Job Title: WASH & Climate Specialist
Organisation: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
About Organisation:
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is mandated by the UN general assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
Job Summary: The aim of this consultancy is to support the implementation of WASH in institutions especially in Schools and Health Care Facilities and to facilitate development and implementation of Climate Actions. Under the overall supervision and guidance of Chief WASH, Environment and Climate
If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here: [attach JD/TOR here]
Background and Purpose
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in institutions is critical in achieving the SDG targets on multiple sectors of UNICEF’s support such as Education, Health, Nutrition and Protection. Guided by evidence on the disproportionate impact of climate change on children, UNICEF promotes climate resilient WASH infrastructure in Schools and Health Care Facilities (HCFs) for sustainable delivery of these critical services in child-critical institutions. The situation is devastating in some of the had-to-reach regions in Uganda.
In the Karamoja sub-region, access to safe water and basic sanitation services is significantly below national averages. For example, Nakapiripirit district has safe water coverage at 60 per cent and functionality at 74 per cent, compared to the national averages of 67 per cent and 86 per cent respectively. School WASH indicators are equally concerning, with pupil-to-stance ratios averaging over 70:1, far higher than acceptable standards i.e., 40:1, undermining children’s ability to remain and to learn in school – the situation affects every child, in particular adolescent girls. Similar challenges persist in HCFs across the sub-region, where access to safe water on premises is inadequate, sanitation services are not inclusive or gender-segregated, and waste management systems are insufficient or non-functional. These gaps compromise infection prevention and control, lower health worker morale, and threaten the quality of health service delivery.
Based on the experience and lessons learnt of the previous phase, UNICEF Uganda will implement a comprehensive WASH in Schools and Health Care Facilities programme in the Karamoja sub-region to improve access to inclusive, climate-resilient WASH services. This programme will contribute to better health outcomes, reduce absenteeism, and enhance enrollment, retention, and academic performance among school-age children and adolescents, particularly girls, while strengthening systems for sustainable service delivery.
Environment and Climate Action
Uganda is increasingly experiencing the impacts of climate-related hazards such as prolonged droughts and recurrent flooding, which are driving significant humanitarian impacts across the country. These climate change events exacerbate environmental degradation, food systems, social sectors and vulnerable populations, particularly children and communities who face increased risks to their health, nutrition, education and protection. This growing severity place additional strain on national systems and highlight the urgent need for environmental protection and climate resilient social services.
In supporting national climate commitments and using analyses of the impact of climate change on children, UNICEF aims to strengthen climate-resilient policies and programmes across all social sectors, while creating opportunities for children and adolescents to participate meaningfully in environmental dialogues and mitigation initiatives that reduce environmental degradation.
Justification
As UNICEF Uganda is initiating the newly developed country programme for 2026-2030, WASH team is expanding the portfolio into Environment and Climate Action, in alignment with an urgent need and increasing adverse impact of climate change on child-critical social services such as on health, nutrition, WASH, education and protection in Uganda.
Aligned to the purpose of the country programme, a WASH in institutions programme in Karamoja sub-region for 5 years has also been initiated with financial support from the development partner such as KOICA, which includes a strategic transition to a system strengthening approach with upstream support to enhance institutional capacity, policy guidelines and financing framework for long-term sustainability whilst support the expansion of WASH facilities in total of 150 schools and 15 health care facilities in all nine districts in Karamoja sub-region. This requires specialized support to coordinate with the national and sub-national partners to undertake the planned interventions. The technical assistance is to institutionalize national guidance, operational framework and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, particularly during the inception phase.
This assignment is also stretching out to Environment and Climate Action work to ensure coordinated technical support, strategic engagement with key stakeholders and exploring innovations related to climate resilient WASH services, climate education, and renewable energy such as solarization and biogas systems at schools, health care facilities and communities.
Objectives
The aim of this consultancy is to support the implementation of WASH in institutions especially in Schools and Health Care Facilities and to facilitate development and implementation of Climate Actions. Under the overall supervision and guidance of Chief WASH, Environment and Climate, the consultant will specifically be undertaking the following tasks:
Description of the assignment:
- Support situation and bottleneck analysis process for the WASH sector including analysis of comprehensive and current data to inform WASH policy and programme development.
- Technical assistance to the WASH in Institutions with linkage to community WASH promotion, with system strengthening interventions for sustainability.
- Support the engagement of the WASH section in climate adaptation and environment specific interventions and assist in the integration of these dimensions across all appropriate sectors to ensure a greater impact on children.
- Strengthen partnerships with government counterparts, UN agencies, donors, NGOs, research institutes and the private sector related to WASH and Climate Action plan development, and implementation,
- Support monitoring and evaluation of the WASH and Climate Actions with government and sector partners and prepare draft reports
- Prepare documentation of WASH and Climate Actions related research and innovation to develop knowledge products.
- Liaise with the KOICA for aspects related to the WASH and Climate Action programming
- Support field mission preparations and executions related to the section
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Development of an inception report with key programme management interventions including the following:
- Costed Programme implementation workplan
- Monthly risk with key risk mitigation measures
- Agreed ways of working and communication with the key programme team members
- Narrative report highlighting key actions undertaken to support the management of the programme. To include:
- Key meetings held
- Travel report/field trip report (where applicable)
- Communication materials (where applicable)
- Updated risk register
- Updated costed programme implementation workplan
- Narrative report highlighting key actions undertaken to support the management of the programme. To include:
- Key meetings held
- Travel report/field trip report (where applicable)
- Communication materials (where applicable)
- Updated risk register
- Updated costed programme implementation workplan
- Narrative report highlighting key actions undertaken to support the management of the programme. To include:
- Key meetings held
- Travel report/field trip report (where applicable)
- Communication materials (where applicable)
- Updated risk register
- Updated costed programme implementation workplan
Submission of a final report including the following:
- Key lessons on programme management approach and suggested improvements for agile management of grants
- All documents, trackers, communications materials developed
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in one of the following fields: Public Health, Environmental Sanitation, Social Science or a field related to Civil/Environment Engineering.
- Minimum of 5 years of responsible professional work experience in programme management, monitoring and evaluation and/or knowledge management related to WASH, Environment and Climate programmes in Low Middle Income Country setting.
- Demonstrated understanding of the WASH sector in Uganda would be considered an asset.
- Strong experience in donor relations and/or partnership work and/or familiarity including the Government of Korea and KOICA would be considered an asset.
- Previous work experience in UNICEF or UN agencies would be considered an asset.
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values
The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…
- Builds and maintains partnerships
- Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
- Drive to achieve results for impact
- Innovates and embraces change
- Manages ambiguity and complexity
- Thinks and acts strategically
- Works collaboratively with others
How to Apply:
All suitably qualified and interested applicants who wish to join United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) should apply online at the link below.
Deadline: 17th November 2025
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