UNN VOLUNTEER DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT
Preamble:
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the UN organization that promotes volunteerism tosupport peace and development worldwide. Volunteerism can transform the pace and nature ofdevelopment and it benefits both society at large and the individual volunteer. UNV contributes to peaceand development by advocating for volunteerism globally, encouraging partners to integrate volunteerism
into development programming, and mobilizing volunteers
volunteers.
In most cultures volunteerism is deeply embedded in long
long-established,established, ancient traditions of sharing andsupport within the communities. In this context, UN Volunteers take part in vario
variousus forms of volunteerism
and play a role in development and peace together with coco-workers,
workers, host agencies and local communities.
In all assignments, UN Volunteers promote volunteerism through their action and conduct. Engaging involunteer activity can effectively
ectively and positively enrich their understanding of local and social realities, aswell as create a bridge between themselves and the people in their host community. This will make thetime they spend as UN Volunteers even more rewarding and productive.
1. UNV Assignment Title:

Sanitation Monitoring Officer

UNV PSRF, Outcome 2 ‘Delivery and use of basic services enhanced at subsub--national levels throughvolunteerism’
2. Type of Assignment:International UN Volunteer

3. Project Title:
Reach Areas of Bangladesh

Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene in Difficult and Hard-toHard

5. Duration:

12 Months

6. Location, Country:

Dhaka, Bangladesh

7. Expected Starting Date:

March 2013

8. Brief Project Description:
Due to its environment, vulnerability to seasonal flooding and population density, access to safe water andsanitation is a challenge over much of Bangladesh. Extensive areas are prone to an array of diseases
related to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygienic practices. The detrimental impact upon
the health and development of the population, especially children, of regular bouts of illness is significant,in terms of stunting, aggravate malnutrition, insufficient nutrient absorption as well asa retarded mentaldevelopment. The relationship between poor access to safe WASH facilities in schools and enrolment,
attendance, retention and attention rates is widely known with girls, particularly of menstrual age, being
particularly affected, due to inadequate
nadequate or often, a complete absence of private and clean sanitary facilities
necessitating the girls to miss school for up to one week each month.
Across the country, access to safe water and sanitation facilities is restricted by natural environmental
environmenta
conditions, high population density, low household income, and poor operation and maintenance. Accessto safe and sustainable sanitation is reduced by the high water table and the frequency of flooding, which
restricts the range and longevity of standard facilities, necessitating more expensive and often
unaffordable options. Even when there are facilities, the full health benefits are not realised due to theinability to purchase soap and water containers for effective handwashing. The issue of inappropriate
inappropr
operation and maintenance is acutely felt in schools, primarily due to a lack of sense of ownership of thefacilities. Integrating WASH in schools into the local community is essential for any effective, sustainable,
demand-driven and disaster-resilie
resilient intervention.
In Bangladesh and around the world, the importance of safe and appropriate access to WASH facilities inschools has been accepted as an integral part of the school package. A new approach has been

developed to address some of the key issues preventing the complete package of benefits of WASH
facilities being realised in the school and the community, simultaneously. This new approach, called
School Led Total Sanitation, gives a leading role to the chchildren
ildren and the School Management Committee(SMC) in the creation of demand for quality, appropriate and sustainable services, their maintenance andmonitoring, reducing their vulnerability to natural disasters. Furthermore, this approach uses children aschangehange agents amongst their peers, families and in the community.
On this basis, UNICEF, through a range of government and NGO partners, is implementing a School Led
Total Sanitation approach, in selected primary and secondary schools in the most under-served
underandvulnerable districts across Bangladesh, to build the capacity of communities to reduce their vulnerability toillness and natural disasters, and to empower girls in their right to quality education.
education
The proposed Sanitation Monitoring Officer woulwouldd work closely with the government and sector staff tobuild their capacity to design, plan and implement initiatives to improve their resilience to disasters, while
increasing the demand for improved access to WASH facilities and for girls’ rights to quality
qual education.
9. Host Agency/Host Institute: WASH Section, UNICEF Bangladesh
10. Organizational Context:
The Sanitation Monitoring Officer will work closely with partner NGOs and at least three government
departments/directorates (Department of Public Health Engineering, Directorate of Primary Education andDirectorate of Secondary and Higher Education) in addition to selected schools, School ManagementCommittees and School Brigades. The government departments and directorates will be heavily involved
inin the planning, implementation, training and monitoring of the project activities,, in association with theSanitation Monitoring Officer.. The School Management Committees and School Brigades will beimplementing the project within the respective schoolss and the communities and will be responsible forfeeding back to the Sanitation Monitoring Officer on progress and challenges faced with implementing theSLTS approach in communities in extremely poor and vulnerable areas of Bangladesh. The Sanitation
Monitoring Officer will play a key role in collecting the learning from the project activities and determining
solutions to ensure that the required support to the community is available and availed of.
of The success ofthe project depends upon the capac
capacity
ity and willingness of the communities to demand improved WASH
facilities and this UNV role will be key to mobilising this support and ensuring that interventions continue tostrengthen the community capacity and that the support is available to ensure tha
thatt activities are completed
and properly maintained. The enhanced community capacity, increased through the SLTS approach, isanticipated to address the key persistent issues which have historically plagued WASH projects withincommunities.
UNICEF will be thehe host agency and iiss the Cluster Lead in the WASH sector and a key actor in the WASHin Schools Technicalechnical Working Group. UNICEF hhas been heavily involved in the inception, compilation andrelease of the newly adopted Minimum Standards for WASH in Schools in Bangladesh and would offer adynamic, challenging and supporting learning environment for the proposed UNV with access to technicalsupport at a local, national,nal, regional and global levels.
11.. Type of Assignment Place: assignment withwithout family (HPC Specific)
12. Description of tasks:
Under the direct supervision of the WASH Specialist
Specialist, the UNV WASH Sanitation Monitoring Officer
will undertake the following tasks:•••

Liaise with implementing partners on their activities, monitoring their progress on a weekly basis
Conduct monitoring visits to the schools, communities and implementing partners to determine
progress and identify issues or sources of learning
Compile the learning from the various sources and document the process highlighting any areas oflearning••

Facilitate the sharing of the learning within the sector in Bangladesh, where appropriate
Develop training materials and carry out training to sector staff on SLTS.

Promotion of the United Nations Volunteers Programme mandate

1UN volunteers are expected to integrate the UN Volunteers Programme mandate within theirassignment as well as promote voluntary action through engagement with communities (urban & rural)
during the course of their work. As such UN volunteers should dedicate a proportion of their working
week to the following in support of and in synergy with his/her primary role as UNV Sanitation
Monitoring Officer:
Strengthen knowledge and understanding of the influence and impact of voluntary action bycommunities in Bangladesh through the following:•oooo

research of the subject matter,develop knowledge of nonnon-profit
profit community based organizations developing new orapplying traditional methods in engaging with communities,
undertake awarenessawareness-raising (promotion) activities for increased community
participation and action,encourage local people to volunteer thought and action to enhancing their community.

Build relationships with a wide range (private/public) local organizations, groups or individuals andsupport and/or participate in community driven voluntary activities and assist them to tell theirstories to the World Volunteer Web site;
Encourage, mobilize and support coco-workers
workers and fellow UN volunteers to better understand theconnections between community participa
participation and voluntarism;
Monitor on a continual basis the impact of policy reform on voluntary action at the community level;
Contribute to articles/write-ups
ups on the findings from the monitoring process and experiences fromthe above outlined activities and submit them to UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press
releases, etc.;
Promote and/or advise local groups in the use of OV (online volunteering), and encourage relevant
local individuals and groups to use OV whenever technically possible.

•••••

13. Results/Expected Output:•1

Tasks/deliverables
Review partner progress relative to the Workplan•

TimeframeWeekly•

Review partner resources and attend training, to determine
the appropriateness of the training and the resources, making
recommendations where necessary•

Monthly•

Conduct field visits to schools, communities and the partners
to compare progress and the effectiveness of theinterventions•

Monthly•

Compile the learning from the project in terms of which
activities have been effective, which less so, identify
bottlenecks
ecks and alternative approaches as well asrecommendations for future interventions•Months 9 to 10

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme was created by the General Assembl
Assembly (GA) in 1970 through GA resolution 26/59.
26/59 Since then, UNV’s mandate has
been expanded by GA resolution 31/131 in 1976, GA resolution 56/38 in 2001 and others in the follow-up
up to the International Year of Volunteers in 2001.

•Facilitate the sharing of the learning within the sector in
Bangladesh, and across the region/globally, whereappropriate•

Develop training materials and carry out training on SLTS tosector staff•

A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism fordevelopment during the assignment, such as reporting on thenumber of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in andcapacities developed.

•Month 11•

Month 12Month 11-1214.. Qualifications/Requirements:• An undergraduate degree in water/sanitation/community development or related field;• Good analytical skills• At least 2-3
3 years of experience in community development;• Excellent understanding of the principles of project activity monitoring;• Excellent people skills to harness the learning from a range of partners and to provide motivation;
motivation• Good communication skills
lls and demonstrated experience in effective report writing• Fluency in written and spoken English is essential
essential;• Working experience in the developed country would be an advantage.
Competencies and values:• Integrity and professionalism
professionalism: demonstrated expertise in area of specialty and ability to apply
good judgment; high degree of autonomy, personal initiative and ability to take ownership;
willingness to accept wide responsibilities and ability to work independently under establishedprocedures in a politicallyolitically sensitive environment, while exercising discretion, impartiality andneutrality; ability to manage information objectively, accurately and confidentially; responsive andclient-oriented;• Commitment to continuous learninglearning: initiative and willingness
gness to learn new skills and stayabreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to adapt to changes in work environment;• Planning and organizing: effective organizational and problem-solving
solving skills and ability tomanage a large volume of wor
work
k in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish priorities andto plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting
deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities;• Teamwork and respect ffor diversity:: ability to operate effectively across organizationalboundaries; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious working
relations in a multi-cultural,cultural, multi
multi-ethnic
ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity
diversit andgender;• Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills,
including ability to prepare clear and concise reports; ability to conduct presentations, articulate
options and positions concisely; ability to make and defend recommendations; ability tocommunicate and empathize with staff (including national staff), military personnel, volunteers,counterparts and local interlocutors coming from very diverse backgrounds; capacity to transfer
information and knowledge
e to a wide range of different target groups;• Flexibility, adaptability, and ability and willingness to operate independently in austere,remote and potentially hazardous environments for protracted periods, involving physical hardshipand little comfort,, and including possible extensive travel within the area of operations; willingness
to transfer to other duty stations within area of operations as may be necessary;
Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement
engagement,, which includes15. Living Conditions:Dhaka is the center of political, cultural and economic life in Bangladesh. Although its urban infrastructureis the most developed in the country, Dhaka suffers from urban problems such as pollution andoverpopulation. In recent decades
decades,, Dhaka has seen modernization of transport, communications andpublic works. The city is attracting large foreign investments and greater volumes of commerce and trade.
It is also experiencing an increasing influx of people from across the nation, this has
ha reportedly madeDhaka one of the fastest growing cities in the worldworld.
16. Conditions of Service
A 12 month contract; monthly volunteer living allowance (VLA) intended to cover housing, basic needs andautilities, equivalent to US$1,885 for single person
person;; US$2,135 for persons with one recognized dependent;
or US$2,335 for persons with two or more recognized dependents; settling
settling-in-grant
grant (if applicable); life,health, and permanent disability insurance; return airfares (if applicable); resettlement allowanceallowanfor
satisfactory service. All UN Volunteers are required to follow the Revised UNV Conditions of Service whichcame into effect in September 2008.
Description of Assignment prepared by the UNV Field Unit/UN Agency:
Charlie Hrachya Sargsyan
Chief of WASH
UNICEF
Date: 22/01/2013
Description of Assignment approved by UNDP/RR/CD or UNV Field Unit:
Sesheeni Joud Selvaratnam
Programme Officer
UNV
Date: 22/01/2013