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
elopment 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 andansupport within the communities. In this context, UN Volunteers take part in various 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 vo
volunteerism
lunteerism through their action and conduct. Engaging involunteer activity can effectively 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:

WASH Cluster Information Officer

UNV PSRF, Outcome 4 ‘Volunteer contributions towards crisis prevention and recovery in UNV
programme countries strengthened and recognised’
2. Type of Assignment:International UN Volunteer

3. Project Title:

Strengthening of the WASH Cluster in Bangladesh

4. Duration:

12 Months

5. Location, Country:

Dhaka, Bangladesh

6. Expected Starting Date:

March 2013

7. Brief Project Description:
The WASH Cluster has been in operation in Bangladesh since 2007 and historically, has beencharacterised by periods of high activity in response to emergencies including Cyclone Aila and Sidar
followed by periods
riods of reduced activity. With UNICEF support, the Cluster has been reactivated in 2012,
through a renewed focus on emergency preparedness and capacity building of partners. As part of thiswork, a Work Plan has been developed to address the priorities fo
forr the Cluster to better anticipate, prepare,respond, coordinate and monitor emergency responses, with one of the key demands being to improve thefunctionality and effectiveness of the current website for the WASH Cluster in Bangladesh to strengthen
Cluster
er Information Management. This strengthening is expected to include web-pagewebdevelopment andmanagement, the creation and maintenance of GIS
GIS-basedbased WASH emergency databases, an online datacollection system and document processing.
The proposed WASH Cluster
ter Information Officer would work closely with the government and sector staff
to build their capacity to share and analyses information, to improve their disaster preparedness,preparedness with anestablished network of trained staff in the districts.
8. Host Agency/Host Institute: WASH Section, UNICEF Bangladesh
9. Organizational Context:
The WASH Cluster Information Officer will work closely with Cluster partners including local andinternational NGOs and government departments involved in the emergency pr
preparedness
eparedness and response
activities in Bangladesh, including Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) and the national
Disaster Management Bureau.

The Information Officer will work closely with the NGOs and government staff to determine the needs andthe gaps in terms of information sharing and will work together with the partnpartnersers to identify solutions. Thesector partners will support the Information Officer by providing timely and representative feedback on theneeds and priorities for Information M
Management
anagement in the Cluster in terms of preparedness and response,and will share information to be uploaded to the website to be shared by all partners. Sector partners will
be involved in the review of the tools and resources deve
developed
loped and will provide feedback,feedin addition toparticipating in the Information Management training at local and national levels. Building the capacity of
the cluster at a local level, through effective and timely information sharing on the website, is imperative forthe effective and sustained functioning of the WASH Cluster in Bangladesh.
The success of the website, the information contained therein and the capacity of the field staff to maintainand update the site is critical to the effective functioning of the Cluster, in terms of preparedness andresponse. A fully functioning website with easy to access information, will enable partners to moreaccurately identify gaps and mitigate against potential overlap
overlap,, ensuring a more effective response.
responseUNICEF
EF will be the host agency anand is the WASH Cluster Lead. As the Cluster Lead, UNICEF would offer
a dynamic, challenging and supporting learning environment for the proposed UNV with access totechnical support at a local, national, regional and global level
levels in terms of both Information
Informati Managementand WASH.
10.. Type of Assignment Place: assignment withwithout family (HPC specific)
11. Description of tasks:
Under the direct supervision of the WASH Specialist
Specialist, the UNV WASH Cluster Information Officer
will undertake the following tasks:a. Conduct a review of the current WASH Cluster website to assess options for improvement;b. Consult with sector partners and collate the requirements to improve the functionality andeffectiveness of the website;c. Maintain the WASH Cluster website ensuring CMS (content management system) to enable easy
management/upload of information;d. Ensure that updates from partners are incorporated into the databases and maps generatedaccordingly;
e. Liaise with partners across the sector on the usefulness of the tools concontained
tained within the website
and to make changes where necessary;f. Prepare training material and monitoring tools for Cluster staff at a national and sub-national
sublevel;g. Train counterpart government staff and NGO staff at a national and sub-national
sublevel on thecreation and maintenance of the webpages, databases and reporting tools.
1Promotion of the United Nations Volunteers Programme mandate
UN 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 aass UNV Information Officer:•Strengthen knowledge and understanding of the influence and impact of voluntary action bycommunities in Bangladesh through the following:ooo1

research of the subject matter,develop knowledge of non
non-profit community based organizations developing new orapplying traditional methods in engaging with communities,
undertake awarenessawareness-raisingraising (promotion) activities for increased community
participation and action,

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme was created by the General 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.

o•••••

encourage local people to volunteer thought and action to enhan
enhancing
cing 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 W
Web site;
Encourage, mobilize and support coco-workers
workers and fellow UN volunteers to better understand theconnections between community 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:
Tasks/deliverables• Collate feedback/requirements of the Cluster partners for thewebsite• Overhaul the WASH Cluster website based on review andfeedback (including the uploading of key WASH inEmergency documents);• Update databases and reporting tools;• Set up a webpage for each Division in Bangladesh,
incorporating data for that divisio
division where available;• Develop training materials (tools and resources) for training
on the maintenance of the Cluster webpages;• Carry out training to government counterpart and NGO staff
at national and sub-national
national level;•TimeframeMonth 1•Month 2-33••

Months 4-64Months
ths 7-87•

Months 9-109•

Months 11-121114.. Qualifications/Requirements:• At least a Master’s degree in Information Management or similar field;• At least three years’ experience in the development of websites and databases using CMS(content management system)
system), including Joomla Platform;• Excellent communication skills and demonstrated experience in carrying out training;training• Excellent skills on GIS mapping including Arc GIS 9.0
9.0;• Fluency in written and spoken English is essential
essential;• Working experience in the dedeveloped 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 politically sensitive environment, while exercising discretion, impartiality andneutrality; ability to manage information objectively, accurate
accurately
ly and confidentially; responsive andclient-oriented;• Commitment to continuous learninglearning:: initiative and willingness to learn new skills and stayabreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to adapt to changes in work environment;• Planningg and organizing: effective organizational and problem-solving
solving skills and ability to
manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish priorities andto plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under prespressure,sure, with conflicting
deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities;• Teamwork and respect for diversity
diversity:: ability to operate effectively across organizationalboundaries; ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and harmonious
harworking
relations in a multi-cultural,cultural, multi
multi-ethnic
ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity andgender;• Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written communication skills,
including ability to prepare clear anandd 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
parts and local interlocutors coming from very diverse backgrounds; capacity to transfer
information and knowledge to a wide range of different target groups;• Flexibility, adaptability, and ability and willingness to operate independently in austere,remoteote 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 operatio
operations
ns as may be necessary; Genuine commitment towards the principles of voluntary engagement,engagement which includes
solidarity, compassion, reciprocity and self
self-reliance;
reliance; and commitment towards the UN core values.

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, Dhaka has seen momodernization
dernization 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 reportedly madeDhaka
haka one of the fastest growing cities in the world
world.
16. Conditions of Service
A 12 month contract; monthly volunteer living allowance (VLA) intended to cover housing, basic needs andutilities, equivalent to US$1,885 for single person; US$2,135 for pers
persons
ons 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 allowance forsatisfactory 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
UNVDate: 22/01/2013