Handwashing Programme Situational Assessment Advisor, Multiple positions

General Background

This consultancy is based in the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), hosted by UNOPS. Founded in 1990, WSSCC is a membership organization, based on individual membership.  WSSCC’s mission is to ensure sustainable sanitation, better hygiene and safe drinking water for all people, especially the poorest and most marginalized members of society in developing countries. In order to achieve its mission, WSSCC manages the Global Sanitation Fund, facilitates sector coordination at national, regional and global levels, supports professional development, and advocates on behalf of the 2 billion people without basic sanitation and 673 million defecating in the open. More information on WSSCC can be found at: www.wsscc.org.

WSSCC works in partnerships and collaborations to ensure wider reach and impact in sanitation and hygiene. One of these partnerships is with the Global Handwashing Partnership, where WSSCC also serves as one of its Steering committee members.

The Global Handwashing Partnership is a coalition of international stakeholders who work explicitly to promote handwashing with soap and recognize hygiene as a pillar of international development and public health. Their partnership brings together organizations from multiple sectors, including private sector entities, academic institutions, multilateral and governmental agencies that lead global policy and support implementation of handwashing programs and non-governmental and community-based organizations that promote and integrate handwashing programs. The GHP Secretariat is housed at FHI 360 in Washington, D.C. The Secretariat facilitates delivery of the GHP strategy including developing materials, sharing lessons and resources, and connecting organizations across our diverse network. More information can be found at: https://globalhandwashing.org

Background and Scope of Assignment

WSSCC as a Steering committee member of the Global Handwashing Partnership (GHP) made a commitment in collaboration with GHP secretariat to support GHP national work in 2 countries in its business plan of 2018-2019. One of the countries agreed upon was Nigeria.

This consultancy assignment is based on the need for a situational analysis of the handwashing program status in Nigeria. Nigeria’s president launched its Clean Nigeria Campaign on the 19th November 2019, after declaring open defecation in Nigeria as a national disaster. This was triggered by a national outcome routine mapping (WASH NORM) that was carried out and its results shared in September 2018. The WASH NORM report indicated that Nigeria currently has 155 million people with no access to improved sanitation facilities which are functional, private, accessible and with faecal sludge safely disposed. Of these, 47 million Nigerians practice open defecation. Only 19.7% of Nigerian households have access to a fixed place for handwashing with soap and water. The practice of handwashing at critical times was reported to be 6% with a knowledge level of 12.5%. Diarrheal disease prevalence in Nigeria is at 11.3%.

WSSCC is keen to support the government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR) to ensure that as the Clean Nigeria Campaign is launched, that handwashing will be one of the key behaviors that the campaign will influence among the 187 million Nigerians. The handwashing situational assessment will identify stakeholders who are contributing to handwashing practice, examine available formative research on the key determinants for handwashing for different groups, and determine what kind of programming has been implemented utilizing formative research for program design. The situational assessment will also determine the range of promising approaches in handwashing programs based upon existing evaluations of the programming, handwashing practice levels among different groups in different parts of the country based upon available information, private sector enterprises involved in soap distribution and other businesses which support handwashing and their marketing programs, and  the value for money for proven approaches that have worked well.  The GHP will work closely to facilitate the situational assessment.

Objectives of the assignment

The specific purpose of this study is for WSSCC in partnership with GHP through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to gain a better understanding of status of handwashing programs in Nigeria. This will allow FMWR to strengthen its Clean Nigeria Campaign strategies on behaviour change towards handwashing practices, provide guidance (development and implementation) on the best approaches and programmes and contribute to improved access to handwashing facilities and services.

The study is expected to feed into the Clean Nigeria Campaign that is hosted by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.  This study will systematically identify who is involved in promoting behavior change towards handwashing, what programming approaches are promising for different groups in Nigeria based upon existing formative research and programs which have been evaluated to have been effective,  provide recommendations based on the various approaches that have worked well and their extent of success, and  how much these promising interventions have costed per outcomes.

It will identify various challenges and what opportunities exist for handwashing interventions in Nigeria that would increase access as well as ensure sustained behaviour change.

This assignment will also provide a quality check on the formative research and approaches used and provide guidance on any reviews that may be required.

Scope of Work /activities and deliverables

The study will use a mixed process of desk-based research, surveys and interviews of various Handwashing stakeholders, and field visits in selected programme areas in Nigeria. Desk review and key informant interviews should cover at least the National Task Group on Sanitation, Federal and state level government handwashing stakeholders, and other NGOs and CSOs involved with handwashing interventions. Also, the study will include review of the supply chain and marketing of soap and handwashing products.

The selection of the states to be visited will depend on the results of the initial findings of the desk review, considerations of different behavior change programme modalities and formative research, and the need of balance in the review of academic institutions, non-governmental agencies and government led work.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

The table hereunder lays out the minimum deliverables to be ensured by the consultant:

• An advanced university degree (Master’s Degree or equivalent) in, Public Health, Social Sciences or related field is required. 

• A Bachelor Degree in combination with 2 additional years of relevant professional experience may be accepted in lieu of a Master's Degree.  

• Minimum of seven years of experience working in public health or WASH or related fields is required. 
• Deep knowledge of and experience in designing and implementing sanitation and hygiene programming approaches at scale in Africa is required
• Experience with/strong understanding of hand washing behaviour change programming and, with expertise on effective integration strategies is required 
• Experience with/strong understanding of formative research in hand washing in Africa is required 
• Experience of working in Nigeria is desired
• Extensive strategic sector knowledge and networks in Nigeria and in the West Africa region is desirable
• Experience in working with government systems (WASH, Health, Education) at different levels, NGOs and other service providers is desirable

• Contract type: International Contractor Agreement
• Contract level: Level 3
• Contract duration: Seven Months (Retainer) initially with a possibility of extension 

• Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time
• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified.
• Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types
• UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request.
• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS.  

It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns.
Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.

UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development.

UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources.

Working with us

UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines.

Diversity

With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce — a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners’ needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates.

Work life harmonization

UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands.