Jordan: Consultancy for WASH in Schools

Aug 1, 2016 | Norwegian Refugee Council
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The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian organization with 60 years of experience in helping to create a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced people. NRC advocates for the rights of displaced populations and offers assistance within the shelter, education, emergency food security, legal assistance, and water,sanitation and hygiene sectors. 

The Norwegian Refugee Council has approximately 5000 committed and competent employees involved in projects across four continents. In addition, NRC runs one of the world’s largest standby rosters -NORCAP, with 650 professionals, ready to be deployed on 72 hours notice when a crisis occurs. NRC requires this consultancy position to be filled as soon as possible. As such, applications will be assessed and interviewed as received. The consultancy may be filled before the closing date depending on applications and interest.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) seeks a qualified individual to develop relevant training materials for the maintenance and promotion of hygiene for newly constructed WASH facilities in formal schools in Greater Irbid. The materials must meet Ministry of Education standards and included guidelines for the involvement of school administration and maintenance staff, students, teachers, and parents. The development period will last from mid August to end of September.

Context and Rationale

The Syrian conflict, now in its fifth year, has resulted in large-scale displacement both within Syria and across the region.  The latest estimates put the number of registered refugees across the region at almost 4 million. Jordan now hosts more than 655,000 registered Syrian refugees, the equivalent of some 10 per cent of its population. Almost 80% of these live in the host community and about 20% in the three formal refugee camps of Zaatari , Azraq, and  Emirati-Jordanian Camp (EJC).

Close to a quarter of the registered Syrian refugees in Jordan live in Irbid Governorate, the governorate with the second largest Syrian population after Amman governorate. Irbid has witnessed an influx of refugees equalling 12.5 per cent of its population.

Early in the crisis, refugees began leaving the camps and settling in some of the poorest municipalities, placing an unmanageable burden on basic services and infrastructure, markets and local communities resources. Currently almost 85% of the Syrian refugees live in the host community. In this protracted systemic crisis some of the poorest most vulnerable Jordanians are sharing their scarce local resources and infrastructure with refugees living among them, and increasingly competing for employment, shelter, schooling, water and other basic necessities.

Access to WASH facilities in schools in Jordan is problematic, with the influx of refugees, and the increased usage of the WASH facilities, the situation is worsening. Preliminary data from the recent nationwide WASH in School assessment, implemented by JEN has indicated that:

• 59% of schools receive less than 10 litres of water per day per student for drinking and multi-purpose use
• 32% of water fountains were classified as either no available or as inefficient
• 69% of assessed schools receive water 4 times a month while 31% of schools vary from no supply to twenty times a month
• 17% of the latrine seats are not functioning properly
• 21% of the wash basins are not functioning properly
• 39% schools have separate latrines for boys and girls.
• 32% of assessed schools are connected to the public sewerage system
• 33% of septic tanks were classified as in bad or moderate condition.

According to NRC assessments, the existing toilet building designs were found acceptable and children friendly but there were significant problem with cleanliness, operation and maintenance especially for the minor repairs which are the responsibility of the school (Leaking taps, blocked toilets, broken locks etc). There reportedly were privacy/bullying problems, especially when single sex schools changed into mixed schools for Syrian Children. But also children of the same sex bully and even harass children in the isolated space of the toilet building. Water supply is a problem, but this is not worse than in the neighbouring communities. For drinking water, most children bring their drinking was from home. In none of the schools visited during the NRC school assessment the children had access to soap when washing their hands.

NRC Programmes in Jordan

Since 2012 NRC has been operational in Education, Youth, Shelter and ICLA (information, Counselling and Legal Assistance). The vast majority of work has focused on addressing the needs of refugees in the camps however a large Urban Shelter programme is also underway. In 2015 NRC Jordan education expanded its focus to the host community and the provision of additional classrooms and WASH facilities to provide additional classroom places and/or relieve the pressure on over-crowded or under resourced schools. Child and environmental friendly WASH facilities have been constructed in two schools with planning for six, more, to meet the needs of the expanding school populations and conserve sparse water resources.

Purpose of the Consultancy  

The overall purpose of the consultancy is:

1. Develop a set of training materials and standards for the school administration team (including janitors) to ensure that the newly constructed WASH blocks are maintained and provide a functional and hygienic facilities for children attending formal schools.
2. Develop a set of training materials, activities and guidelines on hygiene promotion for use by teachers, students and parents.

The Training materials will be shared with the Ministry of Education at National, regional and school level and piloted in the formal schools that NRC works with.

Training material Objectives

The overall objective for the training materials is to ensure the long functional life of the WASH blocks and good hygiene practices in the schools and community which will lead to healthier children with good school attendance.

The key objectives for the training materials for the school maintenance team include the following:

• Knowledge and skills on the maintenance of the grey water system in the WASH blocks
• Key hygiene activities and basic maintenance of the toilets and water system in the WASH blocks.
• Standards for WASH blocks hygiene and maintenance
• Management maintenance tools for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the general school environment

The key objectives for the training materials for hygiene promotion include the following:

• The importance of basic hygiene and handwashing
• Water conservation and the environment
• Solid waste, rubbish and cleanliness
• Menstrual hygiene (as appropriate)

Deliverables

NRC expects the consultant to achieve the following outputs during the contract period. Specific due dates will be finalised during the contract process.

• A timeline and work-plan will be presented by the consultant for approval before the activities are initiated.
• The consultant will provide an overview of the content of the materials to be developed
• The consultant will provide informal weekly updates to the education specialist and Education Programme Manager in Irbid

• The consultant will submit the draft training materials for review by the Education Specialist and Education Programme Manager in Irbid.
• On the basis of feedback and comments from the presentation of the final draft training material, the finalised materials will be submitted after 5 days. (It is not necessary for the consultant to be present in country for the final week of consultancy.)

Timeframe

The table below provides an outline for the development of the training materials. Exact dates will be decided upon finalization of the contract between the consultant and NRC. The total time of the consultancy is 25 working days. Whilst the consultant is welcome to work more than five days per working week many of the tasks may be dependent on other actors and it cannot be assumed they will be available on normal weekends. The whole process for developing the training materials must be completed before the end of September.

Requirements

International Consultant: The international consultant will be assisted by NRC Jordan staff where necessary.

National Team Members: NRC national staff in Jordan will be available to support the consultant and contribute to the training materials. NRC staff will also contribute to logistics and security support.

Other Stakeholders: The training materials may require interaction between NRC staff, partners and beneficiaries as well as the local authorities and other stakeholders in Jordan. Communication with key members of the NRC Education team and other stakeholders will be an essential part of the process.

Qualifications

The consultant must demonstrate the following qualifications:

• Relevant university qualifications, preferably in a field related to education. Master’s degree (or equivalent) preferred;
• A minimum of four years of relevant professional experience
• Demonstrated understanding of promoting Hygiene practices for WASH in schools
• Demonstrated expertise in eh design of training for different target audiences.
• Experience working in complex and insecure environments;
• Ability to work with a group of diverse stakeholders and produce results;
• Significant political, cultural and gender awareness, particularly in the Middle East context;

• Fluency in the English language, both written and verbal. Knowledge of Arabic language a benefit.
• Familiarity with the education context in Jordan an advantage

Preference will be given to a consultant with experience working in the Middle East, especially Jordan, as well as experience within the Education and/or WASH Sector in general.

Applications for Consultancy

Consultants who wish to develop the training materials must submit an application that contains the following:

1. Consultant contact information including the consultant’s name, email address and phone number(s).
2. Cover letter
3. Consultant CV (or separate CVs if more than one consultant will participate). Each CV is limited to 3 pages.

Finalists may be asked to submit references and/or samples of past work.

Budget

Expressions of interest must include a proposed budget for the study and reporting that includes consultancy fees, international travel, per diem, insurances, communication and any other incidental costs. Each of these items should be differentiated in the budget. The budget must present consultancy fee costs according to number of expected working days over the entire period.  NRC will provide guest house accommodation (of a moderate standard) in Jordan for the consultant and facilitate in-country transport during the consultant’s period of work.

Deadline

Interested consultants must submit an application by the 4th of August 2016 to webcruiterwebsite, must be sent in Word, Excel and/or PDF files. Receipt of application will be acknowledged but only finalists will be contacted.