WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) and CEED (Climate, Environment, Energy and Disaster Risk Reduction) Consultant, Manaus, Brazil

UNICEF WASH Program is centered around 3 priorities as per the TEM Agua strategy developed in 2022: WASH for indigenous and traditional territories, WASH in schools and Municipalities capacity building. In addition to regular program activities, UNICEF WASH also respond to emergencies when relevant. The proposed consultancy will provide a technical support to UNICEF’s response to the drought emergency in the Amazon region: since October 2023 in Brazil, all the 62 municipalities in Amazonas state are currently facing a drought emergency. As of 25 October 2, the State of Pará, also declared 20 of its 144 municipalities in emergencies.

UNICEF will give technical support for DSEIs, and priority municipalities which have been affected by drought to develop reverse engineering diagnostics and climate-resilient water safety plans, including  technical, and operational support for drilling strategic deep wells in public facilities, and pilot’s projects for rainwater storage systems, andaquifer recharge methodologies.

Scope of Work:

In this regard, UNICEF seeks a technical capacity currently not available among program staff in the Amazon territory to support the Territory Coordinator and the head of the UNICEF office in Manaus/AM. The consultant will work closely with the other UNICEF programmatic areas in TAM and in close collaboration with state and municipal authorities, the objective of this position is to provide technical support and guidance for the implementation of the TEM Agua strategy and response to emergencies in the Amazon.

WORK ASSIGNMENTS OVERVIEW

1.1. WORK ASSIGNMENT 1: Analyze, assess and make technical recommendations to improve the WASH infrastructure of 4 health units and strengthen access to water for human consumption in communities in the Munduruku Indigenous Land, in the state of Pará, impacted by mercury contamination resulting from illegal mining.

Deliverable: technical assessment report and action plan of the work assignment 1

1.2. TIMELINE – 01 month from the date of contract signature

1.3. ESTIMATE BUDGET – 10,0%

2.1. WORK ASSIGNMENT 2: Analyze, assess and make technical recommendations to improve infrastructure and promote the resilience of WASH systems to extreme hydrological events in 10 health units, strengthening access to water for human consumption in communities impacted by drought in the state of Amazonas. Deliverable: technical assessment report and action plan

2.2. TIMELINE- 02 months from the date of contract signature

2.3. ESTIMATE BUDGET – 10,0%

3.1. WORK ASSIGNMENT 3: Provide technical advice to a WASH project in 4 riverside schools in the Tupé Sustainable Development Reserve (RDS), in the rural area of ​​Manaus.

Deliverable: technical assessment report and action plan

3.2. TIMELINE – 03 months from the date of contract signature

3.3. ESTIMATE BUDGET – 10,0%

4.1. WORK ASSIGNMENT 4: Assess WASH conditions in 10 UBSIs, focusing on climate resilience, using an adapted version of the WASH FIT tool.

Deliverable: Technical assessment report and recommendation on resilience measures

4.2. TIMELINE – 04 months from the date of contract signature

4.3. ESTIMATE BUDGET – 10,0%

5.1. WORK ASSIGNMENT 5: Plan and undertake a WASH training for 90 Indigenous Sanitation Agents (AISAN) on the operation and maintenance of water supply systems, including donating kits for routine water quality control.

Deliverable: WASH training content and training report

5.2. TIMELINE – 05 months from the date of contract signature

5.3. ESTIMATE BUDGET – 10,0%

6.1. WORK ASSIGNMENT 6: Evaluate and consolidate the results of the WASH in school project in Colonia Antonio Aleixo, Manaus.

Deliverable: systematization on the methodology used and lessons learned

6.2. TIMELINE – 06 months from the date of contract signature

6.3. ESTIMATE BUDGET – 10,0%

7.1. WORK ASSIGNMENT 7: Analyze, assess and make availability recommendations to implement 6 DSEIs mini-laboratories to analyze water quality in indigenous health units impacted by drought in the state of Amazonas.

Deliverable: technical assessment report and action plan

7.2. TIMELINE – 07 months from the date of contract signature

7.3. ESTIMATE BUDGET – 10,0%

8.1. WORK ASSIGNMENT 8:  Analyze, assess and make recommendations to better implement a pilot project of a bacteriological H2S test kit in the field, in collaboration with DSEIs, as a tool for simple monitoring of water quality in indigenous communities impacted by drought in state of Amazonas.

Deliverable: technical assessment report and action plan

8.2. TIMELINE – 08 months from the date of contract signature

8.3. ESTIMATE BUDGET – 10,0%

9.1. WORK ASSIGNMENT 9: Provide technical support for the implementation of a pilot project, in partnership with government institutions in the state of Amazonas, for the drilling of strategic deep wells in public facilities located in locations impacted by drought in the state of Amazonas, the implementation of collective rainwater collection and storage systems and the recharging of aquifers, considering the application of nature-based solutions and the specificities of local populations. The project should include the creation of Standard Operating Protocols (SOP) for use during emergencies. Deliverable: technical assessment report and recommendations

9.2. TIMELINE – 09 months from the date of contract signature

9.3. ESTIMATE BUDGET – 10,0%

10.1. WORK ASSIGNMENT 10: Reverse engineering diagnostics on decentralized water supply systems and climate-resilient water security plans.

Deliverable: reverse engineering technical report for at least two water systems

10.2. TIMELINE – 10 months from the date of contract signature

10.3. ESTIMATE BUDGET – 10,0%

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

• University degree, in a subject area relevant to the sector: water and sanitation program management, hygiene promotion, public health.
• Extensive work experience relevant to this consultancy may be considered as a replacement for formal qualifications.
• Experience of emergency humanitarian response an asset.
• Experience working with WASH sector stakeholders at governmental and non-governmental levels.
• Technical knowledge in the agenda related to the rights of children and adolescents
• Experience in the development of projects focused on access to WASH services for indigenous communities, schools and capacity building of municipalities.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Portuguese fluent. 

TRAVEL PLAN

5 Traveling (communities in the Munduruku Indigenous Land, in the state of Pará; rural area of ​​Manaus; indigenous communities impacted by drought in state of Amazonas; ), including:

• Airplane and boat travel, and other displacements;
• Daily rates;

COMPETENCIES REQUIRED

• Capacity to work in a high paced environment and to deliver quality and timely results.
• High sense of confidentiality, initiative and good judgment.
• Ability to work effectively with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Training and experience using MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other software such as SharePoint.
• Experience using Project Management tools.

UNICEF’s Core Values

Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS)

To view our competency framework, please visit: UNICEF Values

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.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. 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.

General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics

• Consultant will work from home using own equipment and stationery. UNICEF will provide office space for consultative meetings when needed;
• No contract may commence unless the contract is signed by both UNICEF and the consultant and mandatory courses are completed;
• Consultants will not have any representative, certifying, or approving authority, or supervisory responsibilities or authority on UNICEF budget;
• The consultant will work remotely on a delivery basis.

Financial Proposal

• Costs indicated are estimated. Final rate shall follow “best value for money” principle, i.e., achieving the desired outcome at the lowest possible fee.
• A financial proposal including the fee for the assignment based on the deliverables and number of days must be submitted. Consultants are asked to stipulate all-inclusive fees, including lump sum, administrative cost, travel cost and subsistence costs, as applicable.
• The payment will be based on submission of agreed deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

Insurance and health coverage

• The contractor is fully responsible for arranging, at his or her own expenses, such life, health and other forms of insurance covering the term of the contract as he or she considers appropriate.
• The contractor is not eligible to participate in the life or health insurance schemes available to UNICEF and United Nations staff members.

Restrictions

• Consultants may not receive training at the expense of UNICEF.  Notwithstanding, consultants must complete the applicable mandatory trainings before the signature of the contract; 
• In case of government officials, the contract cannot be issued without prior written clearance by the Government​, or unless on leave without pay.

Remarks:  

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

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.