JOB DESCRIPTION

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do for as long as we are needed. 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 professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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

For every child, the right to clean water.

How can you make a difference?

The main objective of the consultancy is to support UNICEF’s LAC Regional Office and at least three priority Country Offices in strengthening the WASH in Healthcare Facilities (HCFs) agenda.

This will include reviewing and assessing the WASH in Health programmes of UNICEF Country Offices in the region and contributing to the development of regional briefs and guidelines on WASH in healthcare facilities. The consultant will also contribute to the preparation of a regional investment case for WASH in healthcare facilities.

Capacity development will be a central component of this assignment. The consultant will design and facilitate some training activities using the Water and Sanitation for Health Facility Improvement Tool (WASH FIT), while also providing quality assurance to ensure the consistency of capacity-building sessions, alignment with global standards, and avoidance of overlap.

Knowledge generation and documentation will also be supported through the preparation of country case studies and Human Interest Stories (HIS) that capture progress and highlight good practices in WASH in healthcare facilities within UNICEF. In addition, the consultant will contribute to the enhancement of data and information management, including the development of an adapted WASH monitoring checklist for facility managers.

Finally, the consultancy will strengthen monitoring and reporting systems to capture progress on improvements in healthcare facilities, using both the eight practical steps for WASH in HCF and the five plus two core domains: water supply, sanitation, hand hygiene, healthcare waste management, environmental cleaning, climate resilience, and equity and inclusiveness.

Key Activities:

1. Prepare a regional brief on WASH in healthcare facilities (HCFs), with a focus on primary and community health platforms. The brief should include detailed recommendations and an action plan for scaling up WASH in HCFs in the region.
2. Develop an investment case for WASH in HCFs and infection prevention and control (IPC) for the LAC region.
3. Coordinate and facilitate country-specific training-of-trainers sessions on WASH FIT or specific WASH FIT domain — such as healthcare waste management, energy and environment, or hand hygiene implementation – in at least two countries.
4. Support countries to develop cascaded training plans on WASH in HCFs in at least two countries. Each training should be followed by the development of an action plan. Existing training materials on WASH FIT should be adapted to the national context.
5. Provide technical support for a regional coordination review meeting on WASH in HCFs for all LAC Country Offices, including the development of human-interest stories and case studies as part of the Republic of Korea partnership.
6. Support at least two countries to update their national WASH in HCF strategies, country-level briefs, and costed roadmaps for achieving universal WASH in HCFs by 2030.
7. Support integration of WASH indicators into HMIS and national information systems in at least one country, based on findings of the regional brief.
8. Organize and facilitate a cross-regional webinar for knowledge sharing on WASH in healthcare facilities.
10. Provide regional and country-specific technical support (as guided by the LACRO WASH team) on the development and/or review of WASH in HCF guidance, standard documents, knowledge management, and monitoring tools.
11. Produce guidance for Country Offices on developing short videos and other visibility materials to highlight WASH in HCF achievements.

Travels: The consultant is expected to travel to 2 countries for delivering face to face training of trainer on WASHFIT implementation. Each travel duration varies from 5-7 days based on the designed session plan and will have to be approved by the supervisor before the actual travel dates. Once the travel dates and days are final, the consultant is responsible for arranging their own travel. Consultant’s financial offer should include travel cost, including flight ticket, terminal expense and UN DSA rate for the specific country.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Terms of Reference here: WASH in Health ToRs”

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

Minimum requirements:

• Education: Advanced university degree (master”s or equivalent) in relevant field such as in Public Health, Environmental Health, Civil / sanitary / environmental / hydraulics engineering, Environmental sciences, Communication / communication for development.
• Work Experience: Minimum ten years of solid professional WASH sector experiences in the UN or other international organization, government or the private sector, of which at least five years’ experience in implementing WASH in health care facilities programmes essential.
• Demonstrated knowledge of WASHFIT approach in healthcare facilities, including prevention and control of infection, waste management and environmental cleaning aspects.
• Skills: Proven skills and experience in facilitating training, conducting webinars, meeting and conferences.
  Solid knowledge of tools and methods for capacity assessment, data/statistical analysis and reporting platforms.
  Strong communication skills (written and oral) in Spanish are required.
  Familiarity with UNICEF WASH programmes and sector systems strengthening
  Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated experience working in a multicultural environment
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Spanish.

Desirables:

• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

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

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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.

UNICEF encourages applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and from people with disabilities, including neurodivergence. We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF provides reasonable accommodation throughout the recruitment process. If you require any accommodation, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility jobs-near-me.org UNICEF. Should you be shortlisted, please get in touch with the recruiter directly to share further details, enabling us to make the necessary arrangements in advance.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. 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.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks: 

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF is committed to fostering an inclusive, representative, and welcoming workforce. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions 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.

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

In this role, you will collaborate with colleagues across multiple locations. For effective collaboration, we encourage flexible working hours that accommodate different time zones while prioritizing staff wellbeing.

Humanitarian action is a cross-cutting priority within UNICEF’s Strategic Plan. UNICEF is committed to stay and deliver in humanitarian contexts. Therefore, all staff, at all levels across all functional areas, can be called upon to be deployed to support humanitarian response, contributing to both strengthening resilience of communities and capacity of national authorities.

UNICEF shall not facilitate the issuance of a visa and working authorization for candidates under consideration for positions at the national officer and general service category.]

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements