Temporary Appointment (TA): Regional Adviser WASH, (P5), MENARO #00122847 (for Six Months).

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]

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias, or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic, and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education, and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. Therefore, the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nations.

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Deputy Regional Director, Programmes, the incumbent will ensure that the tasks of

the WASH Regional Advisor and Climate Change Regional Advisor are fulfilled.

Responsibilities and Tasks:

This post will temporarily cover the roles of the WASH Regional Advisor. The position supervises the Climate Change Regional Advisor position, which is currently vacant, and thus the tasks of this position will be managed through this TA, duration is for six months.

 Managerial and technical leadership

• Oversee the WASH and climate change annual workplan outputs, activities and developmental priorities of the WASH section staff. Provide timely guidance to enable the WASH section staff to perform their duties responsibly and efficiently.
• Manage WASH and climate team building and motivation. Signal potential conflicts and take preventive action, in coordination with Human Resources staff.

   Regional advisory support

• Advise key national government officials, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners on policies, strategies, approaches, and best practices on WASH and climate change, and other environmental issues to support programme development planning, management, implementation, and delivery of results.
• Participate in regional/country programme planning, preparation, and review to provide advice on formulation, design, management, enhancement, and communication of WASH, climate change and adaptation, sustainable energy, and other environmental policy, including setting priorities and results-based management goalParticipate in regional key events and strategic discussions to influence policy discussions and agenda setting on WASH and climate change.
• Participate in regional key events and strategic discussions to influence policy discussions and agenda setting on WASH and climate change.
• Work with the regional team to ensure inclusion of climate change, sustainable energy, and other environmental issues across UNICEF's work, including but not limited to WASH, Health, Education, Social Inclusion, Nutrition, Urban, and humanitarian response.
• Keep abreast of national/regional/international development priorities on WASH, climate change, sustainable energy, DRR, and environmental policy to leverage UNICEF's position and competencies with donors, national governments, communities, and constituents to advocate/promote interventions and policies related to climate change, sustainable energy and other environmental issues affecting children.

 Country Office Support

• Collaborate with Regional Management/Country Office teams throughout all stages of programming to provide technical support to programme preparation, implementation and monitoring for results.
• Provide policy guidance and technical support to national external partners/internal colleagues to develop national policies/strategies for UNICEF assisted programmes.
• Contribute to the planning and conduct/update of situation analysis to ensure that current and evidence-based data on WASH and climate change are available to guide UNICEF's strategic policy advocacy, intervention, and development efforts on child rights.
• Manage and coordinate technical support around WASH, climate change, and other environmental issues ensuring it is well planned, monitored, and implemented in a timely fashion to adequately support scale-up and delivery.

 Advocacy, networking, and partnership building

• Establish effective partnerships with the Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, civil society and local leaders, the private sector, and other UN agencies to support sustained and proactive commitment to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and to achieve global UN agendas such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement, and the Sendai DRR Framework.
• Consult and collaborate with national/global colleagues/partners/allies to develop a partnerships framework to leverage resources for enhancing/scaling up initiatives to address WASH, climate change, and child-responsive and sustainable development affecting children, including multilateral climate funds.

 Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Promote critical thinking and introduce technological and programme innovations, approaches, and good practices in the region for WASH and climate change initiatives through advocacy and technical advisory services.
• Keep abreast of, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting-edge practices in the region related to WASH and climate change.
• Identify, assess, vet, and disseminate a roster of qualified experts and highly recognized institutions for easy access and use by stakeholders.
• Lead and/or develop policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices to ensure optimum efficiency and efficacy of sustainable programmes and projects.
• Support capacity building efforts of UNICEF staff in the region through knowledge management actions based on work within the region as well as outside the region.

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

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: public health, water, or sanitationengineering, climate change, or another relevant technical field. Additional relevant post-graduate courses that complement/supplement the main degree are a strong asset.

• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience in WASH and/or Climate Change related programming.

• Specific expertise in programme/project formulation, implementation, monitoring and review and evaluation related to climate change adaptation and/or water scarcity programming in developing countries.

• Fluency in English is required. Fluency in Arabic is a strong asset.

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

Core Values (Required):

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust and
• Accountability

Core Competencies (Required):

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others
• Nurtures, leads and manages people

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.
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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

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

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

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