Panama: WASH IN DISASTER RISK REDUCTION, EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE IN LAC
Organization: UN Children’s Fund
Country: Panama
Closing date: 04 Mar 2017
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.
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most disaster–prone regions in the world. Increasingly vulnerable to the effects of a range of natural hazards, climate change and armed conflict and violence, imminent threats to human lives and individual wellbeing are of increasing concern.
In 2015, 18 Million people still practiced open defecation and 34 Million still used unimproved drinking water sources (including 8,5Million drinking surface water) further underlining the deep rooted social and economic disparities in the region[1]. The most vulnerable population groups to water related diseases and to malnutrition, as well as to the impact of disasters and emergency situations, are the rural and urban poor, who belong to indigenous and afro descendants groups, have low educational levels and limited access to health services.
UNICEF is a key global actor in WASH both in development and emergency contexts. As part of development programs UNICEF supports the capacity development of national governments and other key stakeholders to achieve sustainable access to WASH services for the most vulnerable groups. In emergency situations, UNICEF has identified the WASH sector as a key priority in its «Core Commitments for Children» (CCCs) in Humanitarian Action, and is committed to support access to basic WASH services of affected and displaced populations, with particular focus on children and women. Under the provisions of the Humanitarian Reform, promoted by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), UNICEF has been designated as agency leader of the WASH Cluster with the responsibility to coordinate the humanitarian response at times of emergencies, to deliver a more efficient and effective response to the affected communities, as well as coordinate preparedness actions for capacity strengthening of all involved actors.
The WASH Section of UNICEF’s Latin America and Caribbean Office (LACRO) is seeking an individual consultant to provide technical support to strengthen the capacities of UNICEF programme staff in countries, counterparts and partners in Disaster Risk Reduction and WASH, WASH emergency preparedness and response.
Key components of the support are 1)the continued development of capacity strengthening tools and trainings opportunities, including the improvement of capacity of UNICEF staff at country level, national partners and their related sectoral working groups/platform via the Regional WASH LAC Group 2)the promotion of the culture of inter-sectorial/cluster coordination for a more coherent and effective DRR management and response 3)the development of a tool for mapping and monitoring of regional WASH in Emergencies preparedness and response capacity.
Purpose of the Assignment
To support regional initiatives in the area of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Emergency in the LAC region, with an emphasis on national capacity development for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and emergency preparedness and response.
MAIN TASKS RELATED TO THE JOB
Under the supervision of the Regional WASH Specialist and in collaboration with the Regional Health Advisor and the Emergency team, the WASH in emergencies consultant will support LAC Regional Office in strengthening DRR, emergency preparedness and response via UNICEF country Offices and via the regional WASH LAC Group :
DELIVERABLES
QUALIFICATIONS AND SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
ESTIMATED DURATION OF THE CONTRACT AND PROPOSAL
Nine months consultancy, from mid-March 2017 to mid-December 2017.
Reporting Responsibilities/supervision
The consultant will be supervised by the Regional WASH Specialist in UNICEF LACRO.
CONSULTANTS WORK PLACE
The hired consultant will work primary from UNICEF LACRO in Panama City but may be requested to travel at short notice for surge missions for emergency response if required. If travel is required, travel costs will be covered by UNICEF and DSAs will apply as per corporate guidance.
HONORARIA & FEES:
Applicants are requested to submit an economic proposal for the consultancy.
CLOSING DATE:
The deadline to receive applications is COB 3rd March, 2017.
To view our competency framework, please click here.
How to apply:
UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organization. To apply, click on the following link http://www.unicef.org/about/employ/?job=503042