Food Crisis Response – Regional WASH in Emergencies Advisor 80 views

The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 85 years, and are now active in more than 75 countries.

ROLE PURPOSE

As the Regional WASH in Emergencies Adviser in the Horn of Africa, you will ensure technical soundness of the WASH interventions in the Food Crisis response focusing on the four countries covered by the Plan International ‘red alert’ – Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya.

WASH interventions will cover both standalone water, sanitation and hygiene programming and, critically, also the integration of WASH within other elements of Plan’s Food Crisis response such as food distribution, feeding, nutrition, education and care in health facilities as a fundamental pre-requisite for maximising the effectiveness of these interventions.

In collaboration with Country Offices, regional management and National Organisations you will advise and support high performing country teams team to improve their WASH intervention approaches, strategy and practice, ensuring specific WASH/GEDSI developmental outcomes are included, and explore WASH and integrated programming related funding opportunities, ensuring accountability for meeting targets, and maintaining alignment with the Plan International global strategy.

You will have a demonstrable commitment to gender equality and be comfortable representing Plan International to the highest levels of government, civil society, and local, regional and international stakeholders and institutions.

You will understand and drive efforts to deliver positive change for girls through advocating, campaigning and communicating at a national and regional forum level. Equally, you will ensure Plan’s standalone and integrated WASH responses interventions in the Horn of Africa are fit for purpose, have the right funding to achieve our ambition, key business processes are in place and organisational values are embedded in everything we do.

You will lead by example in ensuring gender equality is evident in everything we do from staffing, to programming and influencing, to ways of working. You will work with Country Office teams to bring about the right culture that ensures we are champions for girls and gender equality.

Dimensions of the Role

Direct Reports – none

Key Stakeholders

• Plan International MEESA Hub
• Plan International Country Office DRM/WASH project teams in the Horn of Africa, specifically Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan
• Plan International National Offices supporting WASH and the Food Crisis response in the Horn of Africa
• Horn of Africa regional and country level WASH/Food Crisis networks, government bodies and federations
• Existing and potential donor agencies funding WASH/Food Crisis responses in the Horn of Africa.

Communications Required

• Minimum weekly communication with Plan International Country Office WASH project teams (Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Kenya)
• Fortnightly updates to Plan International Australia National Office (ANO)
• Regular updates (as required) to other Plan International National Offices and partners supporting WASH in the Food Crisis response

External Representation

• Where relevant, represent Plan International and its WASH in Emergencies programs with relevant networks, government bodies, federations and other agencies at regional level including, for example WASH Cluster Meetings.

Reach of the Role

• The Regional WASH in Emergencies Advisor works with Plan’s decision makers (Country Office management teams, program management units, country program teams) in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan on inclusive, integrated and resilient WASH and water resources interventions in the Food Crisis humanitarian response and provides overall management and quality assurance for donor funded programs and strategic support to country programming quality
• The Regional WASH in Emergencies Advisor contributes Plan project generated evidence to knowledge sharing platforms for WASH in the region and within Plan International in order to ensure sharing of lessons learned and adoption of best practices;
• The Regional WASH in Emergencies Advisor is not directly responsible for WASH project/program budgets as these are the responsibility of the Country Offices implementing WASH projects;
• The Regional WASH in Emergencies Advisor does not directly manage any other staff.

Accountabilities

The Regional WASH in Emergencies Adviser – Horn of Africa will operate within the context of a growing food crisis and therefore the accountabilities indicated below and the proportional time allocations should be understood to be estimates only and the role is expected to show a high degree of flexibility in terms of the tasks that are prioritised. 

Project Management and Technical Support (75%)

• Lead the provision of technical backstopping support to targeted WASH and integrated Food Crisis response projects in the Horn of Africa, including:

• A WASH in emergency capacity mapping in the targeted countries covering human resource capacity and WASH in Emergencies guidance materials that COs have available and develop an action plan to addressed identified gaps.
• Intensive technical and project management support to Plan country teams and local partners in the delivery of integrated and standalone WASH projects under the Food Crisis response in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan
• Support Country Office teams to ensure WASH interventions have a particular focus on addressing the specific needs of adolescent girls and young women.
• Build the capacity of Country Office WASH teams on the current good practice WASH in Emergencies program design and practice, with a focus on gender and effective community outreach.
• Undertake frequent field visits to affected areas to monitor the implementation of activities, identify opportunities and constraints and any adjustments needed including additional staffing or staff training or other.  Input into and review of donor planning, monitoring and reporting processes for targeted projects.
• If required, the WASH in Emergencies Advisor is to be deployed to support specific emergency responses in any of the four priority countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan).
• Risk Management and the reporting to the MEESA Hub of any emerging project risks, including any financial or child safeguarding risks.

• Collaborate with Country Offices, National Organisations and strategic partners to achieve program quality as per the Program Quality Policy and donor compliance/quality requirements; this to include:

• Technical advice to country teams on approaches and strategies for standalone and integrated WASH projects and programs to support gender transformation, social inclusion and climate resilience, consistent with Plan international standards.
• Technical advice to country teams on meeting relevant WASH standards in humanitarian programming e.g. SPHERE standards, regional WASH cluster standards, country-specific WASH disaster response standards or principles, etc.
• Technical advice to country teams on compliance with WASH related priorities for disaster preparedness and risk reduction and climate adaptation, and country-specific WASH related resilience priorities

• Provide technical advice to and support for program evaluations and reviews and provide feedback and analysis of findings and recommendations to the program teams at Country Office levels; and
• Comply and ensure compliance with policies and procedures of the Country Office as well as the relevant applicable specifications and technical standards.

Resource Mobilisation (25%)

• Proactively seek out opportunities for funding, investigating and developing innovative and creative new relationships around WASH and integrated Food Crisis response funding opportunities;
• Work in collaboration with the MEESA Regional Hub DRM Team and National Organisations and Country Office teams on proposal design, budget allocation and project design.
• Input into and review proposals where WASH is not the primary focus and advise on opportunities for the integration of WASH interventions as part of a broader food security programs and proposals.
• Support (as required) Country Offices in discussions with National Offices in regards to the assigning of public funds in support of WASH interventions within broader food security programs and proposals.

Gender Equity and Child Safeguarding

• The role is responsible for ensuring that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key relationships

The Regional WASH in Emergencies Advisor – Horn of Africa is directly line-managed by the MEESAH Regional Head of DRM and is supported and advised by the ANO WASH Advisor. A ‘contact group’ comprising the Regional Head of DRM, the ANO WASH Advisor and the DRM leads in the four food Crisis red alert Country Offices will provide guidance in regards to prioritisation of tasks and  accountabilities.

Internal:

• Plan International MEESA Hub management, Disaster Risk Reduction/humanitarian, business development and other program and influencing colleagues including the Food Security and Livelihood in Emergencies Specialist
• Plan International Country Office WASH project teams in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan
• Plan International National Offices supporting WASH projects in the Horn of Africa/Food Crisis response, particularly ANO

External:

• Multi-lateral and bi-lateral donor agencies funding WASH in the Horn of Africa/Food Crisis response
• Humanitarian actors relevant for the coordination of Plan’s work with other international/regional/national institutions, clusters and donors

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

Knowledge and Experience

• Master’s degree qualification or equivalent as well as proven experience and knowledge in one or more of the following areas: disaster preparedness and humanitarian response WASH, water resource management, public health, behaviour change, climate change resilience or relevant field
• At least 7 years of proven experience managing or advising country/project teams on WASH programme or projects including in humanitarian/emergency contexts
• Advanced knowledge and experience in incorporating approaches to support gender transformation, social inclusion and climate change resilience into WASH programs, projects and policies.Experience with training, facilitation and capacity building of project teams and NGOs/CBOs, particularly in WASH.
• Experience in incorporating WASH into food security, nutrition, education or other humanitarian response interventions
• Experience coordinating stakeholder relationships and partnerships, including influencing and engaging governments, particularly in WASH and humanitarian sector.
• Strong knowledge of child and women’s rights and gender justice and rights-based approaches
• Advanced understanding of the development and humanitarian NGO sector and experience of working with coalitions, networks and NGOs/CBOs in the Horn of Africa.
• Demonstrated success in developing funding proposals to multi-lateral and bi-lateral donor agencies

Skills

• High level technical WASH in emergencies skills
• Demonstrated analytical, strategic thinking and negotiating skills
• Strong communication, coordination and collaboration skills
• Demonstrated ability to build positive and trustworthy relations for influencing;
• Experience in managing time and resource constraints;
• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing in English
• Proven IT skills: Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint etc.
• Ability to work in challenging environments and circumstances including at a distance/remotely and in humanitarian contexts

• Demonstrated ability to work with multi-culture and multi-lingual staff/team members

Essential

• Qualification or proven experience and knowledge in one or more of the following areas: WASH in emergencies, water resource management, public health, behaviour change or relevant field. Demonstrated knowledge and experience in incorporating WASH into other humanitarian response sectors
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in approaches to support gender transformation, social inclusion and climate change resilience into WASH and humanitarian programs, projects and policies.
• Experience with advising, training, facilitation and capacity building of project teams and NGOs/CBOs
• Proven capacity to develop and maintain donor relations and partnerships
• Proven capacity in written donor reporting in English language

Desirable

• Established network of key WASH sector contacts in the Horn of Africa and across the MEESA region at both national and regional level.
• Strong analytical, strategic thinking and negotiating skills
• Working experience across Horn of MEESA region (particularly in the Horn of Africa)