WASH Officer- Hygiene Promotion (National Position), Erbil Area Office - Iraq

Rights Respected, People Protected

Background:

NRC is operating in Iraq since 2010 to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable people affected by on-going conflict in the region. It has its country office in Erbil, KR-I and has area offices in Baghdad, Dohuk, Erbil, Kirkuk and Hamam Al-Alil.  

NRC national program strategy for 2016 takes a whole of Iraq approach focusing on CCCM, WASH, Shelter, Education, Emergency Cash modalities, housing and land property (HLP) and Information Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA). In 2016, NRC will continue to consolidate operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I) by providing care and maintenance facilities in IDPs camps, strengthening the relevant government authorities and building systems more at community levels as opposed to household level for successful exit, while also considerably scaling up operations in the South-Central regions of Iraq (with focus on the Anbar and Baghdad Governorates). A further priority will be to reach populations in harder to access areas through working with implementing national partners, established community network contacts and UN-led Rapid Response Mechanisms (RRM). Target caseload will be people affected by displacement including IDPs in camps, IDPs outside of camps, host communities, returnees and refugees.

Overview:

The purpose of the WASH Officer– Hygiene Promotion position is to assist in the day-to-day implementation of the WASH projects in Erbil. The WASH Officer - Hygiene Promotion reports to WASH Manager and supervises the WASH Assistant - Hygiene Promotion.This position will be based in Erbil with frequent visits to NRC site operations.

Ideal Candidate Profile:

A university graduate in public health and environmental related subjects with (3) years of experience from working as a Project Officer and Project Management in humanitarian and recover/context. The candidate ideally should have previous experience from working in complex and volatile contexts.  Fluency in spoken, written Arabic, Kurdish and English languages. Knowledge of humanitarian principles and code of conduct.

Key Job Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Provide managerial support to Hygiene promotion team in establishing IDPs/host groups and committees for project implementation
• Design, Supervise and regularly monitor hygiene promotion activities being carried out in the targeted locations
• Organize and conduct trainings for community mobilizers, hygiene promotion agents on hygiene promotion elements, strategies and methodologies.;
• Carry out water dialogues in the community on safe water chain (the use of only chlorinated water); shallow wells; unsafe water sources, water handling (including storage of drinking water at households), water usage and management; and potential contamination/pollution in the environment, associated with flooding, water logging and drainage problems;
• Sensitize communities on good hygiene practices with key messages focusing on hand washing, safe disposal of solid wastes and excreta, latrine cleaning, diarrheal diseases prevention, etc. as adopted from time to time depending on the prevailing public health situations.
• Jointly with WASH team, conduct emergency assessments and, in coordination with others, design and organize the implementation of appropriate responses;
• Assist WASH Project Manager in developing and planning project’s methodology according to principles of relevance and compliance;
• Work with M&E team and design tools/procedures which encourage communities monitoring project activities and reporting back to NRC.
• Support in establishing and maintaining proper project documentation and records, including but not limited to: needs assessments questionnaires, monitoring questionnaires, certificates of vouchers receipts, consolidated list of beneficiaries, photos etc.;
• Prepare and follow up in support the Project Manager in conducting monthly house-to-house visits to carry out profiling of targeted households, verify the eligibility of households selected for minor repair purposes, identify non-food item needs, and execute needs assessments and monitoring questionnaires as needed;
• Provide regular progress reports to WASH Manager regarding progress of work and addressed challenges arising due to diversified community engagement (if any)
• Supervise household and community awareness raising activities and campaigns;

Qualifications

• Professional knowledge of community engagement methodology and approaches.
• Previous experience from working in complex and volatile contexts.
• Very good communication and interpersonal skills, and a solid understanding of behaviour change in emergency settings.
• Strong organizational and mobilization skills
• Good cultural awareness and sensitivity
• Highly approachable, trustworthy and confidential
• Ability to work independently whenever required
• Good computer application skills in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, database and network communications.

The post will be for (4) months contract duration with possible extension - subject to funds.

Salary: 5/1 according to NRC-Iraq's salary scale.

Benefits: Health insurance.

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for the position.

Duty Station: Erbil with frequent visits to site operations of NRC.

For more information, please find attached the job description.