Water and Climate Assistant

Contract

This is a UNV International Youth contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Youth contracts.

This UNV assignment is part of the UNICEF’s WASH Vulnerable Communities programming for 2021/2022. The UNV will also be exposed to other components of the WASH program including implementation of the completed Madaba CR-WSP, humanitarian support in camps and other vulnerable communities, WASH in institutions (notably Schools), climate action and stability initiatives, partnership building and knowledge management initiatives.

This assignment will work across the areas of peace and security, conflict prevention and public health through the lens of mitigating the impact of water scarcity and climate change on vulnerable communities. Decreasing levels of water and wastewater services in vulnerable communities together with the socio-economic impacts of unemployment and livelihood transition, threatens to destabilise marginal communities and degrade social cohesion. Through targeted water interventions that improve the coverage and reliability of services, the resilience of communities and systems can be supported and employment pathways created.

In the aspirations to develop the Climate Resilient Water Safety Plan (CR-WSP), it is expected that the UN Volunteer shall support the following tasks in coordination and collaboration with both Miyahuna and UNICEF Jordan Country Office:

• Collect data on climate vulnerability assessments from the region and those specific to country at national and subnational levels. • Support and coordinate the compilation of a complete, up-to-date and validated system description, which also accounts for possible climate-related impacts on water resources or the water supply system infrastructure. • Support the WSP team in performing a systematic hazard analysis, which fully reflects the local context, while employing general checklists of hazards and hazardous events. • Assist the WSP team to identify, assess and validate the appropriateness and effectiveness of existing control measures in response to the identified hazardous events and hazards. • Support the development of an improvement plan. • Support the WSP in developing a monitoring plan to verify the effectiveness of corrective measures and ensure they are aligned with health-based targets. • Assist the Miyahuna WSP section in developing management procedures (SOPs) and the development of supporting documents. • Support systematic documentation of the outcomes of all the WSP steps as mentioned in the WHO guidance documents • Support WSP team with access to supports information, including references to introduce the WSP team to key concepts in climate risk management and to broaden the teams’ understanding of climate change issues and the potential opportu-nities that water resources management and DRR may offer to support climate resili-ence in WSP process. • Support an evaluation of the lessons learnt of the WSP process in the chosen system, including “key moments” in the process, challenges faced, and solutions found by the WSP team.

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Self-Management ☒ Technological Awareness ☒ Vision ☒ Working in Teams

• Demonstrated interest and/or experience (up to 2 years) in Water, Sanitation, Public Health and climate change impact and adaptation • Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded;

Location: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is located in the Middle East. Bound by Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Red Sea to the south and the Palestinian National Authority to the west.

Weather: Jordan’s climate can be classified as semi-arid (Bsh) on the Koeppen-Geiger classification. It features a hot, dry climate characterized by long, hot, dry summers and short, cool winters. The climate is influenced by Jordan's location between the subtropical aridity of the Arabian desert areas and the subtropical humidity of the eastern Mediterranean area. January is the coldest month, with temperatures from 5°C to 10°C, and August is the hottest month at 20°C to 35°C. Daily temperatures can be quite hot, especially in the summer; on some days it can be 40°C or more, especially when a hot, dry southerly wind blows. Such winds can sometimes be very strong and can cause sandstorms. About 70 percent of the average rainfall in the country falls between November and March; June through August are often rainless. Rainfall varies from season to season and from year to year. Precipitation is often concentrated in violent storms, causing erosion and local flooding, especially in the winter months.

Safety and Security: Jordan is a relatively stable country. The potentials for internal or external armed conflict are considered very unlikely in the current political environment. Peaceful demonstrations, and sometimes road blockages, do occur in Jordan, motivated by domestic factors such as unemployment, deprivation of resources and development or for regional issues such as solidarity with the Palestinian cause or with the Syrian crises. Most of these events are driven by civil society unions and Islamic parties. Domestic tribal civil unrest sometimes turns violent, especially outside main cities, due to tribal disputes or socio-economic reasons. In all occasions law enforcement agencies usually manage to contain the situation rapidly. Road traffic accidents are the primary threat against UN personnel in Jordan. Poor road conditions and bad driving behaviours are the main reasons for the high rate of traffic accidents. Amman is a category A duty station with security level 1.

Transportation: Taxis are abundant and readily available in Amman. Public minibuses are the most common form of public transport. They normally only leave when full, so waiting times of an hour or more are inevitable, especially in rural areas. The larger air-con buses offer a speedy and reliable service, departing according to a fixed schedule.

Health Services: Medical facilities are generally very good, particularly in Amman where there are several modern, well-equipped public and private hospitals. Almost all doctors (and most pharmacists) speak English; many have studied abroad.

Language: The official language of Jordan is Arabic, but English is widely spoken – especially in the cities. Many Jordanians have travelled or have been educated abroad so French, German, Italian and Spanish are also spoken, but to a lesser extent.