Consultancy: Market-based sanitation Consultancy, WASH Section, PD - NYHQ, Requisition #515366

The purpose of the consultancy is to produce updated programming guidance on market-based sanitation, accompanied by tools for programme delivery and monitoring. The primary audience is UNICEF Country Office staff and partner organisations.

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.

Background & Rationale

Today, 892 million people globally defecate in the open and 4.5 billion people lack safely managed sanitation. UNICEF is committed achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.2 of access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation by 2030. UNICEF’s contribution for 2018-2021, as approved by the Executive Board in the recent Strategic Plan, will be to support 250 million people to stop open defecation and gain access to at least basic sanitation. UNICEF’s WASH Strategy (2016-2030) presents four main programming approaches to achieve this goal: empowering communities, strengthening enabling environments, and building sustainable markets.

Because of its potential to generate sustainable results for all, specifically the poorest, UNICEF-supported sanitation programmes have had a primary focus on empowering communities through Community Approaches to Total Sanitation (CATS). CATS is now being used in over 60 countries; in the period of 2014-2017, UNICEF and its implementing partners catalysed the elimination of open defecation for over 60 million people in the poorest countries around the world.

As people become motivated to change their sanitation behaviours, they must have access to durable, affordable sanitation solutions. In many places, local markets have struggled to meet this new demand, because of inappropriate product choices, unaffordable prices, or bottlenecks in the supply chain and distribution network that prevent suitable products from reaching the poorest consumers.

UNICEF, in coordination with many other partners in the WASH sector, has promoted sanitation marketing as a market-based approaches to stimulate market demand and private sector supply that can, under the right conditions, address this need for sustained local supply of affordable, desirable sanitation products and services. To support quality programming, UNICEF WASH produced a series of 10 guidance notes on sanitation marketing and an accompanying learning series in 2013, which was delivered globally through webinars and through a face-to-face training hosted by WCARO. Other partners promoting sanitation marketing or similar approaches – now captured under the umbrella term of ‘market-based sanitation’ – have included World Bank and other major WASH sector donors; NGO partners such as WaterAid, Plan International, PSI, and iDE; and national governments through sector strategies and guidelines.

Today, UNICEF and its partners have more evidence on the success and challenges of market-based sanitation in based on programme experiences. This includes more evidence on the ‘performance envelope’ for market-based approaches to rural sanitation, complimentary financing mechanisms, and impacts on equity and gender. UNICEF contributes to ongoing sector collaboration mechanisms to generate and share evidence, and apply the results of learning.

At the same time, UNICEF is seeking to better define both its approach to strengthen national public supply chains in the health sector, and to build sustainable private markets for sanitation products and supplies. The latter initiative is expected to produce a ‘sanitation market shaping’ strategy that will define a framework principles for engagement with the private sector.

Now, there is a need to revise and update UNICEF’s guidance and tools for market-based sanitation in light of the new evidence and experiences from around the world, and strategy development within UNICEF.

Purpose

The purpose of the consultancy is to produce updated programming guidance on market-based sanitation, accompanied by tools for programme delivery and monitoring. The primary audience is UNICEF Country Office staff and partner organisations.

The product of this consultancy will be a key accelerator of WASH results under the Strategic Plan (2018-2021).

The consultant will be expected to travel to Copenhagen for a consultation on sanitation market influencing in May 2018 with other potential trips to be discussed and agreed.

Expected results: (measurable results)

The consultancy is expected to produce the following results:

• Revised guidance on market-based sanitation, with a primary audience of UNICEF’s staff and partners. The guidance will build around the 2013-2014 sanitation marketing 7 step process and accompanying guidance notes published by UNICEF, sanitation market shaping strategy (currently under development and to be provided by UNICEF), and knowledge and experiences from partners. Specific tools to be developed in the guidance by the consultant will cover the following topics, though not necessarily with the same titles:
  • Context specific sanitation programming: Sanitation Marketing and CLTS
  • Assessment and Planning
  • Market Research / Assessment
  • Product Design / innovation
  • Supply-side Strategy
  • Demand Promotion Strategy Design
  • SanMark Programme Implementation 
  • Monitoring for results and equity
  • Reaching the Poor and consumer financing
• Case studies as a part of the consolidated guidance, based on recommendations from UNICEF and verification form the consultant team.

To do this the consultant is expected to:

• Review the latest state of evidence in market-based sanitation programming, and make evidence-based recommendations on programming approaches, frameworks, and terminology;
• Liaise with selected country teams and partners on the preparation of case studies.
• Harmonize the updated guidance tools with other rural sanitation programming work ongoing by UNICEF, for which strategy documents or drafts will be provided by UNICEF.

Duty Station: The consultant will work remotely. Travel may be required to New York or another location to be agreed and separately supported by UNICEF.

Timeframe

Start date: 10 September 2018        
End date:   31 December 2018

Key competences, technical background, and experience required Deadline

• An Advanced University Degree (Master's) in engineering, public health, or other related field.
• Over ten years of research and professional experience in rural sanitation and public health engineering in developing countries
• Srong experience in and knowledge of the WASH sector with specific reference to market based sanitation innovation and policy
• Specific experience in designing, researching, and documenting market based sanitation programmes.
• Experience with UNICEF an advantage
• Excellent communication skills in English; French is an advantage

Please indicate your ability, availability and daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above (including travel and daily subsistence allowance, if applicable). Applications submitted without a daily/monthly rate will not be considered.

Remarks

With the exception of the US Citizens, G4 Visa and Green Card holders, should the selected candidate and his/her household members reside in the United States under a different visa, the consultant and his/her household members are required to change their visa status to G4, and the consultant’s household members (spouse) will require an Employment Authorization Card (EAD) to be able to work, even if he/she was authorized to work under the visa held prior to switching to G4.  

At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.

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

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.