National Consultant to support WASH in Institutions and Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH), and Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), 6 Months, (Remote with travel to Abuja and other states)

UNICEF, guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, works together with partners in 190 countries and territories to promote and advocate for the protection of the rights of every child.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, a chance. 

In Nigeria, UNICEF works in a complex humanitarian and development setting to fulfill and protect children’s rights in partnership with the government, civil society, children, and families.  UNICEF Nigeria is one of the largest UNICEF Country Offices globally – click the link to learn more about UNICEF in Nigeria: https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/

Background:

The UNICEF Nigeria Country Programme Cycle of 2023-2027 places renewed emphasis on improved access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in health care facilities (HCFs), schools, and other public places including markets, motor-parks and recreation parks. Only 11% of schools and 6% of healthcare facilities have basic WASH services. Even where WASH services exist, they are not always maintained, with 37% of WASH services in schools and 53% of WASH services in PHCs not sustained. At the same time, there is an urgent call to address the needs of menstruating women and girls’ needs. Up to 47% of women reported missing activities during their last period, 26% of young people died not know how to manage their menstruation before menarche, and 62% of women and girls reported not having enough money to buy menstrual materials. These various barriers affect the productivity and educational attainment of women and girls, with poor menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) contributing to 23% of absenteeism in Nigeria.

Over the last few years, UNICEF has invested in supporting the Government of Nigeria to improve access to WASH in institutions and provide services for girls to manage their menstruating safely and with dignity, while at the same time strengthening government systems. 

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are preventable and treatable diseases but two (2) out of every three Nigerians harbor at least one Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD), including lymphatic filariasis (LF), onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, and trachoma. These diseases result primarily from poverty and poor access to WASH. To help address this issue, UNICEF has supported 12 states with an integrated WASH-NTDs programme, resulting in 6 states having interrupted transmission of onchocerciasis, two of which are on track to eliminate the disease by 2030.

How can you make a difference? 

Scope Of Work:

The following are the key assignments of the consultancy:

• Support the coordination platforms and mechanisms for WASH in Institutions, MHH, and NTDs, including the WASH in Schools TWG, and MHH TWG, the Health SWAp and the NGDO NTDs coalition
• Revise the WASH in schools and MHH training manuals and materials to mainstream principles of climate resilience, sustainability, and gender transformative WASH, and support field offices to adopt updated training materials and test them in the field
• Support advocacy for increased investment in WASH in Institutions, MHH and WASH-NTDs. These can include facilitating media visits to schools and HCFs, development of concept notes and policy briefs, and advocacy plans
• Document progress on WASH in institutions and MHH, including progress and key results from the WASHFIT implementation and WASH in institutions systems strengthening
• Produce briefing notes to consolidate results of field work.
• Support the production of key documents and knowledge products for WASH-NTDs programme, and end-year review

Key Deliverables

• Inception report outlining the consultant’s understanding of the ToR, approach to delivering the deliverables, and detailed workplan with timelines for the assignment. This is to be submitted within 5 days after signing the contract.
• Updated WASH in schools training materials that consider climate resilience, gender transformative WASH and sustainability.
• Updated MHH training materials that consider climate resilience, gender transformative WASH and sustainability.
• Concept note outlining UNICEF Nigeria’s multi-sector approach to MHH
• Two advocacy plans for WASH in Institutions – schools and healthcare facilities

Work Assignment Overview:

1.Develop work plan

Deliverables/Outputs

• Inception report including a detailed work plan with timelines and approach for consultancy

2. Update WASH in schools training materials and test updated manual in at least 1 state.

Deliverables/Outputs

• Final, WASH in schools training materials (training manual and presentations).
• Brief trip report of field testing of updated manual in Kaduna state.

3.Update MHH training materials for schools & communities and test them in at least 1 state 

Deliverables/Outputs

• Final, WASH in schools training materials (training manual and presentations)
• Brief trip report of field testing of updated manual in Adamawa state

4.Organize and facilitate media tour of schools and HCFs to advocate for increased investments, in collaboration with the UNICEF Communications, Advocacy and Partnerships (CAP) team 

Deliverables/Outputs

• Documentation of media tour, with key activities undertaken, key results and next steps

5.Develop advocacy plans for WASH in schools and WASH in HCFs, highlighting key facts on the status of WASH services, key messages, target audience, and advocacy tactics

Deliverables/Outputs

• WASH in schools advocacy plan (PPT)

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

• A university degree in water, Sanitation and Hygiene related studies, Public Health, or any other related discipline
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in supporting WASH in Institutions (schools or healthcare facilities) and MHH, including development of training materials and capacity building.
• Experience in supporting integrated WASH-NTDs programming.
• Proven experience working with federal, state and local governments on WASH.
• Experience supporting WASH programmes in both Northern and Southern states of Nigeria, in development and emergency contexts
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

To view the complete TOR, click here  TOR Institutions, MHH and NTDs Consultant.docx.pdf 2025.pdf

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about children’s rights and making a lasting difference on children’s lives, one of the global leading entities on children’s rights would like to hear from you.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, Sustainability (CRITAS), and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

UNICEF is also proud of a diverse workforce who are profoundly committed to supporting the full realization of children’s rights, and in uplifting a rights-based approach in all that we do.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact

(4) Innovates and embraces change

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity

(6) Thinks and acts strategically

(7) Works collaboratively with others  

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF promotes and advocates for the protection of the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything it does and is mandated to support the realization of the rights of every child, including those most disadvantaged, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, minority, or any other status.

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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

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. 

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.