WASH Specialist, (P4), WCARO, Dakar-Senegal #52611

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, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Hope

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the Organization does — in programmes, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give more children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

How can you make a difference?

The WASH Specialist – Emergency & Resilience reports to the Regional WASH Advisor (P5) for general guidance and direction. The WASH Specialist – Emergency & Resilience supports the Regional WASH Advisor in managing the WASH section, and in leading the technical support for the development, preparation, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the WASH Programme in the West and Central Africa region, leading on the WASH Emergency related portfolio and Resilience strengthening, which includes at least emergency preparedness, response, sector coordination within the Humanitarian Reform/Clusters framework, HPD Nexus, DRR and Risk Informed Programming, early warning systems, public health emergencies, localization and accountability to affected population, as well as strengthening community and WASH systems resilience. The incumbent will promote and assist countries in addressing the issue of climate change and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) under the global SCAP framework in order to strengthen sustainable development. The Specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes, to ensure the achievement of the WASH-related output results in the Regional Office Management Programme (ROMP) and the Key Result for Children (KRC) #8 on Ending Open Defecation. The Specialist provides authoritative advisory services to Country Offices and sector support agencies and interacts with government at senior levels and with senior staff in the International Development Banks.

1. Management support to the Regional WASH Advisor
   • Advise the Regional WASH Advisor in establishing the annual work plan and annual workplan outputs, activities, and developmental priorities, determining priorities and performance measurements, with a focus on WASH Emergency & Resilience related portfolio. Monitor workplan implementation, to ensure that WASH output results are achieved to schedule and performance standards. Report critical issues to the RO WASH Advisor for timely action.
   • Provide technical advice to WASH section colleagues on all aspects of programming and implementation on WASH Emergency & Resilience related portfolio
   • Perform the full duties of the Regional WASH Advisor in his/her absence.
2. Advocacy, networking and partnership
   • Advocacy, Strategic representation, and partnership to improve WASH Emergency & Resilience related portfolio outcomes at regional level
   • Lead the regional WASH in Emergencies working group composed of NGOs, other UN agencies and WASH emergency organizations and provide support to activated WASH Clusters in the region
   • Represent UNICEF and the WASH section in internal and external platforms related to the Sahel region (UNICEF Sahel Core group, UNISS taskforce on WASH)
   • Lead the regional Public Health in Emergencies platform, in collaboration with other relevant UNICEF sectors
   • Contribute to regional emergency & resilience related advocacy like Call to Actions, EMT, SSEM
   • Support Regional WASH Advisor to Manage Strategic Partnerships with key donors
3. Programme development and planning
   • Provide technical assistance and capacity development to country offices (COs) for emergency & resilience related programme development, planning, implementation, and monitoring
   • Provide comprehensive and current data to inform WASH Emergency & Resilience related portfolio planning, management, and implementation in CO’s. Keep abreast of emergency related sector developments, for maximum efficiency and effectiveness in providing technical assistance for WASH programme design, management, and implementation.
   • Work collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss regional and national WASH priorities, resources, strategies, and methodologies to ensure the most strategic use of the collective resources of external support agencies.
   • Promote and support intersectoral and multisectoral programmatic approaches as appropriate (WASH-Nutrition, WASH/IPC in Health care Facilities etc.)
   • Participate in strategic WASH programme planning discussions and the formulation of the WASH outcome and output results, related indicators, baselines, targets and means of verification, ensuring alignment with the UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, UNICEF’s global WASH strategy, UNICEF CCCs, WCAR ROMP 2022-2025, and the country programme as well as government plans and priorities, and the role of other WASH external support agencies.
   • Review CO’s WASH programme, ensuring alignment with UNICEF’s Strategic Plan, UNICEF’s global WASH strategy, UNICEF CCCs, country programme and government plans and priorities, with a view of positioning UNICEF strategically amongst other WASH external support agencies.
   • Review and prepare as needed WASH donor proposals, ensuring alignment with the WASH output results in the country programme and Global WASH strategy.
   • Provide guidance to countries in the elaboration of Humanitarian Action for Children appeals and provide quality assurance on sitreps
   • Develop CO’s staff capacity to prepare and deliver WASH emergency responses.
4. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building
   • Support Innovation, knowledge management and evidence generation in relation to WASH in emergencies & resilience
   • Support the implementation, monitoring and documentation of WASH action research and innovation (technical or systems), ensuring rigorous monitoring and wide sharing of results.
   • Lead on innovative ways of assessing and monitoring resilience in the WASH sector
   • Prepare learning/knowledge products, covering innovative approaches WASH in Emergencies & resilience good practices, to support overall WASH sector development.Disseminate Knowledge products and capacity development initiatives in the Region
   • Support the professional development of UNICEF WASH staff, to ensure the region’s WASH sector capacity remains up-to-date with latest developments.
   • Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders. Maintain fruitful collaboration with learning institution like 2IE Institute and the Global WASH Cluster.
5. Advisory services and technical support
   • Provide oversight and quality assurance for WASH in emergencies & resilience program outcomes, including sector/cluster coordination.
   • Participate in strategic discussions to influence UNICEF CO’s programme and strategies, on UNICEF CCCs, and WASH Emergency & Resilience related portfolio.
   • Advise senior officials in government, NGOs, UN agencies and WASH sector donor agencies on WASH policies, strategies and best practices.
   • Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic materials for use by management, donors, UNICEF Country office and headquarters.
   • Plan for the use of technical experts from HQ or others section of RO, as and where appropriate, through remote support and on-site visits.
   • Report critical issues in CO’s WASH programme to the Regional WASH Advisor for timely action.
6. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results
   • Draft documentation for RO programme reviews and analytical statements on WASH conditions of children affected by emergencies.
   • Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes for the achievement of the WASH output results. Ensure effective collaboration with other UNICEF sectors, where needed
   • With other external support agencies, analyze regional and national WASH sector programmes and projects, impact of emergencies on the WASH sector and children across the region
   • Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other partners and prepare reports for the Regional WASH advisor and senior management.
   • Monitor, report and certify the use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocations, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report issues to the Regional WASH Advisor for timely resolution.
   • Prepare sectoral progress reports for management, donors and partners.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: public health, social sciences, behavior change communication, sanitary engineering or another relevant technical field.
• Additional relevant post-graduate courses that complement/supplement the main degree is an asset.
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience in WASH-related programmes for developing countries is required.
• At least 5 years of deployment in a developing country is required.
• At least 3 years of experience in emergency responses (L2/L3)
• Fluency in English is required in addition to an intermediate level of French. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

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

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our 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.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our 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. 

Remarks:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

UNICEF and other UN Agencies will be moving soon to the new United Nations House in Diamniadio, 30 kilometers from downtown Dakar. The name of the duty station for this position will remain Dakar, Senegal.

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). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be cancelled.

All selected candidates will 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.

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.