General
Description of assignment title: WASH Knowledge Management Officer
Assignment country: Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Expected start date: 01/11/2024
Sustainable Development Goal: 6. Clean water and sanitation
Volunteer category: International UN Youth Volunteer
Host entity: UNICEF
Type: Onsite
Duration: 12 months (with possibility of extension)
Number of assignments: 1
Duty stations: Vientiane
Details
Mission and objectives
UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF’s mandate, mission and unique attributes provide a strategic advantage in promoting and supporting transformational change to achieve sustainable coverage at scale. After more than 45 years in Lao PDR, UNICEF Lao PDR UNICEF is one of the longest-serving international organizations in the country plays an important role in supporting the government, advocating for reform and leading coordination to scale-up results.
Context
Under the direct supervision of Chief of WASH, responsible for implementation of WASH programme as part of the Country Programme 2022-2026, the UNV will contribute to the strengthening of UNICEF’s WASH programme in Lao PDR in order to achieve better results for vulnerable children and women.
The UNV will deliver the role of WASH Knowledge Management focal point to facilitate and coordinate the application of knowledge management within the section, under the overall guidance of section chief. The UNV will support evidence, information and knowledge generation activities for the section.
The UNV will report to the Chief of WASH and will work in close collaboration with other programmes in order to support delivery of WASH section needs. The UNV will establish annual work plans with clear deliverables, activities and indicator developed in the beginning of the year in line with the UNICEF performance management system.
The UNV and the Supervisor will have weekly meetings to discuss the progress of the assignment and provide guidance as necessary to mentor and help address any constraints. UNICEF will also provide opportunities for capacity development of the UNV as a strong professional, through planning and implementation of annual learning and development training plans, online and off-line trainings and field visit etc., on top of routine programme management work.
Task description
Under the direct supervision of Chief of WASH, the UNV will undertake the following tasks:
- Support the WASH team to review and analyze available data and information from re-ports, surveys and evaluations, and prepare programme briefs for advocacy and strategic direction of WASH sector in Lao PDR.
- Support the WASH programme to document lessons learned, best practices and innova-tions on key topics for dissemination through regional and global channels, publication or other channels.
- Support the establishment and functioning of informal WASH sector development part-ners’ group.
- Support the programme to develop visibility products in collaboration with Communication Section in the country office.
- Under the guidance of the Chief of WASH programme, prepare concept notes, donor proposals and donor reports.
- Build and maintain a repository of knowledge products for WASH, including studies, field notes, lessons learned and best practices on the WASH Knowledge Management plat-form.
- Support to WASH team to generate and conceptualize innovative ideas for WASH Pro-gramme implementation and monitoring.
- Conduct field visit to monitor the progress.
The UNV is expected to deliver the following outputs: - WASH programme has strong data available for advocacy and strategic direction.
- Functional informal WASH Sector development partners’ group.
- New communication materials developed with improvement in existing materials.
- EMIS and Situation Analysis are used for effective WASH programming and resource mo-bilization.
- Quality inputs are provided for the utilization of the WASH evidence materials in Lao PDR.
- A repository of WASH data and information maintained on the Knowledge Management platform.
Eligibility criteria
Age: 18 – 26
Additional eligibility criteria: This assignment is funded by the Government of Korea and therefore specific criteria apply:
- Candidates must be Korean nationals.
- Candidates must be between 22 and 29 years old at the time of application. NOTE: If you are older than 26 when applying, the system will display a notification that the ’application does not meet the eligibility criteria’. Please disregard this notification and submit your application.
- Candidates who have already served as UN Youth Volunteer funded by the Government of Korea are not eligible to apply (former UN University Volunteers are eligible).
- Serving UN Volunteers will not be considered for other UN Volunteer assignments until they reach three (3) months before the End of Contract date of their current UN Volunteer assignment. This provision applies equally to first and subsequent contracts.
- Candidates may apply to a maximum of three assignments and indicate the order of preference in the ‘Additional remarks’ field when filling in the application form.
- Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The selection will be done by the UN Host Entity at the level of the country of assignment.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 30 June 2024
+++ UN Volunteer entitlement calculator: https://app.unv.org/calculator +++
Nationality: Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.
Donor priorities: .
Requirements
Required experience
1 years of experience in or demonstrated interest in: research, communication, information and/or knowledge management or other relevant fields
- Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded.
- Experience of working within UNICEF or other UN entities is an asset
- Knowledge management, network support and information sharing
- Ability to conceptualize, innovate, plan and execute ideas as well as transfer knowledge and skills.
Area(s) of expertise: Community development, Energy and environment , Social work
Driving license: .
Languages
English, Level: Fluent, Required
Required education level
Bachelor degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Water and Sanitation Engineering, Earth Sciences or similar relevant areas.
Competencies and values
☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning
☒ Communication
☒ Creativity
☒ Knowledge Sharing
☒ Self-Management
☒ Technological Awareness
☒ Working in Teams
Other information
Living conditions and remarks
Laos lies in the monsoon belt of South-East Asia and has a well-defined dry and wet season. The dry season from October to April begins with the winter (November to January), the coolest part of the year (57-84°F, or 14-30°C). In the mountainous areas the weather can be rather chilly. Winter gradually fades to the hot season (February – May), a dusty period with temperatures averaging 80-105°F (27-40°C) but sometimes can reach as high as 115°F (47°C) in the heat of the day.
Often there are explosive thunderstorms with rain and wind at this time of the year. At the end of May the monsoon begins in earnest. Temperatures ease considerably (80-95°F, 27-36°C), particularly when it is actually raining and humidity increases. The monsoon gradually stops by the end of September. The average annual rainfall in the Vientiane area is about 1500mm. Before Lao New Year, in mid of April, temperatures can soar to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) with high humidity in the capital. Generally, the climate is humid tropical with a rainy season from May to October. December and January are cool in Vientiane, but Northern provinces can get quite chilly.
Inclusivity statement
United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.
Reasonable accommodation
UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for UN Volunteers with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process and afterwards in your assignment.
Note on Covid-19 vaccination requirements
In addition to duty station-specific vaccine requirements, appointments are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the appointment. It does not apply to UN Volunteers who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their contracts.
