Wash Hygiene Promotion Officer

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. Mercy Corps has been present in the Middle East since the 1980s and currently has offices in Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps has been running community development programs focused on promoting economic development and increased opportunity for disadvantaged communities, while responding to emergencies as they have emerged. Recently, the program portfolio has expanded in response to the massive refugee influx from Syria, including grants from UNICEF, the European Commission, Canadian and American governments, and private foundations.    The conflict that began more than four years ago in Syria has resulted in a steady increase of Syrian refugees to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.  To date, more than one million refugees have fled to Lebanon. As numbers have continued to increase, humanitarian conditions are deteriorating.  The burden on host communities and the financial and emotional stress on refugees and their hosts is tremendous. Mercy Corps is responding to these needs by addressing urgent basic needs, child protection as well as the psychosocial impact of the conflict and displacement.  At the same time, Mercy Corps’ programmatic focus is on mitigating social tensions between hosts and refugees, particularly over economic resources, by addressing both livelihood opportunities, conflict mitigation capacity and local government capacity.   GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY: The Hygiene Promotion Officer will advance Mercy Corps’ ongoing programming in Beqaa Region, Lebanon by being responsible for the day to day project implementation that focuses on increasing access to safe water, sanitation services/facilities, and proper Hygiene conditions and practices to Syrian refugees and host communities, including local government engagement, scale up & sustainability,  promotion of Syrian and Lebanese participation in project activities, strengthening the role of women in decision making. He/She will work closely with the WASH project manager to manage the community participation, hygiene promotion and software aspects of the project in addition to lending support to the hardware aspect of the project when necessary. In addition, he/she will be in charge of all activities pertaining to safeguard and improve the public health of the served population. The hygiene promotion officer will be the focal point for liaison with, and follow up and capacity building of local partners.     ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: In close collaboration with the project manager, plan, organize and carry out daily hygiene promotion activities within Mercy Corps area of interventions in line with agreed work plans, strategies and methodologies. Responsible for implementing behavior change methodology (PHAST) for the WASH Programs Support in carrying out community mobilization and hygiene promotion sessions among the refugees and host communities; Conduct WASH assessments to determine scope of work, resource requirement and estimated cost; (including in the identification public health risks in the community) Supervise and regularly monitor hygiene promotion activities being carried out in the targeted locations by local partners; Mobilize communities/refugee population to participate in WASH construction/promotion activities as appropriate; Support procurement, transportation and distribution of hygiene promotion materials and WASH kits; Organize and conduct trainings for local partners, community mobilizers on hygiene promotion elements, strategies and methodologies.; Carry out water dialogues in the community on safe water chain (the use of only chlorinated water); illegal connections to the underground water distribution networks; water handling (including storage of drinking water at households), water usage and management; and potential contamination/pollution in the environment, associated with flooding, water logging and drainage problems; Sensitize communities on good hygiene practices with key messages focusing on hand washing, safe disposal of solid wastes and excreta, latrine cleaning, diarrheal diseases prevention, etc. as adopted from time to time depending on the prevailing public health situations. Participate in the development of monitoring tools for the hygiene promotion activities; Participate in the development of information, education and communication (IEC) materials relevant to the context; with appreciation of cultural norms and beliefs; Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission; Develop key productions to increase Mercy Corps’ communication within local communities in Lebanon to promote program activities and increase awareness and acceptance; Assist the Media & Communications Coordinator in producing communication material and publications that market Mercy Corps' work (online, offline and audiovisual) in coordination with the Program Teams for key donors, peer agencies, and other key stakeholders; Assist the Media & Communications Coordinator in organizing events such as receptions, conferences, TV and radio talk shows and press releases; Coordinate with M&E team to gather and use existing success stories that highlight Mercy Corps’ interventions for donors; Any other task relevant to the position as requested by the WASH Project Manager or WASH Sector Lead.   Other Ensure all activities are gender sensitive and follow Mercy Corps’ Gender Equity Policy; Apply Do No Harm standards to ensure activities do not have detrimental affects on vulnerable communities; Contribute to monthly reports and other ad hoc reports to meet donor and internal requirements; Participate in internal office coordination and planning meetings and workshops; Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission; Other assigned tasks, as necessary.   SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None REPORTS DIRECTLY TO:  WASH Project Manager WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: WASH Sector Team, M&E Team, and Operations Team and Local partners   KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE: Minimum of 4 years’ work experience working directly for an NGO or relevant organization in Bekaa region Experience in hygiene/health promotion activities or as a community health worker. Demonstrate good expertise in emergency response implementation especially in the refugee (ISs) context in Bekaa. Commitment to local capacity building and the ability to engage local stakeholders in project design and implementation Demonstrated capacity to collaborate closely with INGOs and national NGOs and CBOs Strong skills in community mobilization, hygiene/health promotion, WASH kits distribution, campaigns, etc. Experience working with refugees or other vulnerable population required, implementing a WASH project and conducting training is preferred Proven understanding of Do No Harm principles and methodology with applied experience implementing projects with/for women and girls The applicants should have good written and verbal English and Arabic skills Must be computer-literate, particularly in programs such as MS Word and MS Excel.  Strong organizational and collaboration skills required, with the ability to work independently and be self-directed, as necessary Must work well as a member of a team, with willingness to travel throughout Lebanon, sometimes staying overnight, as the job requires   SUCCESS FACTORS: The successful project officer will be bright, energetic, hard-working and eager to learn.  S/he will take a deep personal interest in humanitarian and development assistance.  S/he will be attentive to detail and able to carry out assigned tasks in a timely manner and according to a very high standard of quality.  S/he will be creative and flexible, but at the same time will not have any difficulty in adhering to systems and procedures.  S/he will strictly follow all protocols related to safety and security.