Tunisia Regional Senior WASH officer (Middle East and North Africa)
Background In 2010, the High Commissioner emphasized WASH interventions as one of his priorities and requested that a three-year WASH strategy be developed to ensure that all persons of concern are assured the basic right to water and sanitation facilities to reduce morbidity and mortality and enhance their safety, dignity and quality of life. The Africa bureau made WASH one of its entrenched priorities. Based on this observation and additional analyses carried out in 2010, the High Commissioner allocated 25 million USD in 2011 to WASH in addition to existing country budgets; 11 countries benefited from this allocation. The aim was to provide the required resource to improve the WASH situation and as much as possible meet UNHCR’s WASH standards. To ensure this major investment is sustained and maintained for the following years, it was decided to enhance UNHCR WASH capacity by hiring an additional 24 WASH positions in 16 countries, some of those positions will be Regional and at country level
Main duties and responsibilities He/She will be responsible for provision of professional technical support as well as strategic planning and policy guidance on activities within the areas of WASH. The incumbent is expected to play a lead role in formulating appropriate project proposals and assistance activities that should be incorporated into the relevant country/ regional programmes of UNHCR.
The Regional Senior WASH Officer will work under the technical supervision of the Senior WASH Officer in PHHIV at Headquarters and the line supervision of the Head of UNHCR Regional office. The incumbent will coordinate her/his activities with other sector technicians in the region. The objective, work plan, and the priorities of WASH interventions will be jointly formulated by the field, bureau and PHHIV section. UNHCR will conduct an evaluation after 12 months of the deployment to assess the impact of the regional post.
It is a regional post which will cover Algeria, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Mauritania, Tunisia.
The Regional Senior WASH Officer will perform the following tasks and duties:
Ensure, in close co-ordination with other humanitarian actors, that WASH services provided to refugees are based on relevant Minister looking after water and sanitation, UNHCR and/or internationally recognised and most up-to-date standards and policies. • Ensure that national and/or internationally accepted and relevant standards and policies are applied and adapted in close coordination with the host country, relevant UN agencies and partners in order to guide the provision of essential health services (preventative and curative). • Establish and/or adapt UNHCR internal guidelines and procedures to streamline inputs and improve efficiency of programme activities. • Promote applied research and programme evaluation to enable the identification of gaps in programme implementation and standards, and to further promote evidence-based activities and guidance.
Facilitate regional and country-level coordination of WASH actors so that WASH programme planning and implementation is streamlined, resources are optimally utilised, and there is active participation of the Government, implementing and operational partners, refugees and other persons of concern as well as sister UN agencies. Effective coordination will identify gaps and overlaps in programming, address unmet needs, and orient existing activities to address priority public health issues. • Support WASH focal point to take lead role in coordinating WASH activities and ensure that decisions are implemented as agreed upon. • Work closely with HCR programme, field and protection staff as well as staff in other technical sectors (Public Health, Nutrition/Food Security, Environment and Livelihoods) to identify priority WASH issues and key data requirements for programme planning and monitoring to ensure that minimum UNHCR and int’l standards are met according to the phase of emergency. • Ensure coordination and sharing information will take place between others senior regional technical officers such as Shelter/Site Planner, Public Health, Nutrition and HIV Officers. • Promote inter-sectoral coordination outside and within UNHCR in all matters related to WASH programmes and be involved in WASH cluster coordination at regional level and assess potential collaboration with UNICEF, UNHabitat on defined areas. • Represent UNHCR in regional and national fora concerning refugees (and other persons of concern to UNHCR) and the WASH sector. • Update and disseminate information materials on WASH-based on standard practices and policies among partners. • Ensure that provisions contained in various Memoranda of Understanding between UNHCR and other organisations are applied as appropriate.
Undertake needs and resources assessments with Governments and partners in order to prioritise needs and activities in provision of services to refugees and other persons of concern to UNHCR. • Support country-level WASH focal points to define the level and scope of UNHCR involvement, expressed in terms of overall and operational objectives during emergency situations as well as in care and maintenance and repatriation/reintegration programmes. • Support WASH focal points to participate in review and analysis of relevant project proposals and budgetary submissions presented by UNHCR partners within context of UNHCR programme cycle. • Ensure that project plans and proposals submitted to UNHCR for funding adhere to internationally accepted standards and are based on a comprehensive WASH strategy. • Guide and assist in preparation of engineering calculations leading to detailed drawings for required WASH infrastructures and activities with associated cost estimates for existing and new camps/settlements, transit centers, receptions centers, border exit stations. Prepare technical specifications and scope of work for the prescribed activities and associated budgetary implications as appropriate to context. • Maintain and update contingency plans for potential epidemics, refugee and returnee movements.
Monitor and evaluate country-level WASH programmes against standard UNHCR and international indicators to ensure that programmes are evidence-based and implemented in a comprehensive and cost-effective manner. • Active involvement in all aspects of programme monitoring and evaluation with emphasis on checking levels of implementation and impact vis-Ã -vis resource inputs to measure cost-effectiveness and re-orient the programmes as appropriate. • Monitor technical and financial aspects of WASH programmes and provide technical guidelines and advice to UNHCR, other UN agencies and implementing partners in their activities related to WASH in refugee situations. • Apply UNHCR and cluster mechanisms and tools to ensure proper monitoring as appropriate.
Support capacity building initiatives so that refugees and other persons of concern to UNHCR and its partners acquire the needed knowledge, skills, and sense of responsibility and ownership of programmes. • Support WASH focal points and coordinators to develop training plan, organise and act as resource persons in workshops and training both in-service (formal) and on the job (coaching). • Share with local and international partners on the ground relevant guidelines and information materials on WASH related programming, innovation, best practices from countries. • Support WASH focal points and coordinators to promote establishment of Refugee WASH Committees to enable their active participation in process of WASH planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Advocate, inform, and communicate amongst stakeholders to ensure that refugee WASH issues are on the national and international agenda and that their WASH related needs and status of refugees and other persons of concern to UNHCR are appropriately documented and disseminated. • Promote information sharing on all aspects related to WASH in refugee situations. • Ensure regular updates and share information within UNHCR as well as with relevant government, UN and implementing and operational partners’ counterparts and donor communities in the host country on WASH status and needs.
Emergency response: Able to be deployed for the first phase emergency response (for a maximum of one month), to carry out needs assessment and support the country to develop a WASH strategic plan of response.
Any other responsibilities/functions deemed necessary or as delegated by the Head of the Office/Chief of Section to meet the level of the services in the organization.
Liaise and coordinate with WASH Senior officer in Hqs. on technical activities related to the operation. The Regional WASH Coordinator will report monthly to the WASH Senior Officer at HQ on technical issues. Ad Hoc reports may be required on the issues demanding particular attention;
QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
REQUIRED Academic: Advanced University Degree in Civil Engineering, Public Health Engineering, or Environmental Studies, Hydrology or Water Resources Development.
Experience: • A minimum of 8 years of progressively relevant professional working experience in WASH related activities. At least 3 years experience should be with an international humanitarian organization dealing with large scale emergencies or displaced/refugee situations and, should be directly relevant to the current position. • Proven ability to deal with multiple tasks in a courteous and service-oriented manner in a demanding working condition that often has short deadlines. • Ability to coordinate a range of diverse actors and activities to achieve a common objective in the area of WASH is essential. • Demonstrated experience in organising and conducting training activities and information campaign on WASH-related issues. • Proven technical expertise in the area of WASH assessment including survey, programme implementation, monitoring and coordination is required. • Exposure to UNHCR mandate, its priorities and principles. • Knowledge and experience of working with local partner agencies with a capacity to provide formal and informal training.
Skills: • Ability towards analytical and creative thinking for rapid solutions. • Good communicator with strong interpersonal and negotiations skills to deal with persons of various cultural and educational backgrounds. • Strive to live up to high ethical and professional standards. • A team player with service-oriented attitudes. • Proficiency in basic computer software such as MS Access, Excel, Powerpoint, MS Word, water modelling sofware, and GIS.
Languages: Excellent knowledge of English (written / oral / comprehension) is essential, arabic will be an added advantage.
DESIRABLE • Experience and professional training in irrigation, site planning, or shelter with a good understanding of the main issues in the other two sectors. To this end, an advanced degree and additional training in one or more of the above sectors would be useful. • Applied knowledge in UNHCR programme management, project formulation, its programme cycles and reporting standards. • Previous exposure to cluster approach, preferably both at the global policy level and at field implementation approach. • Expertise in planning, formulation, implementation, monitoring and reporting on humanitarian operations. • Proficiency in the languages spoken in the region.
Duration We would like the person to start on the 1st of March (latest) until 31st of December 2012 with possibility of extension.
Interested candidates can send their CV and/or P11s to the following email address: porteaud@unhcr.org , quoting: Regional Senior WASH officer (MENA) until the 22nd of January 2012 included
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