Consultancy: Consultancy to provide support to the Secretariat for the Call to Action on WASH in HCFs, WASH Section, PD-NYHQ, Requisition #518549

At UNICEF, the consultant will work in close coordination with both WASH and Health sections to highlight cross-sectoral partnership and will undertake tasks related to the key action areas and the campaign as shown below.

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Background & Rationale

Almost half of health care facilities (HCFs) globally do not have access to safe and adequate water for drinking and other uses, lack improved sanitation facilities, as well as hygiene facilities. A 2015, WHO/UNICEF status report on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in health care facilities in low and middle-income countries indicates that, of the 54 countries assessed (representing 66,101 facilities), 38% of facilities did not have an improved water source, 19% did not have improved sanitation and 35% did not have water and soap for handwashing. Moreover, the 2014 UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) found that less than 25% of the 94 countries included in the analysis had a plan for drinking water or sanitation in healthcare facilities that is funded, implemented, and reviewed regularly. 

Following the assessment report, WHO, UNICEF and partners committed to improving WASH services in HCFs with the aim of improving the Quality of Care for Maternal and Newborn Health; improving infection prevention and control and reducing antimicrobial resistance. WHO and UNICEF established an action plan, along with task teams comprised of health and WASH professionals to drive forward progress in four primary areas: advocacy and leadership; monitoring; evidence and research and facility based improvements. In addition, the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme committed to reporting on access to WASH in health care ·facilities as part of monitoring the Sustainable Development Goal on Water and Sanitation.

Since 2015, UNICEF and partners have undertaken several initiatives including baseline assessments focused on Every Mother every newborn (EMEN) for Quality Improvement Implementation in HCFs in Ghana, Tanzania and Bangladesh, development of the WASH Facilities Improvement Tool (WASH FIT) and training on WASH -IPC, conduct of a WASH in HCFs Bottleneck Analysis focusing on accountability for sustainability, in Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia & Mali, to provide each country with a context specific roadmap of priority interventions for institutionalizing sustainability. UNICEF, in collaboration with WHO and partners also developed the WASH in HCFs core indicators for national health-monitoring and launched the knowledge website for WASH in HCFs. A network to improve quality of care for maternal, newborn and child health was launched in Malawi and a global learning event on WASH in HCFs held in Kathmandu, Nepal. In 2017 alone, UNICEF supported construction of WASH facilities in 1,557 HCFs and provided technical assistance to governments to strengthen their capacities to improve policies and practices on WASH in HCFs as part of improving quality of care. 

While significant progress is being made, key challenges remain, in particular, improving WASH infrastructure and services in HCFs, strengthening the capacities of government counterparts in leadership, policy development, planning, budgeting and implementation, monitoring and making financial resources available for countries to accelerate progress in this area.

In March 2018, the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, launched a global Call for Action on WASH in HCFs during which he called on the United Nations system and partners to improve WASH services to help strengthen health systems and deliver on our promise for universal health coverage. A number of activities have since been undertaken with partners including the development of a response plan and other technical papers to guide partners in the response. A global meeting of key government representatives and partners is planned early 2019 as well as donor meetings to get government commitments to improve WASH in HCFs and mobilize resources to support action at national and global levels.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to which governments have committed, provide agreat opportunity for UNICEF and partners to collectively respond to the SGs Call to Action by supporting governments to improve WASH services in HCFs and ultimately contribute to SDG targets by 2030. SDG 6, targets 1 and 2 envision universal, equitable and adequate access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all by 2030 and SDG 3 targets 1 and 2 aim to reduce global maternal mortality ratio and end preventable deaths of mothers and their newborns and children under five, respectively. UNICEF’s commitment to improve WASH in HCFs and contribute to the SDGs is demonstrated through its WASH Strategy (2016- 2030) under the WASH in Institutions component, where UNICEF’s work focuses on accelerating efforts to institutionalize WASH in HCFs within the health sector, including leveraging of sustainable financial resources for and monitoring of WASH in HCFs within national health systems; develop and refine evidence-based intervention models; developing models to reduce bottlenecks for upscaling, such as the high cost of water supply systems, issues of sustainability, and WASH facility maintenance. 

UNICEF commitment to address the issue of poor WASH is further demonstrated by the close collaboration between the WASH and Health sections, which have now decided to further strengthen their collaboration by joining hands to support the work in countries under the broader umbrella of improving quality of care which includes WASH infrastructure strengthening, monitoring and evaluation, developing national strategies and plans for WASH in HCFs, Infection Prevention and Control and Antimicrobial Resistance related activities.

Given the level of engagement with governments, regional bodies and partners, and the attention that the Call to Action has gained globally, WHO, UNICEF and Global Water 2020 have agreed that consultants be hired by both UNICEF and WHO to provide the needed support to the coordination hub to ensure adequate support to identified country offices for a smooth implementation of the global response. In particular, the consultant is expected to provide technical support in the planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the Global action plan and organization of events. The consultant is also expected to undertake field missions to identified priority countries to provide technical support.

Purpose

The Call to Action for WASH in HCFs and the written exchanges between the SG and the UNICEF Executive Director, Fore, and WHO’s Director General, Dr Tedros, where he asked that the United Nations system play a collective role in addressing this vital issue, culminated into a multi stakeholder meeting organized by UNICEF and WHO, in Geneva, in May. The meeting discussed the response to the SGs Call, which resulted into a document titled “Response to Global Call to Action on WASH in Health Care Facilities”. The response proposes cumulative targets related to safe water, adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene, to be met by 2030, specific metrics to track progress made globally, key action areas to improve WASH services in HCFs and a structure- coordination hub and an advisory group, to guide implementation of the action areas. Regional and country offices, as well as partners were consulted in the development of this response. 

Global Water 2020, and a USA based advocacy organization has pledged support to the Call to Action, contributing USD 200,000 (100,000 to UNICEF and 100,000 to WHO), and has been very instrumental in key meetings since the Call was made. For this reason, UNICEF would now like to hire a consultant who will be based at the UNICEF HQ, New York office, to contribute technical support to the management of the coordination hub activities for a ten-month period. At UNICEF, the consultant will work in close coordination with both WASH and Health sections to highlight cross-sectoral partnership and will undertake tasks related to the key action areas and the campaign as shown below. 

Overall, UNICEF and WHO will co- lead the implementation of the proposed key action areas and the multi stakeholder campaign, but with specific roles and responsibilities for each and a few joint activities for both organizations. The proposed a coordination hub which will be composed of technical staff from UNICEF and WHO and will serve as a secretariat to provide technical support at the global, regional and country levels in planning and implementing the global plan of action and in managing the multi- stakeholder campaign. The Advisory Group on the other hand will provide strategic direction, promote cross-fertilization of ideas between the thematic areas and review progress against the established indicators. The group will be composed of diverse and influential WASH and health actors from the national, regional and global levels and include approximately 8-10 members.

The consultant will therefore perform the following tasks:

a). Coordinate implementation of the global plan of action by COSs, in collaboration with WHO focal point

1. Organize regular planning and coordination meetings and teleconferences (webinars) for global partners on pertinent issues regarding the global plan of action
2. Contribute technical inputs to the development and sharing of implementation strategies and evidence on effective ways to scale up WASH service provision in HCFs
3. Follow up on the implementation of the global plan of action by regional and country offices and provide feedback.
4. Support to the review of the global plan of action implemented by COs
5. Develop guidelines with areas to cover to implement global plan of action at country office level
6. Provide guidance on strengthening of national policies and monitoring systems (HMIS) to assure increased data availability and measure progress of WASH in HCFs

b). Manage and coordinate global multi- stakeholder campaign

1. In liaison with DOC, develop technical inputs for integration of the multi- stakeholder campaign on WASH in HCFs into “Every Child” campaign and other ongoing global initiatives
2. Contribute to the management and coordination of the global campaign including engagement of partners, national and sub-national actions
3. Provide technical inputs to drafting of campaign messages and activities
4. Liaise with regional and country offices to contribute to the multi- stakeholder campaign
5. Contribute to the monitoring of campaign progress in liaison with DOC

c). Meetings, conferences and events

1. Prepare talking points, briefing papers, background papers, concept notes, agenda, meeting minutes etc for global and regional webinars, meetings, workshops and conferences for senior management.
2. Manage and coordinate planning for global/ regional meetings, conferences and events and prepare meeting reports
3. Follow up on action points and emerging issues from meetings
4. Engage with the SWA and use its convening power to galvanize action from Ministries of Water and Finance and national level

d). Monitoring of the global plan of action

1. Undertake field missions to regional and country offices jointly with WASH and Health Section colleagues, to provide technical support and conduct onsite spot checks to monitor progress made
2. Together with UNICEF and WHO Joint Monitoring Programme, develop global monitoring systems and provide technical support to country offices to develop country specific indicators to track progress made against set targets
3. Undertake ongoing monitoring of progress on the global plan of action and the multi- stakeholder campaign

e). Communications, knowledge management and website management

1. Develop communication materials on the Call to Action for WASH in HCFs to increase awareness on the issue globally
2. Contribute to the development and maintenance of a website for the global action plan on WASH in HCFs
3. Review and provide technical inputs to knowledge products and other publications from the task team
4. Contribute to publication of knowledge products from the task team.

f). Report on the global plan of action

1. Prepare and develop annual progress reports on against established goals and targets and in line with the identified five action areas
2. Collaborate with the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme to disseminate updates on water, sanitation and hygiene coverage in health care facilities, against established targets
3. Disseminate annual reports to UNICEF regional and country offices and partners

g). Any other duties assigned during the assignment

Expected results: (measurable results)

1. Technical inputs to the development of the multi- stakeholder campaign and key messages provided – by March 2019
2. Technical inputs to the development of global monitoring systems- by March 2019
3. Technical inputs provided to development and maintenance of the website on the Global Plan of Action- March 2019
4. Talking points, briefing papers, background papers, concept notes, agenda, meeting minutes- ongoing till October 2019
5. Progress monthly and quarterly reports – quarterly & final by October 2019
6. Knowledge products on the key action areas- case studies, field notes, guidance notes, technical papers, briefing notes, talking points- as and when required
7. Mission and meeting/ event reports- immediately after mission or event

Duty Station : Remote-based -with occasional travel to UNICEF NY HQ and country offices when required for face to face meetings

Timeframe

Start date: 15 January 2019                       

End date: 31 October 2019

Key competences, technical background, and experience required Deadline

• Master in Public Health, Water Engineering, Environmental Engineering or a related field
• Experience with Health or WASH programming; multi-sectoral programming essential
• At least seven years of experience in public health issues in developing countries, at middle- level management
• Must be fluent in English. Knowledge of French or Spanish is considered an asset
• Prior experience working for the United Nations an added advantage
• Strong knowledge of UNICEF approaches to water, sanitation and hygiene programming preferred
• Excellent written and oral communication skills required, good analytical skills a must
• Experience with developing knowledge products essential
• Good inter-personal skills 

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.