The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), is a multi-donor trust funded program administered by the World Bank, comprising a field-based network of over 70 professionals based in four regional teams (Africa, East Asia Pacific, Latin America, and South Asia) managed from a small headquarters team in Washington, DC. The WSP-Africa regional team (WSP-AF) has its HQ in Nairobi, with a sub-regional hub in Dakar. WSP’s mission is to support the poor in obtaining sustainable access to water and sanitation services. WSP believes that improved water and sanitation services and hygiene practices are integral to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on poverty reduction, health, gender equality, and the environment. WSP is committed to being part of the collective efforts of the development community to achieve Targets 10 and 11 of the MDGs as an intermediate milestone of the vision of the sector. WSP will bring this mission into reality in two ways: (a) Direct means, to support implementation of sector dialogue, knowledge exchange, and capacity building; and (b) Indirect means, to help immediate counterparts and partners to build large-scale sustainable programs, support policy development and sector reforms, engage in action-learning innovative pilot projects that serve in particular the poor. For more information on WSP’s strategy, operations and products please visit: www.wsp.org. Background for the Senior Water and Sanitation Specialist Africa is the region lagging furthest behind in terms of reaching the water and sanitation MDGs. The largest gaps are however in sanitation in which only 31% of the population has access. This means that about 589 million Africans still do not have access to improved sanitation. Further, 221 million people are defecating in the open and 780,000 children die each year from diarrheal diseases, most of which are attributed to poor sanitation and unsafe water. WSP has placed sanitation as part of its core strategy and is expanding support in focus countries. WSP’s efforts in sanitation in Africa will largely be implemented through support to implementation and monitoring of Total Sanitation and Sanitation Marketing (TSSM) programs, coordinating support to implementation of the eThekwini Declaration, development of new knowledge on approaches to scaling up sustainable sanitation and integrating into investment programs, as well as development of local private sector, among others. WSP-AF is already supporting focus countries to implement TSSM with programs in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. TSSM will be scaled up in these countries and replicated in others and is therefore a rapidly expanding line of work for WSP and its partners, requiring significant technical and coordination capacity. The eThekwini Declaration and Action plan were adopted at the second AfricaSan conference (February 2008) whose organization WSP supported, in partnership with other agencies under the auspices of the African Ministerial Council for Water (AMCOW). The Declaration and Action Plan articulate commitments to raise the profile and resources to ensure improved sanitation and hygiene. WSP has been mandated by AMCOW to coordinate implementation of these commitments. An International Task Force under the leadership of AMCOW has been established to supervise and monitor implementation of the Declaration and to prepare the next Africasan conference that is planned for 2011. WSP is seeking to appoint a Senior Water and Sanitation Specialist to lead delivery of this program in Africa. The position will require extensive travel. |
The Sr. Water and Sanitation Specialist will provide technical leadership in sanitation and hygiene and support implementation in focus countries, while investigating possibilities for intervention in non-focus countries and/or in fragile states. Specifically, the Sr. WSS Specialist will:
lead the region’s work on Total Sanitation and Sanitation Marketing (TSSM) programs across focus countries, including: i) program preparation, budgeting, identifying staffing needs; ii) supporting country teams in project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; iii) monitoring and coordinating implementation in various countries and ensuring regional/global knowledge sharing and networking among countries to promote scale up, quality and efficiency of programs; iv) progress reporting to WSP-Headquarters and to donors and partners; v) supervising the documentation, publication, and dissemination of lessons of large scale sanitation and hygiene interventions, including a review of TSSM and Hand Washing with Soap programs in Sub-Saharan Africa;
lead the study on the Economics of Sanitation in Africa;
lead specific knowledge management or policy research initiatives in demand by WSP, the World Bank Group, country clients and partners; be a leading contributor to WSP and World Bank global sanitation and hygiene learning activities, seeking to support sanitation and hygiene initiatives that have relevance in Africa and bringing strategic lessons in achieving sustainable sanitation and hygiene in Africa to a global audience;
act as a leading spokesperson for WSP-AF on sanitation and hygiene issues; speaking and writing persuasively on measures that need to be adopted to scale up sanitation and hygiene; facilitate and provide professional presentation of material on S&H issues at national, regional, and international meetings as may be necessary;
make substantive contribution to WSP’s Global Practice Teams;
provide cross support to Bank operations and assist Bank staff and their clients in preparing and implementing sanitation and hygiene in programs and in delivering analytical work;
lead monitoring of implementation of the eThekwini Declaration and Action Plan. Being WSP-AF’s focal person on sanitation and hygiene, work with AMCOW and the AfricaSan International Task Force to: i) ensure systematic follow-up of country level implementation of the Declaration and report every six months using the proposed indicators and with the support of the AMCOW TAC members; ii) support countries to develop national sanitation action plans and lead a peer review mechanism to ensure quality, enhance cross learning and strengthen the profile of sanitation; iii) work with relevant global initiatives such as the Joint Monitoring Program, Global Framework For Action (GF4A), Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water (GLAAS), etc – and with countries to ensure inclusion of sanitation and hygiene M&E activities and programs; iv) develop a concept note for the next AfricaSan Conference; v) lead development of the second round of AfricaSan Awards. The Senior WSS Specialist will report to the WSP-AF Regional Team Leader on all substantive and professional matters.
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Masters or higher-level degree(s) in a field relevant to WSP, such as engineering, social science, public health, sanitation, business/marketing, social communication, environmental health, epidemiology, community development, or other relevant field;
Have at least eight years of relevant experience in developing country work, including specific experience in the WSS sector, preferably focused on sanitation or hygiene development, social marketing and behavioral change;
Strong background in sanitation marketing and behavior change, both at national and regional levels; familiarity with sanitation marketing concepts and their application at national level; and expertise in scaling up sanitation services;
Excellent understanding of water and sanitation sector policies, how they fit in broader country development challenges, and trends in the sector's environment (decentralization, private sector participation, etc.);
Ability to integrate contributions from different disciplines to formulate strategies and implementation approaches into sanitation;
Outstanding listening as well as verbal and written communications skills and ability to express complex strategies in simple and actionable terms. Full written and spoken fluency in English; working knowledge of French is an advantage;
Demonstrated experience and ability to work with clients and partners in a multicultural context, to influence without dominating, advise on politically difficult reforms;
Proven ability to deliver on own-managed work, with a track record of managing complex tasks, and with personal maturity and good judgment;
Outstanding ability to share knowledge and experience, identify and disseminate best practices. The World Bank Group is committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, nationality, culture and educational background. Individuals with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.
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