Programme Specialist

UNICEF, also known as the United Nations Children's Fund, is a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. The agency is among the most widespread and recognizable social welfare organizations in the world, with a presence in 192 countries and territories. UNICEF's activities include providing immunizations and disease prevention, administering treatment for children and mothers with HIV, enhancing childhood and maternal nutrition, improving sanitation, promoting education, and providing emergency relief in response to disasters.

This United Nations Volunteers (UNV) assignment is part of the R WASH programme, a GWP flagship initiative that is jointly implemented with UNHCR, local governments, private and academic partners and UNICEF/UNHCR teams in the target countries, and deliverers inclusive WASH services to refugees, IDPs and host communities in fragile and conflict-affected settings across 8 sites in Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. It includes investments in sustainable, cost-effective and climate-resilient water and sanitation systems, as well as support for the establishment of efficient, local water utilities ensuring long-term sustainability and promotes social cohesion between beneficiary groups.

In Somalia, the programme includes a pilot initiative on Regional Managed Aquifer Recharge (R-MAR) in Dollow, which aims to boost groundwater storage and reduce vulnerability to drought. (https://www.unicef.org/esa/water-and-environment/rwash).

This role supports the effective management and delivery of regional Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH ) and Prospects programme activities, ensuring alignment with approved workplans, budgets, and donor requirements. The incumbent contributes to day-to-day programme implementation by following up with country offices on progress, identifying challenges, and supporting corrective actions under the guidance of the Programme Manager. They also assist in situation analyses, annual planning, and preparation of programme documentation.

• A key component of the role involves providing technical support and ensuring quality assurance across programme implementation. This includes coordinating technical reviews of designs, terms of reference, procurement documents, and deliverables, while supporting adherence to Environmental and Social Safeguards (ESS). The incumbent works closely with government counterparts, partners, and country teams to strengthen technical capacity through training, knowledge exchange, and strategic partnership development, promoting sustainability and institutional strengthening.
• The position contributes to monitoring, evaluation, and reporting processes by supporting performance tracking systems, participating in field missions, and assisting in the preparation of donor and annual reports. The role also involves documenting programme results, risks, and lessons learned, and supporting evaluation exercises to improve programme quality and effectiveness.
• Knowledge management is an important responsibility, including documenting best practices, supporting learning initiatives, and contributing to communication products such as newsletters and communities of practice. The incumbent collaborates with evaluation, communication, and partnerships teams to enhance internal and external knowledge sharing.
• Under policy and systems strengthening efforts, the role supports follow-up on policy analyses, tracks key action points, and helps coordinate and document system-strengthening initiatives led by country offices and partners.
• The incumbent also provides operational and coordination support to the Programme Management Unit (PMU), including contributing to procurement, reporting, and technical documentation. They may offer interim coordination support and contribute to transition processes toward systems-based WASH approaches.
• In addition, the role supports financial monitoring and compliance with organizational procedures, including tracking funds, allocations, and reporting requirements. Finally, the incumbent strengthens partnerships and collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders including UN agencies, government, private sector, and academia to enhance programme impact, sustainability, and advocacy efforts.