Water Sanitation and Hygiene Specialist

Details

Mission and objectives

UNICEF is committed to realising the rights of all children to help them build a strong foundation and have the best chance of fulfilling their potential. We believe that ensuring a child is happy and healthy begins before birth: from ensuring their mother has access to good health care to reaching adulthood as a healthy, empowered and informed young person of the next generation. This journey relies on every child having access to quality health care, good nutrition, education, and growing up in a safe environment free from violence.

Context

The climate-driven challenges in the WASH sector in South Africa have been compounded by the cholera outbreaks in 2023 in South Africa. The flood in Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Nata and in other provinces has resulted in people including children leaving home. All the issues strongly suggest a need to re-engineer WASH structures, but also to ensure full participation of children and youth in capacity building and any employment opportunities arising from these negative results. Under this urgency, UNICEF South Africa requested funding support from the Government of Japan to strengthen water sanitation and hygiene in education facilities and primary health care facilities. With thanks to the Government of Japan and the Embassy of Japan in South Africa, we received funding from the Government of Japan’s financial year 2023 supplementary budget. The project is implementing from February 2024 to January 2025. The objective of this project is to ensure access to improved climate/emergency resilience of water, sanitation, hygiene and energy facilities in early childhood development centers, schools and health care facilities in cholera and flood affected areas. The Specific Objectives are: • To empower children and young people in water quality monitoring and climate resilient technologies; and • To strengthen and model climate-resilient technologies for water, sanitation, hygiene and energy to respond to health risks and naturally induced disasters. UNICEF South Africa has one water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) specialist who will implement this project. However, to leverage Japan’s WASH technology, we are eager to get one WASH specialist from Japan to support the implementation of this project. Moreover, it is the first time for UNICEF South Africa implements this kind of project. The UNICEF South Africa would like to learn WASH technology from Japan. We are expecting that through the modelling climate resilient WASH facilities, the Government of South Africa can scale up this model of WASH facilities nationwide.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of Chief of Health and Nutrition, the UN Volunteer will support the management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the WASH programme within the country programme. The Specialist provides technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes, to facilitate the administration and achievement of the WASH-related output results in the country programme. This requires technical expertise in critical areas beyond a UNICEF WASH programme towards stronger climate resilient and sustainable WASH services. The UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: 1. Programme development and planning: • Participate in strategic WASH programme planning discussions; • Work with colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies for the achievement of WASH output results. 2. Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results: • With other external support agencies, strengthen national government WASH sector monitoring systems, with a focus on WASH outcomes; • Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts; • Prepare reports on results for required action/interventions at the higher level of programme management; • Prepare/assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths/weaknesses in programmes and management, identify and document lessons learned; • Monitor and report on 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 on issues identified to enable timely resolution by management/stakeholders; • Prepare sectoral progress reports for management, donors and partners. 3. Technical and operational support for programme implementation: • Actively monitor UNICEF-supported activities through field visits, surveys and exchange of information with partners, to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely interventions; • Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices in WASH, to support programme implementation; • Participate in WASH programme meetings, to review progress, with government, other sector agencies and implementation partners, involved at various stages of WASH programme implementation, to provide expert advice and guidance; • Draft policy papers, briefs and other strategic materials for use by management, donors, UNICEF regional offices and headquarters. 4. Networking and partnership building: • Build and sustain close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate programme implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve WASH output results; • Prepare materials for WASH programme advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships and support fundraising; • Participate in inter-agency discussions, ensuring that UNICEF’s position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated in the UNDAF development planning and agenda setting. 5 Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building: • Lead the development, implementation, monitoring and documentation of WASH innovation (technical or systems); • Prepare learning/knowledge products, covering innovative approaches and good practices, to support overall WASH sector development; • Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.