Consultancy: Consultant, Remote-based WASH Knowledge Management for an Impactful Global Response to COVID-19 – WASH, PD, NYHQ/Home based – Req # 539287

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.

For every child, hope.

Consultancy Title: Remote-based WASH Knowledge Management for an Impactful Global Response to COVID-19

Section/Division/Duty Station: WASH/PD/NYHQ

Duration: 125 days over 8 months (part-time consultancy)

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world’s leading children’s rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

BACKGROUND

UNICEF’s WASH in Emergencies (WiE) unit at NYHQ provides support to UNICEF regional offices and country offices in humanitarian settings such as public health emergencies, protracted crises and displacement caused by both natural and man-made disasters. The unit has four work plan pillars including:

1. Emergency Preparedness: UNICEF global leadership and strengthen countries technical capacities to response and coordinate emergencies;
2. Humanitarian – Development alignment: Support UNICEF regional offices (ROs)/Country Offices (COs) in protracted crisis settings to align humanitarian and development WASH programming;
3. Partnerships and advocacy: Strengthen partnerships and advocacy to promote global/regional/national WASH agendas, targeting emergency WASH in protracted crisis settings as well as agendas on urban and cholera control; and
4. Quality, advocacy and knowledge management: Provide system strengthening support to UNICEF RO/COs and WASH sector to improve the quality of large-scale emergency preparedness and response.

The WASH COVID-19 knowledge management (KM) approach is aligned with the WASH global KM strategy’s 4 pillars: knowledge generation, knowledge customization, knowledge sharing and capacity development. These pillars outline a theory of change, whereby what we are trying to achieve (actions of key stakeholders for a timely and impactful response to COVID-19) drives what knowledge is collected and how it is tailored and disseminated. The consultant will work across all the pillars of the KM strategy, contributing to fill the capacity gaps in the PD-WASH team working on COVID-19.

As part of the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC)/UNICEF Cooperation Agreement (CoAg), several WASH related activities are currently being implemented at global and country level. The collaboration includes several knowledge management and monitoring activities that will be used to continue highlighting the achievements under this collaboration agreement.

 

Terms of Reference / Deliverables

Reporting to the Senior Advisor, WASH in Emergencies, and working in close collaboration with WASH knowledge management colleagues, the incumbent will be responsible to:

1. support the implementation of PD-WASH’s knowledge management strategy for the covid-19 response.
2. Support the implementation of knowledge management activities under the CDC’s Cooperative Agreement WASH activities
3. Provide critical technical support to the Wash in Emergencies team on covid-19 related tasks

Tasks/Milestones:

1. Implementation of KM COVID-19 KM activities (90 days):
   1. Collect all WASH-related COVID-19 knowledge documents with appropriate meta-data.
   2. Update the Epic site, WASH SharePoint folders, help facilitate Yammer and manage the Q&A to provide accurate, timely answers
   3. Support posting of key knowledge products to other internal pages (e.g. EMOPS) and external sites (Core Commitments for Children)
   4. Update of stories database and propose what to disseminate to whom and channels to be used (e.g. WASH Bulletin, email, web platforms)
   5. Conduct or arrange quality assurance and editing of Covid-related knowledge publications submitted in the template format
   6. Update the team on KM activities during monthly Covid-19 catch up calls (ongoing);
   7. Prepare monthly COVID thematic inputs for the WASH bulletins
2. Support the KM elements included in the CDC CoAg for WASH COVID-19 activities (27 days):
   1. Develop KM products for each country included in the CoAg; Provide updates to CDC on a monthly basis and when requested on an adhoc basis;
   2. Support CO with the monitoring activities for WASH activities included in the CoAg
   3. Support the preparation of the CDC reporting
3. Technical support to WASH in emergences as part of UNICEF’s COVID-19 WASH response (8 days): 
   1. Support COVID WASH monitoring

Qualifications

(1) Education

• Advanced university degree in one of the following fields is preferred: social sciences, public administration, public health, international relations, business administration or other related disciplines
• Or a first University degree in a related field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree
• Experience and/or specialized training in knowledge management, WASH in emergencies, WASH Cluster Coordination highly desirable.
• The individual should be familiar with SharePoint, Microsoft Office Suite and on-line information sharing platforms is highly desirable

2) Work experience

• A minimum of five years of relevant professional work experience in programme/project coordination and management, monitoring and evaluation, report writing and data analysis is required.
• Knowledge of development, global humanitarian issues and public health issues is highly desirable.
• Experience leading and conducting reviews
• Experience writing high quality reports in English

3) Competencies

• A team player with experience working effectively in a (remote) team
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language is an asset.

Requirements:

• Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
• your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference
  • travel costs and daily subsistence allowance, if internationally recruited or travel is required as per TOR.
  • Any other estimated costs: visa, health insurance, and living costs as applicable.
  • Indicate your availability
• Any emergent / unforeseen duty travel and related expenses will be covered by UNICEF.
• At the time the contract is awarded, the selected candidate must have in place current health insurance coverage.
• Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed satisfactory deliverables. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant.

U.S. Visa information:

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.  

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

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s core values of Commitment, Diversity and Integrity and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results. View our competency framework at: Here

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, race, sexual orientation, nationality, culture, appearance, socio-economic status, ability, age, religious and ethnic backgrounds to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.