Consultancy: COVID Humanitarian Action Review (HAR), WASH section, Programme Group, NYHQ, home based

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

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.

PURPOSE OF ACTIVITY/ASSIGNMENT:

UNICEF is key actor for the implementation of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions that help prevent and control epidemic outbreaks.  Over the years, as WASH Cluster lead, UNICEF has grown accustomed to massively scaling up its WASH operations to respond to major infectious diseases outbreaks, such as for the Ebola responses in West Africa (2014-2016) or in Democratic Republic of Congo (2018-2021), as well as for the Cholera responses in Haiti (2010-2019) or in Yemen (since 2016).

However, the scale up required for the Covid-19 response is unprecedent in terms of number of countries and beneficiaries, in terms of volume and duration of activities as well as in terms of constraints faced by the organization in the face of national lockdowns and disrupted supply chains and travel routes.

UNICEF WASH developed a response to the Covid-19 outbreak based on 3 key pillars: 1) Hand hygiene, 2) WASH and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) (in healthcare facilities, in schools and in communities), and 3) Continuity and affordability of WASH services.

By the end of December 2020, 128 countries were supported by UNICEF on their WASH response to Covid-19 outbreak. 106 million of people had been reached with critical WASH supplies and services, and 3.01 billion of people had been reached through messaging on prevention and access to services. 4 million healthcare facility staff and community health workers had been trained in Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), while 2.6 million of them had also been provided with personal protective equipment (PPE).

Response to Covid-19 came with a lot of unknowns, uncertainties and constraints for the WASH sector. Some of them were directly linked to a lack of scientific knowledge regarding the virus itself and its transmission pathways. Other constraints came from the lack of representation of the WASH sector as part of the Public Health Emergency response framework pillars under the WHO Incident Management System.

Since the beginning of COVID-19, the lack of maintenance and poor operation of WASH infrastructure have resulted in gaps in service provision, ranging from partial disruption to irreversible deterioration or collapse. In part, interruption of services has been the consequence of supply chain disruptions, together with failures to purchase fuel for pumping stations and treatment plants, and increase in prices for chemicals, spare parts, and WASH commodities. In addition, daily and routine operation of water supply and sewerage infrastructure has been affected by restricted movement of staff which contributed to increased losses in the WASH sector.

In view of the above, UNICEF is preparing to conduct a COVID-19 Humanitarian Action Review (HAR) to determine how UNICEF performed in supporting the WASH Sector’s emergency preparedness and the quality of its response during COVID-19 pandemic. This Terms of Reference outlines the purpose of the HAR, its objectives, scope, the questions it will seek to answer and the approach and methods to be used.

How can you make a difference?

The overall objective of this COVID-19 Humanitarian Action Review is to conduct a review and evaluation of UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector response, as well as provide recommendations on how experience gained can be used to improve relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of UNICEF’s WASH sector response to public health emergencies.

The purpose of the COVID-19 Humanitarian Action Review is to: 

• Undertake a participatory review of UNICEF’s support to the WASH Sector’s preparedness and response to L3 COVID-19 emergency across coordination and programme. One country will be selected from each of four regions: ROSA, ESARO, LACRO and ECARO;
• Integrate lessons learned into improved UNICEF’s WASH preparedness, response and coordination at the country level, as well as across countries, regionally and globally;
• Review the appropriateness and timeliness of the support provided by global and regional support structures such as Global WASH Cluster, from UN agencies and from international and local NGOs; 

The timeline of the review is from the start of the Pandemic until close of Quarter 3, 2021.

EXPECTED RESULTS:

In line with the overall objective, the consultant will provide an analysis of the capabilities of UNICEF to:

• Develop the relevant scope of intervention for the WASH sector in collaboration with key partners;
• Develop appropriate technical guidance in a timely manner;
• Build on internal capacity on WASH in Public Health Emergencies to ensure development of adequate programme responses;
• Build new capacities in terms of Infection Prevention and Control among its WASH Staff;
• Implement an adequate monitoring of its activities;
• Ensure adequate knowledge management across and within regions;
• Deliver at scale;
• Overcome the various constraints and bottlenecks faced by the organization and the WASH sector during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Based on this analysis, the consultant will provide recommendations on how UNICEF WASH can better respond to future public health emergencies, with a focus on:

• Response framework and technical guidance;
• Capacity building;
• Monitoring and evaluation;
• Partnerships and coordination. 

The review will address issues at country, regional and global levels. The review involves:

• A desk-study covering the strategy, guidance and knowledge products produced by UNICEF and in collaboration with other agencies;
• Remote meetings with UNICEF HQ staff;
• Key informant interviews, internally within UNICEF and externally with relevant partners (WHO, Global WASH Cluster, etc.);
• Field visits to selected Regional Offices and Country Offices

Expected documentation:

• An inception report;
• A draft report;
• Final report, including executive summary;
• Powerpoint presentation and recorded webinar.

Duty Station: New York, HQ with travel to up to 4 regional offices, as required (TBD)

Duration: 1^st October 2021 – 31^st March 2022 (with 80 working days within this period)

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

• A bachelor and equivalent academic degree and solid professional work experience in fields related to humanitarian Water, Sanitation and Hygiene including with Public Health Emergencies.
• Expertise in communication, customer orientation, and preferable excellent understanding of performance management systems, training materials, and competency framework.
• The individual should be highly proficient in a range of PC/web applications, including but not limited to: MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Outlook, and Lotus Notes.
• Familiarity with working with different international and national organizations, developing countries or emergency context is required.
• Practical experience of working in WASH in Emergencies will be highly desirable. Experience with field response to public health emergencies is an asset.
• It is preferable that the individual has experience with, or in, multilateral institutions. Knowledge of UNICEF context essential.
• At least 5 years of experience in evaluating WASH programmes, emergency response, WASH actions, etc. including drafting reports.
• Background familiarity with Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Cluster Approach is an asset.
• Fluency in both written and spoken English is required. Fluency in French, Spanish or Arabic is an asset. 
• Strong organizational, planning, and analytical skills
• Good judgment, initiative, high sense of responsibility, tact and discretion.
• Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and ability to establish harmonious working relations in a multicultural environment.

Requirements:

• Completed profile in UNICEF’s e-Recruitment system and provide Personal History Form (P11) or resume
• Upload copy of academic credentials
• Financial proposal that will include:
  • – your daily/monthly rate (in US$) to undertake the terms of reference above
  • – 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. 
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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 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.

Remarks:

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

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

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.