Country Policy Process Advisor

UN-Water is the United Nations (UN) inter-agency coordination mechanism for all freshwater related issues, including sanitation. The High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) established UN-Water in 2003 in response to the need for strengthened coordination of United Nations’ work on water and sanitation related issues. UN-Water includes more than 35 Members (UN entities) and more than 40 Partners (non-UN system actors).

For the international community, the coming years will be critical to solve the water and sanitation crisis. Although Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) – ‘to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030’ – supports many of the other 16 SDGs, the world is off-track and the challenges are unprecedented and growing. To respond to the need for an immediate and integrated global response to rapidly improve progress on SDG 6, in July 2024 the UN system launched the UN System-wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation, which builds on the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework – a unifying initiative that involves all sectors of society to speed up progress by improving support to countries. Through the Strategy, the UN system and its multi-stakeholder partners, driven by country demand and coordinating through UN-Water, unify the international community’s support to countries for SDG 6. 

As UN-Water aligns its strategy toward achieving SDG 6, one emerging area where it is well-positioned to play an important role is to provide support to the delivery of SDG 6 at the country-level. 

In this context, UN-Water is developing SDG 6 Country Acceleration Case Studies that will explore countries’ pathways to achieving accelerated progress on SDG 6 and document replicable good practices for achieving the SDG 6 targets at the national level. The main audience for the case studies will be national policymakers and technical policy advisors across SDG 6-related sectors. Three case studies are developed per year, to be launched at or around the annual HLPF SDG 6 Special Event in July of each year.

Another key area of engagement at the country level is the UN-Water Integrated Monitoring Initiative for SDG 6 (IMI-SDG6), which supports countries in monitoring water- and sanitation-related issues and in compiling country data to report on global progress towards SDG 6. During its third phase, IMI-SDG6 is placing an increased focus on how data can be better used to bring about good water and sanitation policies and to accelerate the achievement of SDG 6. For further information on IMI-SDG6: www.sdg6monitoring.org.

Under the overall supervision of the UN-Water Global Monitoring Officer, and working closely with the Technical Officer for the SDG 6 Global Acceleration Framework and other colleagues in the UN-Water Technical Advisory Unit, and with the UN-Water Expert Group on 2030 Agenda, the IMI-SDG6 Steering Committee, other UN-Water Members and Partners, and country partners, the consultant will perform the following duties: 

Work package A. Production of the SDG 6 Country Acceleration Case Studies 

1. Support the identification of the three case study countries through a desk review of shortlisted countries.

2. Consult with all relevant stakeholders for each of the three case study countries, including:

   1. UN-Water Members and Partners that express interest to contribute to the case study, specifically through the Expert Group on 2030 Agenda and Task Force on Country Level Engagement.

   2. Country stakeholders including government stakeholders (including IMI-SDG6 country focal points), UN Resident Coordinators and Country Teams, Country Water Partnerships, and other relevant partners in the countries.

   3. Support the organization of workshops in each of the case study countries, in close collaboration with the Resident Coordinators and their Offices and in support of UN-Water’s country level engagement work coordinated by the Task Force on Country Level Engagement.

3. Draft of the case studies, including:

   1. First draft, in English, following the annotated table of contents, to be shared for comments with UN-Water Members and Partners and other senior stakeholders.

   2. Incorporation of feedback and comments received into a final draft to be shared for no objection approval

   3. In general, ensure consistency across case studies.

4. Support communication and outreach:

   1. Work with the UN-Water communications team and the UN-Water Technical Advisory Unit to identify and support case study outreach opportunities, including case study webinars, online campaigns and other existing opportunities, e.g. related toIMI-SDG6, Task Force on Country Level Engagement, SDG 6 Capacity Development Initiative etc.

Work package B. Document country-level institutional structures and processes for water and sanitation coordination and use of data for policy, decisionmaking, planning, and investment. 

[NB: ‘Data’ is defined to include both SDG 6 global indicators and other global, regional and national water and sanitation data]

1. Consult with internal UN-Water stakeholders to identify needs and key questions

2. Map institutional structures and data flows of selected countries. Mapping may consider:

• ministries, agencies, and stakeholders involved in data collection, reporting, and use

• inter-agency coordination mechanisms for water and sanitation data

• legal and regulatory frameworks governing water-related data sharing and decision-making processes

• bottlenecks

1. Assess the current practices within those countries. Assessment may consider:

• concrete examples of how data is used for: national or sub-national policy formulation; investment and infrastructure planning; regulatory decisions; disaster preparedness and climate resilience strategies

• frequency and reliability of data usage in these processes

• challenges and barriers to effective data use 

• success stories where data, in particular SDG 6 global indicator data, have influenced tangible policy or investment decisions

• perception, value, and feedback on the relevance and usefulness at the country level of a dedicated global goal on water and sanitation (SDG 6)

1. Assess integration of SDG 6 global indicator data with broader development frameworks, for example, national development plans, climate adaptation strategies, disaster risk reduction frameworks, HLPF Voluntary National Reviews, UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks

2. Identify capacity development needs and propose recommendations for IMI-SDG6 interventions

• summarise gaps in technical expertise, financial resources, and institutional coordination that hinder effective data use

• propose practical recommendations for targeted capacity-building interventions – how IMI-SDG6 can support institutional coordination and the use of data at country level

1. Develop a set of simple tools that IMI-SDG6 can use for capacity building 

2. Summarise the role/value of SDG 6 at the country level; make recommendations for the maintenance or improvement of SDG 6 and its indicators to position water and sanitation in a possible post-2030 Agenda

Specific deliverables:

Deliverables for work package A. Production of the SDG 6 Country Acceleration Case Studies 

• Desk review of shortlisted countries, resulting in the proposed selection of three case study countries for decision by the UN-Water Expert Group on 2030 Agenda and to be shared for information with the Task Force on Country Level Engagement once decided, including one initial presentation of the selection.

• Support as needed the letters to be sent by mid-December to Ministers and UN Resident Coordinators in selected countries.

• Collection of materials and list of resource persons and potential interviewees, including from RCOs and UNCTs, Expert Group on 2030 Agenda, and IMI Focal Points and coordination team.

• Development of one initial presentation per case study that outline its draft narrative and key messages (maximum 10 slides each).

• Consultations and interviews with country stakeholders, including the organization of 3 country workshops or webinars (one per case study country) in close collaboration with the Resident Coordinators and their Offices and in concert with UN-Water’s overall country level engagement work as part of the implementation of the UN System-wide Strategy for Water and Sanitation. 

• Draft case studies to be shared with UN-Water Members and Partners and other relevant stakeholders for review and comments.

• Final draft case studies by end-May, incorporating comments received, to be shared for 1 week’s no-objection approval with UN-Water Senior Programme Managers.

• Throughout the assignment: Provide support to the communications team to prepare the outreach of the case studies as required.

Deliverables for work package B. Document country-level institutional structures and processes for water and sanitation coordination and use of data for policy, decision making, planning, and investment. 

• Inception report including workplan and timeline

• List of countries and focal points to interview

• List of documents to review 

• Draft report/presentation including

  • institutional mapping detailing types of country-level coordination mechanisms and data flows

  • documented examples of data use and challenges

  • gap analysis and capacity needs assessment with targeted recommendations for types of  IMI-SDG6 support

  • conclusions on the role/value of SDG 6 at the country level with recommendations for water and sanitation in a possible post-2030 Agenda

• Draft tools that IMI can use for capacity building, for example:

  • guidelines on effective data use in policy and investment

  • checklists (and decision-support tools) for national agencies

  • institutional typologies for data governance models 

• Advanced university degree (MSc or equivalent) in water or relevant field, preferably environmental management, public health, international affairs, sustainable development, economics, public policy, social sciences, geosciences, hydrology, hydraulic engineering, or sanitary engineering. 
• A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field with an additional 2 years of experience may be considered in lieu of the advanced degree. 

• A minimum of 7 years experience in water and sanitation is required. 

• Knowledge and experience from working with SDG 6 is required. 

• Experience working at the country level on water and sanitation policy is required. 

• Experience working in the UN system and with related organizations at the country level, is required. 

• Experience in drafting interagency reports is required.

• Experience organizing and facilitating webinars and in-country workshops that convene government, UN and multi-stakeholder participants is desired.

• Experience in report writing for water and sanitation-related publications is desired.

• Excellent knowledge of spoken and written English and French is required.
• Knowledge of Spanish is desired.

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.

• Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments.

• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures,  languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 

• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities.

• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process.  If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

Terms and Conditions 

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 

• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses ( they take around 4 hours to complete)  in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here.

• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.

• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.