Associate Wash Officer – Nob – Bey009 – (Inter-Agency Coordination Unit) - Beirut

  The Syrian population in Lebanon have been accommodated across the country and in all spectrums of society.  The majority are renting apartments however a significant minority (15%) are living in unofficial spontaneous sites, Informal Settlements, in rural and peri-urban locations with a similar minority (15%) living in sub-standard shelters such as unfinished buildings, garages or shops temporarily adapted into habitations.  Many Syrians are paying rent, for a range of reasons they are highly mobile and service provision is poor in many locations. The Syrian refugee situation is an additional burden for a country already supporting a significant Palestinian refugee population. Among the new arrivals there are also vulnerable Lebanese and Palestinians from Syria who require support and there are poor Lebanese among whom many of the new arrivals are living and sharing markets, services and employment. The water and sanitation infrastructure of Lebanon is underdeveloped in a country that, for the region, is resource rich.  Though up to 80% of households had a water connection there are 45% losses for the water network, annual shortages in the summer, under investment in the service providers, high reliance of ‘private’ water supplies in many zones, political deadlock in the oversight and management of water service delivery, an inappropriate tariff system and reluctance by high end users to pay the full cost. Only 8% of waste water is treated, sewage networks and appropriate management are woefully inadequate and solid waste management is left up to the will of local municipalities.  All of these institutions and services are suffering from the increase in demands.  UNHCR is the designated lead agency for the refugee response in Lebanon. To coordinate the response UNHCR has established a sector based coordination mechanism that operates from Beirut and in Bekaa, North and South of Lebanon. The Inter-Agency Coordination mechanism brings together 11 UN agencies, 54 National and International NGOs to support the Government in service delivery across several sectors including: Energy and Water (includes WASH), Health, Shelter, Education, Protection and other key areas. The Energy and Water sector of Lebanon is a partnership of 35 agencies providing support to the most acutely affected populations. The group aims to identify a common strategy, set standards and priorities and initiate a common funding appeal. The Energy and Water sector is led by the Ministry of Energy and Water and co-lead by the Ministry of Environment with links to the Ministry of Public Health and to the 4 National Water Establishments and Municipalities. UNICEF provide coordination support to the government and are the lead UN agency for the E&W sector coordination at the national and field level. The mechanisms of the E&W Sector established at the national level have been replicated in the four field areas (South & Nabatieh; North & Akkar; Beirut & Mount Lebanon; and Bekaa & Baalbek-Hermel). The Associate WASH Officer role provides essential support to UNICEF for the coordination of all the Energy and Water sector stakeholders and smooth operation of their activities.     2.2 FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT. Describe the accountabilities, responsibilities and authorities associated with the position. Core Function: The core function of the Associate WASH Officer (AWO) is to support UNICEF coordination of the Government led E&W Sector through processes that ensure a well-coordinated, coherent, strategic and effective E&W response to the Syrian crisis in Lebanon through a technically-sound, mobilised and adequately resourced group of agencies, organisations, NGOs and local communities. The role of the AWO is to maintain the refugees’ space in the response, the success of the E&W sector is dependent on the level of participation and contribution that the AWO can generate from the stakeholders in order to strengthen the response and achieve greater results. Accountabilities: -  Beneficiaries: To ensure the E&W response is based upon most up-to-date internationally recognised standards, policies and technical support for humanitarian WASH service provision. -  Partners: To support the partners with information and analysis related to the needs of the refugees in a way to ensure a tailored response. -  UNHCR: To ensure there is a common and agreed strategy with clear priorities based upon an accepted and current needs assessment and gap identification process. Responsibilities: Energy and Water UNHCR Inter-Agency Officer will work closely with and support UNICEF Sector Coordinator, undertaking below responsibilities. - To support the coordination mechanism at the National and Sub-National level in a framework that allows free participation of all E&W/WASH stakeholders through regular and routine coordination meetings. -  To support the E&W sector to fully contribute to the agreed inter-agency and inter-sectoral processes as led by MoSA with UNHCR and UNDP; these include annual appeals and budget planning, advocacy documents, reporting, monitoring and evaluations. -   To support in representing the sector and in participating to cross-sectoral coordination as necessary.  Particular notice is given the Health and Shelter Sectors as the areas of most significant overlap for WASH goals and activities; to the Community Support Programme, Cash and Non-Food Item (core Relief Item) sectors as areas that have incorporated significant WASH activities. -   To help develop and maintain across E&W/WASH agencies a common strategic framework and appropriate technical guidelines on the WASH sector response by providing support to the the steering group and technical working groups and highlighting the most important and relevant technical discussions.   -   To identify geographical and thematic gaps in E&W/WASH service delivery and to facilitate the appropriate response to those gaps via efficient and effective operational partners. a) To promote joint needs assessment and analysis of the situation and enable the creation and dissemination of relevant needs assessment reports and response recommendations.  To encourage specific needs assessments as necessary in tracking the changes in population and circumstance dynamics. b) To secure commitments from E&W/WASH stakeholders in responding to the needs and filling gaps at both implementation/service provision level as well as at the development of a strategic vision level, with appropriate distribution of responsibilities to make best use of the resources available.  To contribute to the preparation of contingency plans that ensure that the E&W/WASH sector is ready and capable to respond to changes in the situation such as a new influx of refugees or outbreaks of water related disease or evictions through adequate contingency planning and relationship building. - To participate to E&W/ WASH technical groups as necessary to resolve technical issues and provide the necessary technical guidance and strategic operation procedures for the WASH response. -  To support the Energy and water sector to provide a guided by the relevant policies, technical standards and commitments that the Government has undertaken under international human rights law. -  To help in liaising with the all relevant national and sub-national authorities of the strategic documents produced in the coordination of the WASH sector. -   Support the sector coordinator to provide all E&W/WASH stakeholders and UNHCR with regular reports on the sector progress and other key cross sectoral developments. To provide ad-hoc reports and updates on key changes in operating environment and that impact on the response strategy and any emerging significant issues that affect the WASH response. -   To oversee the compilation, management and effective redistribution of WASH information with relevant analysis to all WASH stakeholder and other interested parties including sectoral leads. -  To tirelessly advocate for the WASH sector, the requirements of agencies and the most appropriate means for ensuring a good WASH response. Advocate with donors to ensure they understand the WASH strategy and are ready to fund the activities. Advocate with the Government to ensure they agree to the strategy and the technical solutions. Advocate with the partners for adherence to the common strategy and for full participation in coordination. - To suggest appropriate training and capacity building is available for WASH partners as necessary. - To perform regular field visits, to participate to regional coordination meetings, and to take part into emergency rapid needs assessment. -  To conduct relevant data analysis to reflect needs and requirements of the persons of concern.   Authority (decisions made in executing responsibilities and to achieve results) Follow up on specific tasks in absence of the E&W sector coordinator. Support the sector coordination in liaising with authorities on E&W issues as requested by E&W sector coordinator. Liaise with local government authorities on behalf of the E&W Sector on issues directly related to refugees as requested by E&W sector coordinator. Make recommendations on individual WASH issues. Appraise the performance of supervised staff. Advocate for the compliance with agreed standards and for professional integrity of delivering E&W support Engagement with all sectors and non-sector support services. Highlight noncompliance to standards and to humanitarian principles Identification of WASH working group priorities and overall sector strategic direction Ensure that the WASH sector is enabled to effectively participate in the Inter-Agency programme schedule from initial appeal to final annual report