Senior Emergency WASH Coordinator (National position)

Background/IRC Summary:  

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is at work in over 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. The IRC has been operating in Thailand since 1975 and currently assists displaced persons in Tak, Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi and Mae Hong Son provinces

The IRC is preparing to support the Royal Thai Government to provide humanitarian assistance should a large-scale influx of displaced persons arrive in Thailand seeking protection due to the turbulent situation in Myanmar following the 01 February 2021 military takeover.  

Job Overview/Summary:

The Senior Emergency WASH Coordinator provides leadership and facilitates processes that will ensure a well-coordinated, coherent, strategic, and effective WASH response by a mobilized, organized and adequately resourced groups of agencies, organizations, NGOs, local communities, and other stakeholders.  In support of the government, act as interface between humanitarian WASH partners and duty bearers to ensure WASH related needs of the affected population are properly covered.

Major Responsibilities:

Coordination:

• Ensure Inclusion of government and WASH humanitarian partners in all WASH-related preparation and response
• Serve as focal point for inquiries on the WASH sector response plans and operations.
• Ensure appropriate coordination between all WASH partners, through establishment/maintenance of appropriate WASH sector coordination mechanisms, including working groups at the national levels;
• Secure commitments from WASH humanitarian partners in responding to needs and filling gaps, ensuring an appropriate distribution of responsibilities within the WASH Sector, with clearly defined focal points for specific issues where necessary;
• Ensure effective links with other sectors and represent the interests of the WASH sector in discussions with the Inter-Sectoral Coordinator and other stakeholders on prioritization, resource mobilization and advocacy;
• Maintain information on all current and potential WASH partners, their capacities and areas of work (including Who, What , Where and by When).
• Ensure appropriate links with national and local authorities, State institutions, local civil society and other relevant actors (e.g. peacekeeping forces) and ensure appropriate coordination and information exchange with them.

Assessment and Analysis and Standards:

• Ensure effective and coherent WASH assessment and analysis, involving all relevant partners
• Ensure that WASH sector participants are aware of relevant policy guidelines, technical standards and relevant Government standards and policies.
• Ensure that WASH responses are in line with existing policy guidance, technical standards, and relevant Government legal obligations

Planning and strategy development:

• Ensure predictable WASH action within;
• WASH assessment and analysis; development (adaptation of generic standards) of standard assessment formats;
• Identify gaps in the field of WASH and conceptualize how sectoral needs can be met through collective delivery
• Developing/updating agreed WASH response strategies and action plans and ensuring that these are adequately reflected in higher level preparedness and response plans
• Drawing lessons learned from past WASH activities and revising strategies and action plans accordingly;
• Developing an exit, or transition, strategy for the WASH interventions and key sector partners.

Monitoring and reporting:

• Ensure adequate monitoring mechanisms are in place to review impact of WASH interventions and progress against implementation plans. This specifically needs to include an analytical interpretation of best available information in order to benchmark progress of the emergency response over time.
• Ensure adequate WASH impact reporting and effective information sharing to demonstrate the closing of gaps

Advocacy and resource mobilization:

• Identify core WASH advocacy concerns, including resource requirements, and contribute key messages to broader advocacy initiatives of the HC, UNICEF and other actors;
• Advocate for donors to fund WASH actors to carry out priority WASH activities in the sector concerned, while at the same time encouraging WASH actors to mobilize resources for their activities through their usual channels.
• Ensure adequate WASH related contingency planning and preparedness for potential significant changes in the nature of the emergency;

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Country Director
Position directly supervises:  May supervise sector coordination team should scale of situation require
Indirect Reporting: Inter-Sector Coordinator (UNHCR)

Other Internal Contacts: Deputy Director of Programs, Sr. Health Coordinator, Health Coordinator, Sr. Environmental Health Manager, Senior Awards Management Coordinator, Regional Emergency Coordinator
Other External Contacts:  WASH representatives from implementing agencies and other actors, Inter-Sectoral Coordinator and other Sector Coordinators (Health, Food, Shelter, NFI, etc…),