WASH Officer_ Chargé de programme en Eau et Assainissement
Organizational Context
UNICEF operates in over 190 countries and territories, dedicated to saving children's lives, defending their rights, and helping them reach their full potential. The UNICEF Niger office in Niamey seeks a National UN Volunteer WASH Officer to strengthen its team. This role directly supports Sustainable Development Goal 6, promoting sustainable water management, enhancing resilience to climate and health crises, and embodying the spirit of volunteerism through technical expertise and skill transfer.
Job Purpose
The UN Volunteer WASH Officer will contribute to the planning, implementation, monitoring, and coordination of UNICEF's Water, Hygiene, and Sanitation (WASH) interventions in Niger. The assignment aims to provide technical and programmatic support for sustainable sanitation access, hygiene promotion, WASH in institutions, and enhancing the resilience of sanitation services against climate and humanitarian shocks. A key objective is to strengthen the capacities of decentralized technical services, local authorities, implementing partners, and community structures to improve the quality, sustainability, and accountability of WASH interventions across Zinder, Maradi, Tahoua, and Diffa regions.
Responsibilities
Under the direct supervision of the WASH Section's Hygiene and Sanitation Unit Chief, the WASH Officer will support the planning, coordination, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of hygiene and sanitation interventions to sustainably improve population access to quality WASH services. This includes contributing to the technical quality of interventions, partner monitoring, implementing the communal WASH approach, and coordinating with technical services, local authorities, and NGOs. The role involves ensuring adherence to national standards and strengthening the resilience of hygiene and sanitation services against crises and climate change. Key responsibilities include: Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring: - Contribute to planning, implementing, and monitoring UNICEF-supported hygiene and sanitation interventions. - Regularly monitor work plans, indicators, results, and activities of implementing partners. - Organize joint planning sessions with NGO partners, social marketing consultants, government partners, and municipalities. - Conduct regular monitoring missions to assess intervention quality, progress, and compliance. - Identify bottlenecks and propose corrective measures. - Support partnership monitoring and agreed action points. - Assist in preparing programmatic reviews, coordination meetings, periodic reports, and reporting contributions. - Collect, analyze, and consolidate data on hygiene and sanitation program implementation. Technical Support, Quality, and Sustainability: - Provide technical support for designing and implementing the communal WASH approach and program documents. - Contribute to the implementation and improvement of hygiene and sanitation program results, community-based sanitation approaches, and essential hygiene practices. - Participate in technical evaluations and reviews of NGO recruitment dossiers. - Ensure compliance with hygiene and sanitation policies, guides for community-led total sanitation (CLTS), communal project ownership, sanitation marketing strategy, and national WASH standards. - Supervise and provide technical support for the implementation of the communal WASH approach, CLTS, and sanitation marketing. - Strengthen WASH promotion approaches in institutions (WASH Fit, WASH in Schools, Three Star approach, etc.). - Support the development and monitoring of WASH infrastructure management, maintenance, and sustainability mechanisms, including local financing mobilization. - Promote robust and innovative communal approaches for sustainable WASH service delivery. - Integrate WASH into schools, health facilities, and communities. - Promote sustainable, climate-resilient WASH solutions. Local Systems Strengthening, Partnerships, and Knowledge Management: - Provide technical support to decentralized services, local authorities, partners, and community structures. - Assist communes in implementing the communal WASH approach and sustainable infrastructure management mechanisms. - Contribute to strengthening partner capacities in hygiene and sanitation promotion approaches. - Support the establishment of databases for monitoring results and intervention quality. - Contribute to documenting and capitalizing on good practices, innovations, and lessons learned. - Facilitate data sharing and information exchange. - Contribute to advocacy for equitable, sustainable, and resilient WASH investments.
Work Experience
A minimum of two (02) years of professional experience in engineering or a related field is required. Proven experience in designing, monitoring, and supervising hygiene promotion and sanitation interventions, implementing community-led total sanitation (CLTS) approaches, supporting communal project ownership, and sanitation marketing strategies is essential. Experience in development contexts, particularly in WASH, is highly desirable. Familiarity with strengthening and coordinating WASH components at the communal level is an asset. Excellent analytical, writing, and reporting skills are necessary.
Skills
UNICEF Core Values: Benevolence, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Responsibility, Sustainability. Core Competencies: Establishing and Maintaining Partnerships, Cultivating Self-Awareness and Ethical Sense, Achieving Tangible Results, Innovating and Embracing Change, Managing Ambiguity and Complexity, Thinking and Acting Strategically, Working Collaboratively with Others. Technical Skills: Engineering, Construction, Monitoring, Evaluation, Water, Sanitation, Waste Management.