Individual Contractor - WASH Information and Knowledge Management, LACRO, Panama City (11.5 months)

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, results

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of the Assignment

The WASH Information and Knowledge Management Contractor is a core regional WASH sector coordination team member. The purpose of this assignment is to support in the management, the collection, analysis and sharing of information that is important for the Regional Cluster participants and the WASHLAC Group to make informed (evidence based) strategic decisions.

The WASH Information and Knowledge Management Contractor will work with the WASHLAC Group team to support the Regional WASH Information Management agenda of both UNICEF WASH work in the region as well as the wider Regional WASH Sector which is led by UNICEF and PAHO/WHO as per the biannual workplans.

The WASH Information and Knowledge Management Contractor will interact with UNICEF colleagues as well as different segments of the sector including government officials, private sector, water operators, local organizations, regional and multi-country organizations, NGO, INGOs, etc.

The WASH LACRO unit sits within the LACRO WASH-CEED (Climate, Energy, Environment and Risk reduction) section implementing Goal Area 4 of UNICEF Global Strategic Plan and UNICEF regional Management plan for 2022-2025 and work in most countries and territories of the Latin America and Caribbean region (24 offices). Where UNICEF does not have an office, the WASH Information Manager and KM Contractor and the WASH LACRO team support the WASH Sector through the national coordination mechanism in that respective country/territory that they support to create and/or strengthen.

Specific Tasks

Under the direct supervision of the LACRO WASH Specialist, the WASH Information and Knowledge Management Contractor will undertake the following tasks:

• Ensure proper development, monitoring and delivery of WASH Information and knowledge products.
• Respond to the coordination platform participants needs for information.
• Maintenance and continuity of the different WASH LAC digital platforms (Including the Enterprise Content Management 2021 Initiative under the UNICEF PD-WASH LACRO SharePoint site and, the Regional WASHLAC Group washlac.com)
• Manage flows of information and dissemination in an appropriate way and timely manner, including website management, bulletins, newsletters, contact lists, mailing lists, etc.
• WASH Information and Knowledge Management remote support for Emergencies, Clusters and Countries.
• Establish and maintain information databases and dashboards that consolidate, analyze and report/disseminate information critical to decision making.
• Support maintaining regular reporting from different national platforms including but not limited to the REDLAC and R4V platforms
• Provide information management leadership in assessments and monitoring, including the support and/or the development and analysis of needs assessment, joint assessments and monitoring programmes.
• Use GIS mapping for map production and geographic data management
• Develop and strengthen information and knowledge management capacity through one-on-one support, trainings and webinars.
• Contribute to improve quality, availability, access and use of knowledge of the WASH Sector in the Region and within UNICEF WASH LAC with focus on children, including organization of the knowledge, identification of opportunities to distribute this knowledge, to prepare materials appropriate for the identified opportunities and help that these opportunities are used to their full potential.
• Contribute to meet all core WASH cluster functions.
• Provides other necessary support to COs and partners on KM.
• Support LACRO WASH Regional Specialists on various types of tasks.
• Adapt existing regional or in-country information and knowledge management approaches for collecting, analysing and reporting activities and resources, and identifying information and knowledge gaps and propose ways to bridge those gaps.
• Work in close collaboration with the different national platforms to address urgent needs related to COVID-19 and any emergency response
• Work closely with the OCHA and R4V Information Management Specialists at regional level and where required at national level via the national coordination leads to develop appropriate supportive strategies.
• Lead on the preparation of SitRep and other reports with emphasis on plans, targets and achievements.
• Identifies and prioritized opportunities for knowledge distribution
• In coordination with communication and program sections prepare accessible knowledge products to facilitate access to knowledge.
• Contribute to maintain active communities of practice.
• Contributes to capturing of internal knowledge through documentation of practices and lessons learned, in collaboration with other sections.

Expected Results [measurable]

An Individual Contractor provides expertise, skills or knowledge for the performance of a specific task. The work assignment may involve functions similar to those of staff members or temporary employment type of services. An Individual Contractor usually (but not exclusively) works on-premises and follow the office hours. Under this contract, a contractor will be working 5 weekdays and following the office hours of the duty station for which they are hired, and they must report to their supervisors any absence from work.

Deliverables

DescriptionDuration (in days)Expected deadlineMonthly progress report22 working days1 month after contract is signedMonthly progress report22 working days2 months after contract is signedMonthly progress report22 working days3 months after contract is signedMonthly progress report22 working days4 months after contract is signedMonthly progress report22 working days5 months after contract is signedMonthly progress report22 working days6 months after contract is signedMonthly progress report22 working days7 months after contract is signedMonthly progress report22 working days8 months after contract is signedMonthly progress report22 working days9 months after contract is signedMonthly progress report22 working days10 months after contract is signedMonthly progress report22 working days11 months after contract is signedFinal report11 working days11,5 months after contract is signedMonthly progress reports include updates/progress on delivering on the following products: _1 Vulnerability and Capacity dashboard and 1 analysis and 1 report of the V&C in 2022 _at least 8 countries fulfil with the IM and KM part of their minimum coordination requirements with support from the Contractor _at least 6 countries have a prioritization tool/matrix/information management system with support from the Contractor _at least 6 new countries have an activity monitoring tool and dashboard that is operational and linked/merged with the prioritization tool/matrix/info system when feasible. _at least 1 bulletin is released every month _at least 40% of the WASH LAC Group 2021-2022 Work Plan is completed regarding IM and KM (provide link to work plan) _WASH assessment tools for communities, shelters, education centers, health facilities and updated and translated in the 4 main languages of the region _The washlac.com and google site are user friendly _trainings provided on both IM and KM _updates on help desk support requests and responses _Moderator of at least 1 community of practice _At least 4 Country level (UNICEF CO or National WASH Platform) and 1 regional (UNICEF or WASH-LAC) Knowledge product supported until final completion by Contractor _All countries requesting support for programme documents preparation (like HRP, RMRP, HNO, HAC, etc.) are attended.200 working daysTo qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Education

• University degree, preferably at an advanced level, in a subject area relevant to information management or WASH related studies including civil and environmental engineering, public health and related subjects. Alternatively, a MA in Knowledge Management, Communication and Social Sciences with WASH field experience.
• At least 2 years of relevant working experience will suffice in lieu of academic degree/qualifications
• Formal training in cluster information management an advantage

Work Experience

• At least 2 years progressively responsible humanitarian work experience with UN and/or NGO, including information management experience in the first phase of a major emergency response relevant to the cluster.

• Demonstrated interest and/or experience (up to 2 years) in Information Management, Knowledge Management, WASH, Coordination required.

  Languages

• Fluency in Spanish and English is required. Knowledge of French or Portuguese will be considered an asset.

  Technical knowledge (if applicable)

• Understands key technical issues of the clusters to be able to: engage with cluster participants; understand their cluster-specific information management needs.

• Excellent knowledge of MS Excel or MS Access (e.g. pivot tables and functions); proven technical expertise for managing data capture and storage, for analyzing diverse datasets, and presenting information in understandable tables, charts, graphs and reports; knowledge of establishing and managing basic websites (e.g. UNOCHA’s Humanitarian Response platform, Google Sites and Sharepoint); proven skills in using GIS and map-making packages, and in web design and software development are an asset.
• Extensive knowledge of UNICEF programme work in the LAC Region in the areas of WASH, Governance, WASH Cluster Coordination Mechanism.
• Demonstrated Extensive skills in generating interactive dashboards with programs like Power BI, Tableau, Google Data Studio for WASH
• Demonstrated experience in deployment of KOBO Collect, Survey123, etc, and WASH assessments
• Ability to self-resolve technological issues in order to produce the tools and analysis required
• Strong conceptual and research analytical skills with the ability to think strategically and rapidly analyse and integrate diverse information from varied sources into conclusions and recommendations.
• Ability to analyse and integrate potentially conflicting numerical, verbal and other data from a number of sources
• Awareness of publishing processes,

• Awareness of visualizations processes

  Other skills and attributes (optional)

• Demonstrated Extensive knowledge in Microsoft Suite and Google Suite.

• Demonstrated Extensive skills in creating assessments surveys with KOBO Collect, Google Forms.
• Demonstrated skills in Google Sites and Regional platform websites management.
• Demonstrated ability to engage with government and partners for the WASHLAC Group needs of information
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate meetings using Zoom or Microsoft Teams
• Ability to work efficiently under tight deadlines
• Must be detail-oriented and proactive.
• Able to work effectively in a multicultural environment
• Sets high levels of quality and productivity
• Ability to clearly define objectives and plan activities that would improve the Regional WASH LAC Group and the national WASH coordination platforms/clusters
• Demonstrated experience with UNICEF programming will be an asset

Administrative details

Supervision

• The individual contractor will work under the direct supervision of the LAC WASH Regional Specialist(s), also in close collaboration with the 2 Multi Country WASH in Emergencies Coordinators and the WASH in Migration Coordinator.

Workplace

This is an office-based contract.

Due to COVID the Contractor may have to work from home and should be autonomous regarding computer and internet connection.

Duration

This assignment has a duration of 11.5 months.

How to Apply

Application should be submitted online and should include: Resume, Cover Letter and Financial proposal. Qualified candidates are requested to submit daily and monthly fees in their financial proposal.

Travel

Travel is foreseen for this assignment.

Travel will be covered by UNICEF as per policy.

• Travel costs will be estimated and added to the contract once they are determined based on UNICEF Financial Rules and Regulations.
• For agreed country visits, the contractor/consultant will be responsible in administering their own travel. UNICEF will reimburse travel related expenses based on actual costs or on the below criteria whichever is lower and upon presentation of receipts.
• Any travel involved should be budgeted according to UN Travel Standards as a ceiling.
• UN Secretariat Administrative Instruction on Official Travel, ST/AI/2013/3: Sect. 4, para. 4.2, numerals (d) and (e)
• For information on Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA), can be found on the International Civil Service Commission website (all countries and destinations can be found by navigating on the map).

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA). To view our competency framework, please visit here.

*****

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.