General
Description of assignment title
WASH Specialist (UNV)
Assignment country
Panama
Duty stations
Panama City
Work location
On UN premises
Expected start date
01/06/2026
Duration
12 months
(with possibility of extension)Long-term benefits and allowances
Sustainable Development Goal
6. Clean water and sanitation
Host entity
UNICEF
Modality
Onsite
Type
International
Volunteer category
Specialist UCoS from Apr2026
Work schedule
Full-time
Number of Assignments
1
Details
Mission and objectives
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfil their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up.
Context
UNICEF provides support to 24 UNICEF Country Offices of Latin America and the Caribbean. The programme support helps to inspire a common vision on the rights of children, adolescents and to mobilize societies so that they can become a reality in the lives of all children. On the average, 74% of households in the region have access to safely managed drinking water and 51% to safely managed sanitation, figures that mask significant inequalities, rapid urbanization pressures, climate risks, and recurring emergencies. LAC is the second most disaster-prone region in the world, where extreme weather events, climate variability, displacement, and infrastructure disruptions repeatedly generate acute Water, Sanitation and Hygiene ( WASH) needs. UNICEF supports both humanitarian response and long-term development programming in line with the UNICEF Strategic Plan, 2026–2029, which integrates WASH across two major impact results: Impact Result 1: Enabling child survival, health and development — including reaching: 100 million people with safely managed drinking water and 200 million with safely managed sanitation/hygiene. Impact Result 5: Protecting children from climate and environmental risks — including: 300 million children benefiting from climate-resilient WASH, health, and education services. To meet these ambitions, UNICEF is scaling up high-quality technical assistance globally through four Centres of Excellence (CoEs) located in Nairobi, Panama, Bangkok, and Amman. This UN Volunteer assignment is positioned within the Global WASH Systems & Governance Team, outposted in Panama, with a primary focus on supporting WASH systems, governance, and humanitarian preparedness across the LAC region.
Task description
Under the direct supervision of the Senior Adviser, WASH Systems and Governance, the UN Volunteer will undertake tasks categorized under the following broad areas: 1. Support Humanitarian WASH programming (50% of the time) – Provide technical support to WASH emergency preparedness, response, and coordination in LAC Country Offices and at regional level. – Provide technical assistance for the design and implementation of climate-resilient WASH programmes, including risk-informed planning, resilient infrastructure, and service delivery models. – Support the strengthening of the national institution to operational WASH sector coordination and improve the continuity and sustainability of WASH services in disaster-prone, and climate-vulnerable settings. – Contribute to the facilitation of regional WASH coordination, in particular the regional WASH LAC platform, R4V WASH Working group and the Caribbean Development WASH Working Group engaging with partners and counter parts and identifying strategic and operational priorities for the sector in the region. 2. Support in-country WASH Program design, review and implementation (30%) – Monitor UNICEF WASH capacity, programming and technical assistance needs in LAC countries, organising quarterly meetings with colleagues active in WASH programming in countries – Support programme design and oversight of UNICEF Country Programmes in WASH, contributing to Strategic Moment of Reflection, development of Country Programme Document, Country Programme Management Plan, Technical Review Team, reviewing Country Strategy Indicators on WASH. – Provide ad-hoc technical assistance to Country Offices on related WASH areas, based on UNICEF principles, guidance documents, tools and approaches. – Support strategic planning and programming processes. 3. Capacity building & Knowledge Management (20%) – Contribute to the development of a regional WASH capacity building strategy, engaging with strategic partners, including with IADB, CAF, WB, donors, regional institutions and civil society. – Prepare and support the development of WASH learning/knowledge products, covering innovative approaches and good practices – Organize peer to peer exchanges – Contribute to knowledge generation and cross-country learning.
Eligibility criteria
Age
18 – 80
Required experience
3 years
Nationality
Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.
Assignment requirements
Relevant experience
5 years
Languages
English, Level: Fluent, Required Spanish, Level: Fluent, Required Portuguese, Level: Working knowledge, Desirable French, Level: Working knowledge, Desirable
Required education level
Master’s degree in Engineering-Civil, Environmental Science/Health, Public Health, Water Resource Management and any other related fields.
Competencies and values
• Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organising • Professionalism • Self-management
Skills and experience
– Field exposure to at least one emergency context (floods, hurricanes, droughts, epidemics, migration crises). – Basic understanding of WASH emergency preparedness and response, including rapid assessments. – Experience assisting coordination of working groups, partner platforms, or multi-stakeholder meetings. – Understanding of the Core Cluster Functions and Humanitarian Programme Cycle. – Experience supporting risk informed or climate resilient WASH interventions – Demonstrated skills in writing proposals, reports, lessons learned, or peer reviewed scientific papers is an asset. – Exposure to inter-country or multi-country exchanges, communities of practice, or thematic working groups. – Ability to liaise with partners such as government, donors, civil society, academia, IFIs (IADB, CAF, WB) at a junior level – Strong organisational and coordination skills
Area(s) of expertise
Crisis and emergency response, Development programmes, Engineering and construction
Driving license
–
Other information
Volunteerism is understood as a wide range of activities undertaken of free will, for the general public good, for which monetary reward is not the principal motivating factor.
Living conditions and remarks
Officially known as the Republic of Panama, the country is transcontinental, located between Central America and South America, and bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the east, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital and largest city is Panama City. Panama is classified as a family duty station with generally good living conditions, particularly in Panama City, where most international organizations and services are based. The country offers relative political stability, adequate infrastructure, and good regional and international connectivity. The United States dollar is used as legal tender, alongside Balboa coins, which constitute the national currency. Panama has a tropical climate, with an average temperature of approximately 27°C year-round and high humidity. The country is rich in biodiversity, with jungles home to a wide range of tropical flora and fauna. Panama is a founding member of the United Nations and belongs to several international organizations, including OAS, LAIA, G77, WHO, and NAM. Several international schools operate in Panama City, offering Cambridge (IGCSE/GCSE), French, and American curricula. Panama is generally considered safe, although petty crime occurs and a reasonable level of personal vigilance is advised. For more info, you may visit: Welcome to Panamá | Places to Visit & Things to do. The United States dollar is widely used alongside the local currency, facilitating financial transactions. Private healthcare facilities of good standard are available, including English-speaking medical professionals. For updated information on Covid19 travel conditions and restrictions please visit the official government pages: Visit Panama Safety Guidelines for your next trip to Panama and Ministry of Health of the Republic of Panama
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.
Scam warning
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