The Assistant WASH Officer assists in the provision of professional technical support and guidance on activities within the areas of Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) in the locations within the Areas of Responsibility (AoR). The incumbent normally reports to the WASH Officer. S/he coordinates interventions with UNHCR’s implementing partners in line with WASH Sector. In addition, the incumbent will be expected to work within multi-functional and interdisciplinary teams.

The Assistant WASH Officer will support UNHCR, in coordination with the Government, to assess needs and coordinate the provision of WASH, and in particular, hygiene promotion services to Persons of Concern (PoC) to UNHCR. This will include coordination at site level with WASH partners in conjunction with the government authorities, and monitoring progress of hygiene promotion programme implementation to ensure that an adequate level of hygiene promotion service is provided at each site in accordance with the UNHCR WASH Manual and Technical Guidelines, and applicable UNHCR Standards and/or National Standards.

S/he will follow a rights-based and community focused approach to programme design and implementation.  The incumbent will follow the five principles for protection, accountability and WASH as outlined in UNHCR’s WASH Manual. Where there is no senior WASH colleague in operation or the region, the incumbent should maintain regular communication with the WASH team in HQ for technical advice, information, and access to updated global tools and resources.

In order to ensure wider reach out to the refugees and other persons of concern and ensure their close involvement in the delivery and management of the Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) services, if not already in place, the incumbent will need to establish an appropriate consultative and monitoring framework which would draw the experience and expertise of a wide range of actors both internally and externally.

Leadership and Coordination

• Work to coordinate activities of WASH implementing partners, together with other UN agencies, governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other partners within the AoR to ensure delivery of WASH services to beneficiaries (PoC and host community) meets UNHCR and /or nationally recognised and most up-to-date standards and policies.
• Where there are PoC living outside of camps/settlements, work with partners to ensure the enjoyment of the human right to water and sanitation by all PoC.
• Work with senior WASH staff (or management) to engage government and partners, following the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), to unlock resources (humanitarian and development) for the design and construction of community-centred infrastructure, improved hygiene conditions, safe management of water and sanitation services and service provision upgrades in refugee hosting areas.
• Work towards ensuring that all decision-making regarding WASH services takes in to account the needs and capacities of PoC, and the solutions proposed by PoC.
• Facilitate WASH coordination among partners, ensuring that inclusive and good practice coordination structures for all technical sectors covered are in place.
• Assess gaps and overlaps in UNHCR funded WASH programmes and unmet needs, work to ensure that they are addressed, and the activities are oriented to addressing priority WASH issues.
• Provide support to a multi-sector “technical unit” in the AoR, including sector functions covering site planning, shelter, health, nutrition, and environment.
• Where relevant, provide support to national government(s) for inclusion of PoC within national SDG 6 development plans (Urban and Rural) and financing mechanisms and service delivery systems.
• Contribute to key WASH strategic partnerships with development and humanitarian agencies to support inclusion of refugee WASH services within national systems and development financing mechanisms.
• Engage with Urban WASH actors (GAUC, UCLG, UNHABITAT, Municipal Authorities, Utilities, and relevant government line ministries) for preparedness planning, inclusion in pro-poor tariffs, and provision of WASH services to PoC hosted in urban areas.

WASH Strategy, Planning and Programme Support

• Follow a WASH strategy which identifies the targets and approaches for water supply, excreta management, personal and environmental hygiene (including menstrual health), solid waste management, vector control, and institutional WASH facilities.
• Under guidance of senior WASH staff (or management) jointly with WASH partners and other stakeholders, update detailed needs and resource assessments and revise designs and technical plans, taking into account practical aspects of implementation, long-term sustainable solutions, and relevant technical specifications and guidelines.
• Advise and assist the UNHCR programme staff on the development of WASH aspects of the programme including planning, budgeting and input to financial management of the programme.
• Involce PoC during planning, design, implementation, and monitoring of WASH services using an age, gender and diversity approach.
• Work with senior WASH staff (or management) to ensure the WASH Strategy includes all UNHCR PoC, and considers at a minimum WASH access data collection, and advocacy for inclusion of all PoC (both in camp and out of camp) within national systems of WASH service provision

Technical Assistance and Capacity Building

• Plan and address adequately the needs of women, children, the elderly and people living with disabilities in planning and implementing WASH activities.
• Provide input to the Operation to define the scope of UNHCR involvement, expressed in terms of overall and operational objectives during emergency, transition, and protracted phases.
• Support the review and analysis of partner project proposals and budgetary submissions.
• Use community-based approaches, including clear involvement of women, girls, boys, and men, elderly, persons with disabilities in the design of WASH related infrastructure, products, and services.
• Provide technical assistance to UNHCR office(s) and programmes in the development, integration and mainstreaming of appropriate client-focused and cost-effective WASH programmes.
• Ensure development of information, education and communication materials through community consultations, collaborating with women, girls, boys, men, elderly, persons with disability, and other potentially marginalised groups.
• Contribute to capacity strengthening activities of UNHCR and its implementing/operational partners to address key areas of WASH importance to PoC.
• Contribute to building the capacity and competence of UNHCR’s staff on both hardware and software components of WASH
• Ensure community capacity building is carried out through multi-discipline teams working with women, girls, men, and boys of the community to train and empower them on WASH related aspects including menstrual health, hygiene promotion, operation and maintenance, monitoring and reporting, and other topics.

 Monitoring, Evaluation and Quality Assurance

• Monitor and evaluate WASH programmes within the AoR against standard UNHCR and SDG indicators to ensure that programmes are evidence-based and implemented in a comprehensive, client-focused, and cost-effective manner.
• Contribute to carrying out monitoring and evaluation following UNHCR’s WASH monitoring system using standard resources for data collection, analysis and interpretation
• Ensure that all data regarding the boreholes and WASH infrastructure is updated on UNHCR’s GIS portal and relevant website(s).
• Monitor the collection and recording of SDG 6 WASH access data in the WASH Monitoring System for all UNHCR PoC to enable comparative reporting against national averages, to ensure that refugees/IDPs are not being “left behind”.
• Collate WASH services access data (for both in-camp and out-of-camp PoC) to identify and promote inclusion of PoC within national SDG 6 development plans and financing mechanisms and service delivery systems.

 Reporting and Accountability

• Work towards PoC’s access to feedback and accountability mechanisms for the WASH services.
• Contribute to the collating and analysis of data on the satisfaction of PoC with regards to WASH services.
• Provide input to regular sectorial reports and submit material for preparation of periodic project monitoring reports as required.
• Report regularly on WASH activity implementation by all WASH partners, while maintaining accurate records of all relevant performance indicators.
• As requested, provide input to adequate reporting, timely updates and briefings to donor and management.
• Perform other related duties as required.

• Innovation and Creativity
• Planning and Organizing
• Technological Awareness

• Undergraduate degree (equivalent of a BA/BS) in Water/Civil/Environmental Engineering/Water Resources Development.
• Minimum 1 year of previous work experience in Water/ Sanitation/Environment or a related field dealing with large scale WASH activities and Integrated Water Resource Management is required.
• Proven expertise in the area of WASH including surveys, programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and coordination is required.
• Excellent knowledge of English (written / oral / comprehension) is required.

• Knowledge and understanding of water and wastewater hydraulics and physical, chemical and biological properties; solid waste management practices, vector control and hygiene promotion/awareness raising strategies.
• Knowledge and understanding of relationship between water, wastewater, solid waste, vector control to public health indicators, and value of hygiene promotion/awareness raising and behaviour change methodologies.

To sustain its settlement approach to refugee protection and assistance, the Government of Uganda (GOU) began implementation of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) in 2017, which is now incorporated into the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) adopted in 2018.  Uganda’s CRRF Steering Group adopted sectorial priorities to implement more comprehensive approaches (called for by the GCR and its CRRF) in the response led by the appropriate line ministry of the GoU.   GoU has now finalized Water and Environment (2019) and Coordination has widened to include Development Partners and Private sector in driving the GCR agenda in the operation. Sector roadmaps to expedite the inclusion to government systems and harmonize Refugee Response Plan (RRP) implementation are under review.

To leverage on the sectorial approach taken by the line ministries, UNHCR is seeking to fill an Assistant WASH Officer Position in Mbarara. The desired candidate will be expected to drive a coherent and harmonized response, synergizing sectorial expertise for positioning UNHCR protection mandate. This is in addition to providing leadership to WASH Sector on regular operational issues related to implementation of the RRP under the Refugee Coordination Model (RCM).