency appeals and formulate, design, and prepare Programme proposals for the sector, ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plans and Country Programme and coherence/integration with the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), regional strategies and national priorities, plans and competencies.
  • Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to determine national priorities to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
  • Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and to ensure integration, coherence, and harmonization of programmes/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

  • Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, Programme reviews and annual reviews with the government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
  • Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths, and weaknesses in Programme management.
  • Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for emergency planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
  • Actively monitor programmes/projects through field visits and surveys, and exchange information with stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems, and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
  • Monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of sectoral Programme resources (financial, administrative, and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations, HACT procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity, ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
  • Prepare requisitions for supplies, services, long-term agreements, and partnership agreements to ensure UNICEF is prepared to deliver on its commitments for WASH in case of an emergency.
  • Prepare regular and mandated Programme reports for management, donors and partners including Post Distribution Monitoring, to ensure accountability to the affected population as well as on protection/gender issues to ensure the flow of information and communication crucial for the planning and implementation of emergency WASH RRM.
  • Identify availability of resources in emergency prone areas and establish logistics plans to be implemented during an emergency operation, to ensure a timely and effective emergency response.

 3. Technical and operational support to Programme implementation

  • Response: In consultation with the WASH Cluster and based on the findings of assessments/information, manage calls for proposals and engagement of pre-identified partners to deploy for a rapid life-saving response of up to 3 months.
    • Support the WASH Cluster to continue advocating for emergency partners to mobilize for a longer–term response to begin after the initial RRM response.
    • Arrange/coordinate availability of technical experts with Regional Office/HQ to ensure timely and appropriate support throughout the programming process.
    • Participate in WASH in emergency Programme meetings including Programme development and contingency planning to provide technical and operational information, advice, and support.
    • Draft policy papers, briefs, and other strategic Programme materials for management use in preparation and response to emergencies.

4. Networking and partnership building 

  • Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with relevant government counterparts, OCHA, Other Clusters, donors, and academia through active networking, advocacy, and effective communication to build capacity, exchange knowledge/expertise and to reinforce cooperation to achieve sustainable and broad results on WASH in emergency programmes.
  • Prepares inputs for appeals and updates related to emergencies. Works with program sections and senior management to mobilize donor response and recovery/rehabilitation-related funding, including annual or multi-annual humanitarian appeals and documents (e.g., pitch documents). Communicates and advocates on the situation and needs of children through local and international media, as appropriate.
  • Participates in all humanitarian and recovery related fora and keeps management informed of all humanitarian developments in the country in terms of policies, strategy, situation developments, potential threats, and opportunities/issues in partnership.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

  • Apply and introduce innovative approaches and good practices to build the capacity of partners and stakeholders on WASH in emergencies and to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable Programme results.
  • Keep abreast, research, benchmark, and implement best practices in WASH in emergency management. Assess, institutionalize, and share best practices and knowledge learned.
  • Contribute to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.
  • Organize and implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders to promote sustainable results on WASH in emergencies and related programmes/projects.

Qualifications

  • An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in one of the following fields is required: public health, social sciences, behavior change communication, sanitary engineering or another relevant technical field.
    *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
  • A minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in WASH is required.
  • Experience of managing/Coordinating a WASH RRM in a developing country is an advantage.
  • Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
  • Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything it does and how it does it. Get acquainted with the UNICEF Values Charter: UNICEF Values

During the recruitment process, UNICEF tests candidates following the competency framework. See competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and the global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF offer a wide range of benefits to its staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates are encouraged to apply.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Advertised: 29 Jun 2023 E. Africa Standard Time

Deadline: 13 Jul 2023 E. Africa Standard Time