Job Title: WASH Assistant
Hiring Organization: Peace
Winds Japan
Location – Locality: Nairobi
Location – Region: Kenya
Industry: NGO
Job Type: Full
Time
Salary: KES
Date Posted: 04/24/2024
PWJ launched its mission in Kenya in 2012 and has been implementing projects funded by UN agencies and the government of Japan in shelter, WASH, food security, livelihood and logistics support to improve health and living environments of refugees and host populations while promoting peaceful coexistence and self-reliance among the people affected by natural or human made disasters in and adjacent of Dadaab refugee complex, Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement.
PWJ is a
UNHCR partner responsible for WASH, warehouse management, motor vehicle service
unit, centralized fleet and Shelter for Dadaab Refugee Operations.
Purpose
of the position
Reporting
to the WASH officer, the WASH Assistant will support in the designing,
planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of WASH activities in
Dadaab refugee complex. The WASH Assistant will be responsible for coaching,
mentoring and supervising community-based refugee workers such as water supply
monitors, hygiene promoters and repair team members to ensure that the water
reticulation system is properly operated and maintained and that safe water is
supplied to all households and institutions in the camp. S/he will be
responsible for assessment of boreholes and provision of accurate data and
interpretation of the same, collection of water samples and carrying out water
analysis and in case of any issues report to the WASH officer for action. The
assistants will also be responsible for building capacities of key community
own resource persons to facilitate and implement sanitation and hygiene
promotion activities in the community and schools to improve key sanitation and
hygiene practices including safe disposal of human and animal waste, safe
handling of drinking water, hand hygiene, solid waste management and menstrual
hygiene management. The WASH assistant will be based in the compound in the
camp and work closely with community-based refugee staff as well as field
officers and technical staff members in WASH department.
Roles
and Responsibilities
Overall
- Support
in planning, facilitating and creating reports of WASH training and
workshops for community-based WASH staff e.g. water supply monitors,
hygiene promoters, teachers, WASH committee members among others.
- Provide
technical support and supervision to WASH community-based staff to empower
them to fulfil their tasks and improve their performance
- Liaise
with partners and stakeholders including UNHCR, county government, NGO and
community partners to optimize WASH supports and resources in the project
site through developing sound relationship and synergies among the WASH
programs in the region.
- Maintain
day to day communication with UNHCR and key WASH partners in order to
implement WASH activities in harmonized, efficient and equitable manners.
- Work
closely with the WASH Officer to develop effective community engagement
strategies and implement them with community-based WASH staff to promote
community ownership in WASH related service delivery
- Contribute
to the development/establishment of WASH approaches, strategies and
activities which fit in the context of the project site and in line with
the directions of humanitarian assistance and guided by analysis of WASH
sector needs and priorities.
- Monitor
and report on the use of sectoral programme resources (financial,
administrative and other), verify compliance with approved
allocation/organization rules, regulations and donor commitments,
standards of accountability and integrity.
- When
need arises, prepare design and BoQ for constructing WASH facilities in
consultation with PWJ project and WASH engineers, conduct monitoring and
supervision of the construction sites.
Operation
and maintenance of the Water supply system
- Conduct
regular monitoring and inspection of the water reticulation system to
ensure smooth and uninterrupted water supply
- Conduct
regular assessment of day to day boreholes operations for checking of
signs for preventive maintenance
- Develop
sound working relationship and communication with the team of water supply
monitors to obtain timely reporting and any information on anomaly to
identify and respond swiftly to any technical problems
- Support
monitoring and documentation of the water supply operators, support them
in improvement if necessary and transfer the data from their ledger books
to Excel template to generate monthly report to share with UNHCR and
partners and analyze the trend
- Engage
WASH committees and community leaders and support the tap stand monitors
to ensure maintenance of the taps stands and reduce breakages and
vandalism for sustainability of the infrastructure.
- Work
closely with technical unit (master plumbers, plant foremen and plant
electricians) to ensure timely execution of planned duties to reduce
interruptions during water supply hours.
Water
Quality Control
- Collect
water samples from selected water sources and from points of its usage
i.e. boreholes, households, water taps, schools and health facility
- Carry
out physical and bacteriological analysis of drinking water for all the
camps and water sources. Coordinate and manage lab testing.
- Ensuring
training of national staff, incentive staff and WASH committees in
technical areas including water quality testing and/or building and
maintaining quality water point structures.
- Ensure
SPHERE standards both qualitative and quantitative are considered for
analysis of water quality and quantity.
Sanitation
and Hygiene
- Together
with hygiene promoters, WASH committees and community leaders, conduct
assessments to understand barriers and motivators for promoting key
sanitation and hygiene practices and behaviors.
- Develop
effective social and behavioral change intervention strategies for
promoting key sanitation and hygiene practices and behaviors based on
identified barriers and motivators. Support hygiene promoters to carry out
these strategies through regular hygiene promotion activities and
community dialogues to engage communities to foster their initiatives to
improve their sanitation and hygiene
- Provide
technical assistance for the community agents and beneficial communities
on construction/installment of WASH related facilities e.g. toilet, hand
washing facility, refuse-pit and dish rack, etc.
- Coordinate
with education partners and schools to implement School Led Total
Sanitation(SLTS), star school awarding and any other activities to promote
sanitation and hygiene among school going children
- Conduct
community awareness creation sessions on menstrual hygiene management.
This includes dialogues with leaders including religious leaders and any
other trusted persons in the community
- Work
together with incentive sanitation cleaners, market committees and any
other groups and individual to remove the waste from the residential and
communal spaces, dispose the waste and manage existing disposal site
properly. Support in development of a strategy for sustainable solid waste
management service for the future implementation
- Develop
sanitation-marketing strategies with CBOs and private sectors for
sanitation and hygiene and involve hygiene promoters in carrying out
sanitation marketing activities.
Project
Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation
- Work
with the health partners on how to interpret and use data/findings to
guide targeted interventions and decision making
- Work
closely with the MEAL officer to conduct routine KAP surveys and latrine
census.
- Timely
development of monthly, quarterly ,semi-annual and annual performance
reports and highlighting success stories arising from the field
- Represent
the organization as required in inter-agency and government coordination
meetings and liaise with other organizations working in the operational
area where appropriate.
- Carry
out any other task as requested by the supervisor
Education
and qualification
- Diploma
or higher diploma in water engineering, public health/environmental
health, analytical chemistry, biochemistry or microbiology from a
recognized university
- A
bachelors degree in the above mentioned fields will be an added advantage
- Knowledge
of SPHERE ,WHO and national quality standards
- Be
a registered/licensed member of the relevant body
- Additional
course or personal learning on community development, livelihood, project
and business management is an asset
- Understanding
of water pipeline designs, knowledge of ArcGis;Epanet,Autocad Civil-CAD
and water modeling software is an asset
Relevant
Experience
- Minimum
2 years relevant work experience in the area of WASH and at least 1 year
in humanitarian setting.
- Experience
in capacity building for community own resource persons or community based
staff
- Experience
in intervention projects with strong community involvement
- Experience
in partner and stakeholder coordination
- Experience
in designing and implementing social and behavior change communication
Skills
and competencies
- Ability
to observe and understand cultural and social contexts and reflect the
understandings in programming
- Excellent
analytical and report writing skills
- Strong
community engagement and facilitation skill
- Ability
to infuse positive energy to the team
- Attention
to detail, keen at following procedures and meeting deadlines
- Ability
to organize tasks simultaneously and prioritize work
- Strong
verbal and written communication skills. Those who can speak, read and
write Somali language will have added advantage.
- Strong
interpersonal skills working with cross cultural and multi diverse teams
- Ability
to build strong working relationships for partnerships
- Standards
of Professional Conduct especially on integrity, service, and
accountability
How to
Apply
This
position is based in Dadaab and Fafi sub counties in Garissa County, Kenya.
We are
looking to recruit national candidates only. Interested and qualified
candidates are invited to send a cover letter (1 page) and resume (2 pages) as
one pdf document no later than 30 April, 2024 to: recruit@peace-winds.or.ke
In your cover letter please reflect on your motivation for
taking this post.