WASH Manager (Wash Sector Coordinator), P4 at UNICEF

How can you make a difference? 

The 2023-2027 country programme aims to demonstrate the impact, value and affordability of investing in long-lasting based systems and policies in favour of children’s survival, growth and development in Nigeria, whilst also ensuring the provision of rapid life-saving humanitarian assistance. UNICEF’s strategy to move towards universal coverage is to generate action-based evidence on the efficiency, effectiveness and replicability of models established in 14 selected focus states and LGAs.

Results for children will be accelerated in four high-impact areas of concern for children where UNICEF is uniquely placed to support Government, and which reduce Nigeria’s high share of the global burden of key Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators, whether in proportionate or absolute terms, given the country’s significant demographic weight:

• Enrolment of children, especially girls, in early learning and primary school at the right age, to promote psychomotor and cognitive development in order to reduce the number of out-of-school children, to improve the quality of learning, and to strengthen gender equality in and through education.
• Routine immunization, including against polio, for all children by 1 year of age with all required antigens and support for women to make informed and empowered decisions, including during pregnancy, to promote child survival and well-being towards ensuring more children survive and thrive.
• Feeding, hygiene and sanitation practices to reduce high levels of stunting.
• Attitudes, practices and beliefs that perpetuate gender discrimination against girls and women to reduce the high prevalence of child marriage and violence, support girls and women to make informed and empowered decisions, including during pregnancy and motherhood to promote child survival and well-being.                                                                                                          

These priorities are consistent with and reinforce the five Key Results for Children that UNICEF Nigeria has committed to, even though they pre-dated the development of the KRCs.

Purpose Of the WASH Communities:

The incumbent provides level leadership and facilitate processes that will ensure a well-coordinated, coherent, strategic, and by mobilized, organized and adequately resourced groups of agencies, organizations, NGOs, local communities, etc. 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.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

Coordination mechanisms

• Ensure the inclusion of key WASH humanitarian partners in a way that respects their mandates and programme priorities, as well as national and local authorities, other governmental actors, civil society and other actors working and related to the WASH sectoral response.
• Ensure appropriate coordination mechanisms between all WASH humanitarian partners are in place, including effective links, communication and information management, as well as technical working groups and/or sub-national coordination platforms as appropriate.

Needs assessment, analysis and strategy development

• Ensure effective and coherent WASH assessment, analysis and feedback involving all relevant partners, including the identification of gaps and conceptualize how sectoral needs can be met through collective delivery, involving all relevant partners and ensuring complementarity of their actions.

Monitoring and reporting

• Ensure adequate monitoring mechanisms are in place to review outcomes of WASH interventions and progress against strategy and action plans; including an analytical interpretation of best available information in order to benchmark progress over time (monitoring indicators: quantity, quality, coverage, continuity and cost; with target population data disaggregated by sex, age, etc.).
• Ensure adequate WASH outcome reporting and effective information sharing (with government and other partner support) to demonstrate closing the gaps.

Training and capacity building:

• Promote and support training of WASH humanitarian personnel in areas such as Minimum Standards for Emergency WASH and capacity building of humanitarian partners, based on the mapping and understanding of available capacity.
• Support efforts to strengthen the WASH capacity of the national/local authorities and civil society.

Impact of Results:

The support provided by the Level 4 WASH Sector Coordinator will enable UNICEF to fulfil its obligations in WASH sectoral coordination, assessments, planning and effective implementation and capacity building of the sector agencies in meeting the agreed WASH standards. This, in turn, will contribute to the achievement of the outcome results of the Humanitarian Response Plan. When done effectively, the achievement of the outcome results will improve child survival, growth and development and reduce inequalities in humanitarian settings.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Advanced university degree desirably in subjects/ areas of WASH e.g. Health Promotion or Education, Civil or Public Health Engineering, Public Health (MPH), Environmental Health.
• Additional relevant post-graduate courses that complement/supplement the main degree are required.

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 years relevant experience with four years of direct WASH emergency experience at least two of which would be based in the field at a Team Leader/WASH programme management level.
• A minimum of 2 years' emergency experience.
• A minimum of 5 years' experience with either the UN and/or NGO.
• Knowledge of WASH sector as a whole and its priority issues; an ability to strategize how these sectoral needs are met through collective delivery and ensuring that the roles responsibilities and functional linkages among sector support team are clear and well-coordinated.
• Fluency in English and another UN language. Fluency in the national language of the duty station is an asset.