UNICEF recrute un consultant pour la documentation des processus pour l’engagement des partenaires du secteur privé pour la mise en œuvre du programme, Kenya

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Background and Justification :

Most people in Eastern and Southern Africa region like many across the developing world invest in their own sanitation goods and services through the market, engaging with different private sector actors that are regulated by the government. Where these markets do not exist, people are limited by the lack of available choices and by high prices. To unlock the potential of the market for sanitation, UNICEF is investing in strengthening market systems that deliver affordable products and services to those who currently lack basic sanitation services. Building sustainable markets requires partnering with governments, private enterprises and entrepreneurs, banks, development agencies, civil society and communities. To do this, UNICEF supports the development of inclusive local, regional and global sanitation markets that extend choices for affordable and high-quality products and services to the poor, while providing economic opportunities for people as producers, services providers and wage earners.

In 2018, UNICEF and LIXIL launched an ambitious partnership with an innovative approach to tackling the global sanitation crisis. UNICEF is a key advocate of behaviour change to end open defecation that spreads illness and disease. LIXIL is a global leader in water and housing products and has developed affordable and workable toilet solutions for underserved markets in Africa and Asia. Together, UNICEF and LIXIL aim to make a significant contribution to the global effort to provide basic sanitation for 250 million people by 2021. In this partnership, UNICEF and LIXIL are concentrating on strengthening the sanitation market, ensuring links between the customers and suppliers, and supporting the enabling environment in focus countries starting with Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya.

In Uganda, the quest for sanitation ecosystem that could be economically self-sustaining and socially and environmentally sustainable has led to a new collaboration initiative between UNICEF Uganda country office and UNICEF National Committee in Finland. The Self-Sustaining and Safe Sanitation Service chain concept (S5) was born. It takes a systemic approach to cover the whole sanitation service chain by combining containment, collection and transportation of faecal sludge, safe treatment, and creating revenue from the sales of upcycled digestate that has been turned into to renewable energy products such as briquettes, biogas and fertilizers. At the core of the S5 model is a faecal sludge treatment plant where the sludge is received for safe treatment and the digestate is upcycled into renewable energy products for sale.

In summary, UNICEF engages with the private sector partners and business community in many ways, at many levels and to achieve various objectives. This include interacts with businesses for commercial purposes by procuring and supplying goods and services, influencing market prices and products for children, mobilize resources for programmes and children, promote advocacy initiatives or jointly develop and leverage technical solutions to programmatic challenges. A consultancy is therefore required to document on one hand and conduct an external assessment of the processes that were adopted in engaging the LIXIL and S-5.

Scope of Work :

Goal and Objective : Under the supervision of the WASH Specialist (Hygiene and Sanitation) and the overall guidance of the Regional WASH Advisor, the consultant will document the processes that are followed for engaging private sector partners in ESARO in general with a deep dive into the processes that were used to engage a) LIXIL, which culminated to the global MoU and b) S-5 that towards the Self-Sustaining and Safe Sanitation Service chain. The assignment is expected to produce a complete description of work processes that were followed for the engagement of these two private sector partners.

Objectives :

The lack of documented standard procedures for engaging the private sector while creating a compelling narrative around the potential for transformational impact in sanitation have led to repeated mistake and continuing inefficiencies at significant costs to UNICEF. This assignment seeks to provide a clear, top-down perspective for WASH country teams to visualize and understand the process workflow for engaging private sector partners.

The overall aim of documenting the processes of engaging private sector is :

• To ensure consistency whereby mistakes are reduced, and less time is spent reinventing the wheel ;
• To ensure that the replication of private sector engagement is made simple through a user-friendly guide for country offices ;
• To ensure a stress-free sourcing of private sector partners, with a well-defined process ;
• To ensure that country teams can learn by doing, bring together insights from both mistakes and successes to refine processes.

Reference to AWP areas covered :

This assignment is aligned with the overall objective of the ESARO WASH (2018-2021) programme structure that aims to improve access to basic service levels for drinking water and sanitation, to reduce open defecation and to inculcate good hygiene especially for the most vulnerable populations in context specific settings such as household, community and facility levels. It will support the development of synergistic models & partnerships for sustainable hygiene behaviour change in the areas of handwashing, safe water handling and safe disposal of child excreta (health/nutrition)

It seeks to contribute to regional priorities 1,2 &3 and identified by Output 240R.A0/801/004.
Change strategies to achieve results include, strengthening enabling environments; evidence and data generation; strategic partnerships and alliances; policy advocacy; capacity development; building sustainable markets; regional platforms for inter-country actions

Activities and Tasks :

The consultancy will however involve the following key aspects of the work :

Extensive literature review of UNICEF ESARO work processes for engaging businesses or private sector partners :

• The administration of a survey questionnaire (survey monkey) in the three LIXIL partnership countries and Uganda ;
• key informant interviews with ESARO Partnership, ESARO legal advisor, WASH and supply teams and supply and logistics team at Kenya Country Office (e.g. focused group discussions) ;
• Comprehensive review of the processes followed for the engaging LIXIL and S-5 initiative ;
• Editorial review of the three Industry Consultation Reports showcasing the “Sanitation Market Analysis in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia”.

Work relationships :

Under the direct supervision of the WASH Specialist (Hygiene and Sanitation) and overall guidance of the WASH Regional Adviser and in direct coordination with the private partnership teams at ESARO, the consultant will work closely with the four country offices involved with LIXIL partnership (Ethiopia, Kenya & Tanzania) and S-5 initiative (Uganda). The consultant will also be expected to liaise with: i) other ESARO sections relevant for hiring the services of private sector partners including supply logistic team at the Kenya Country Office, supply team at the ESARO and legal office at ESARO.

Outputs/Deliverables :

The findings from this process review are expected to provide clearly defined top-down steps that must be followed while engaging a private sector partner for delivery of programme results. It is expected to serve as a guide for WASH teams at country office level. The process documentation would also serve as reference for training and as part of the on-boarding of new members to the WASH teams. It will be extremely helpful in determining how the process itself can be refined or improved.

The specific outputs to be delivered include :

• A final detailed inception report outlining the consultants understanding of the assignment and the approach to be employed ;
• Field note documenting the experience of the sanitation markets work in ESARO and a flow chart with exact steps that visualizes the processes and steps in engaging private sector partner ;
• The final process documentation report to be accompanied by a summary version of no more than 6 pages and a PPT deck of the key recommended steps for training purposes ;
• An editorial review of the three Industry Consultation Reports showcasing the “Sanitation Market Analysis in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia” :

Desired competencies, technical background and experience :

The consultant should be an independent international consultant with following minimum qualifications and experiences :

Required :

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required : Public-private partnership and sustainable development, Procurement Management or other relevant technical field ;
• At least eight years of proven experience and knowledge in supporting and managing procurement of services, programs or systems for developing countries especially in Africa ;
• Good analytical skills and experience in conducting case studies, developing policy or strategy documents at national and/or regional context and how they impact on development and results for children ;
• Past experiences in similar assignments i.e. private sector engagement, preferably in the Eastern and Southern Africa region ;
• Excellent communication skills (written and oral) in English are required ;
• Ability to work independently.

Desired :

• Experience working with UNICEF on water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes in the region ;
• Experience in and knowledge of private partnership engagement in WASH service delivery would be an added advantage ;
• Knowledge and experience in procuring services ;
• Knowledge of Microsoft 365 is required, specifically Word, PowerPoint, Yammer, SharePoint, Zoom and Teams ;
• Excellent interpersonal and partnership management skills. Demonstrated experience working in a multicultural environment and demonstrates the core values of UNICEF ;
• Working language will be English. French and or Portuguese will be added advantage.

Administrative issues :

The ESARO WASH section will provide access to information and country level contacts and will be accessible via email throughout the contract period. Progress meetings will take place virtually at least once every month. Contractor will be expected to provide his/her laptop, appropriate office equipment, including IT services.

Conditions :

As per UNICEF DFAM policy, payment is made against approved deliverables. No advance payment is allowed unless in exceptional circumstances against bank guarantee, subject to a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary.

The candidate selected will be governed by and subject to UNICEF’s General Terms and Conditions for individual contracts. As and when required, all travel will be by most economical fare and reimbursement as per UNICEF policy. The consultant is not expected to travel to the country offices.

Risks : Lack of understanding and familiarization with the process documentation for multi-national contexts and inability to complete the country consultation in a timely manner and potential delays in the finalization of key documents

Possible mitigation measures :

• To address these concerns, the UNICEF supervisor will walk the consultant through the rationale for the assignment in a concise manner and take every measure to facilitate the work of the consultant and her/his relations with the country offices as key stakeholders of this consultancy ;
• Bi-weekly briefing meetings will be organized with the consultant to monitor the progress of the consultancy against the agreed deliverables and timeline. Any deviations and or delays will be flagged for immediate actions.

How to Apply :

Interested candidates should apply online using the button below.

As part of their application, candidates should provide :

1. A cover letter that specifies how you meet the desired competencies, technical background and experience (no more than 2 pages) ;
2. A short CV (no more than 4 pages) ;
3. A fee structure that should include: daily rate in USD and total fee.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.