Job Description

Job no: 590793
Position type: Consultant
Location: Somalia
Division/Equivalent: Nairobi Regn'l(ESARO)
School/Unit: Somalia
Department/Office: Hargeisa, Somalia
Categories: WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)

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UNICEF is a place where careers are built. We offer our staff diverse opportunities for professional and personal development that will help them reinforce a sense of purpose while serving children and communities across the world. We welcome everyone who wants to belong and grow in a diverse and passionate culture., coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

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Context

Somaliland continues to experience recurrent cycles of conflict, environmental and climate shocks, and political instability that affect access to essential services, including water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).

Displacement and population movements due to instability often lead to people migrating into Internally Displaced Persons camps (IDPs) or urban areas, and sometimes across the borders. In many cases, these areas lack the infrastructure to meet rising socio- economic demands of the community, resulting in overcrowded settlements with limited WASH services. This can lead to tensions between host communities and IDPs over access to WASH facilities and other social services. Inaccessible areas make it impossible for partners to deliver the required water, sanitation and hygiene services to the communities, causing distress.

Additionally, tensions along the contested Puntland- Somaliland border, particularly in Las Anod and the Sool and Sanaag regions, often escalates into hostilities. These have led to the displacement of thousands of people and significantly disrupted the delivery of essential social services.

External conflicts and disputes, particularly in border areas, pose a significant risk to internal stability in Somaliland. These conflicts and disputes, often driven by competition over scarce resources, especially water and grazing land, for both farming and pastoralism. These external pressures can spill over, exacerbating existing grievances, triggering inter- clan clashes, and undermining local peacebuilding efforts and governance structures.

In Somaliland, the four targeted districts face significant challenges related to security, migration, and resource scarcity. Erigavo and Ainabo have experienced heavy displacement due to ongoing clan conflicts and the recent Lascaanood clashes, while Burao and El Afwein have become a refuge for IDPs from eastern regions and struggle with severe drought and water shortages. These environmental pressures further limit access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services.

When a community’s water supply is cut off, children and families are forced to rely on unsafe water or leave their homes in search of a new source. At times this may mean families have to reduce or ration their water supplies, other times it means drinking water that is clearly contaminated and dangerous.

For children, the consequences can be deadly, as water and sanitation related diseases remain among the leading causes of death in children under five1.

Moreover, vulnerability to droughts and climate shocks, further exacerbates the potential for conflict over dwindling natural resources. As surface and groundwater availability declines, competition between pastoralists and farmers increases, and sometimes such competition spreads among entire communities or clans, often leading to tensions and unresolved disputes. These disputes, if not resolved at the on-set, could lead to broader conflict at the societal levels. Flooding, on the other hand, causes severe damage to WASH infrastructure and creates widespread public health risks, placing additional strain on already vulnerable communities. These environmental pressures, combined with political and social grievances, contribute to instability across the region.

Without strengthened institutions and inclusive water governance, WASH- related challenges are likely to continue fueling local tensions and conflict dynamics across the region. While in Somaliland, despite its relative political stability and established governance structures, it continues to face significant challenges in the WASH sector, particularly in areas of institutional capacity, sector coordination, and resource mobilization.

The WASH sector plays a critical role in improving health, dignity, and resilience, in such fragile contexts, poorly planned WASH interventions can inadvertently exacerbate tensions or conflict, while well-designed, conflict-sensitive approaches can promote social cohesion, equity, and resilience.

UNICEFs Strategic Plan 2022- 2025 places emphasis on implementing WASH programmes using a humanitarian- development and peacebuilding nexus approach, ensuring that the causes of inadequate WASH and their impacts are addressed holistically, with climate action, resilience and peacebuilding among the cross- cutting areas. The Strategic Plan fully recognizes the existential threats that climate change and environmental degradation pose to children’s ability to survive and thrive2.

One of the priorities of the ASWA III programme funded by the Dutch Government, is to address conflict-related causes of inadequate WASH, mitigate their impacts, and design and implement WASH interventions in ways that reduce the risk of exacerbating conflicts or disputes within and between clans and communities.

In response to the challenges, UNICEF aims to enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of WASH programmes to better serve all communities. To this end, UNICEF is seeking to engage a qualified national consultant to work with the internationalconsultanttocarry out a WASH Conflict Sensitivity Analysis across Somaliland. The findings will support humanitarian, peacebuilding and development actors in designing and implementing WASH interventions that are sensitive to local conflict dynamics and contribute to peacebuilding and long-term stability.

How can you make a difference? 

Scope of Work

Under the guidance of the internation consultant, the national consultant will be responsible for successfully completing the following tasks under this assignment:

1. Quantitative Data Collection & Analysis

• • Design and implement surveys and other quantitative tools to assess WASH system performance, vulnerabilities, and conflict sensitivity.
  • Collect, clean, and analyze quantitative data from field visits, government sources, and partner organizations.
  • Prepare statistical summaries, charts, and tables to inform the analysis.

2. Field Support & Stakeholder Engagement

• • Coordinate field visits and interviews with local stakeholders, including government officials, community leaders, and WASH service providers.
  • Facilitate translation and interpretation as needed.
  • Provide insights on local context, customs, and conflict dynamics.
  • Work closely with the international consultant and UNICEF WASH team.
  • Participate in regular planning and review meetings

1. Reporting & Documentation

• • Contribute to the drafting of interim and final reports, focusing on quantitative findings and their implications.
  • Support to ensure that all data is accurately documented and securely stored.

The national consultant is expected to work with an international consultant as an individual who is familiar with WASH and conflict dynamics in the country, for contextual issues and language.

Experiences and Qualifications

• Education: A Master's Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, International Relations and Peace Studies, Development Studies, Peace and Security, Political Science, Sociology and Gender studies or Environmental engineering. A Bachelor's Degree may be accepted in lieu of a Master's degree if combined with strong relevant experience .
• At least 5 years of professional experience developing and implementing conflict analysis in fragile and conflict-affected contexts.
• Experience developing remote based data collection tools and generating statistical outputs, including data tables and illustrative graphs, to present quantitative and qualitative findings.
• Experience in participatory mixed methods research, including facilitation of focus group discussions, key informant interviews, structured interviews, observation, with diverse community members e.g. local leaders, children, women and girls, men and marginalized groups, representatives from IDPs, state and federal government officials, NGO partners, private sector partners to gather quantitative and qualitative data.
• Strong contextual knowledge of Somalia’s political, social, and conflict landscape.
• Demonstrable experience conducting participatory and inclusive field research in fragile or conflict-affected areas.
• Field experiences integrating conflict sensitivity and peacebuilding approaches in WASH and UNICEF programmes is an asset.
• Knowledge of WASH-related conflict and peace dynamics as well as gender and social inclusion is required.
• Fluency in English is required; excellent oral and written communication skills are required. Excellent analytical, facilitation, and report writing skills.
• Experience working in multi-cultural background is preferred.
• Ability to coordinate remotely with team members and meet deadlines with minimal supervision.

Skills Required

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