Subject Matter Specialist - Human Resources for Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) Assessment, Liberia at Social Impact (SI)

Background

• In Liberia, SI supports IBI to implement the USAID-funded Liberia Data, Evaluation, Learning and Technical Assistance (DELTA) with the goal to provide an innovative degree of analytical and advisory services to USAID/Liberia’s Office of Program and Project Development (PPD) and Development Objective (DO) teams in support of the Mission’s project design, performance monitoring and evaluation, and operational learning and adapting.

Project Objectives

• Liberians have poor access to clean water and sanitation services compared to other countries in the region, which contributes to poor health outcomes especially for children.
• This is due to weak sector governance, government institution capacity to manage, and funding constraints that hinder access to improved WASH services.
• Data from UNICEF and WHO Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP 2020) indicates that, about 75.26% of Liberians have access to a basic level of drinking water, where 85.53% of the residents are in urban areas and 64.10% of residents in rural areas.
• Sanitation and hygiene also remain inadequate due to a lack of latrines and management systems.
• Open defecation is the primary method of human waste disposal in rural areas as well as for many urban residents.
• According to data (JMP 2020) about 18.16% of Liberians had access to basic sanitation services where 29.02% of the residents are in urban areas and just 6.36% of residents in rural areas.
• Liberia not only lacks water and sanitation infrastructure, but also needs improved sector governance, more capacity and financial models to design, build, operate and maintain the medium to large scale WASH infrastructure (e.g. water supply systems, institutional toilets).
• There is limited capacity of the government, communities, and private sector to properly manage and maintain water and sanitation infrastructure in both rural and urban areas of the country.
• At the national level, this problem is exacerbated by the lack of coordination among WASH-related ministries and entities, compounded by the shortage of sufficiently skilled personnel in government and civil society related to water and sanitation.
• However, the gaps in data availability and quality across the country calls into question the current state of human resources for WASH in Liberia.
• To address the human resources needs related to WASH in Liberia, USAID/Liberia intends to carry out a human resource gap analysis related to WASH operations, maintenance, management and training, and assess current and future HR needs related to WASH in all 15 counties of Liberia.

USAID/Liberia has engaged DELTA to conduct this gap analysis and assessment. This assessment will provide USAID/Liberia with robust information about the workforce needs related to water supply and sanitation (WASH operations, maintenance, management and training) and associated gaps as well as:

• Identify types of training institutions and programs for WASH professionals in Liberia
• Quantify the existing HR training capacity in the country and assess the gaps/shortages
• Estimate a proxy of HR demand per type of service delivery (obtaining, cleaning, transportation, delivery of clean water and safe sewage disposal)  per 10,000 people.
• Analyze the skills and education levels required to operate and maintain medium to small sized water and sanitation systems annually in Liberia in the following areas:
  • Drinking water - piped systems and small systems
  • Sanitation - sewer networks and wastewater treatment (as applicable)
  • Sanitation - on-site systems and fecal sludge management (as applicable)   
  • Hand hygiene - facilities/technologies and behavior change
  • Any other sanitation infrastructure relevant to specific in-community needs (including community toilets and hand pump operations)
• Specific planning and training efforts required to fill the operations and maintenance (O&M) HR gap
• Clear recommendations on how to address the HR gaps and needs in Liberia
• Familiarity with existing secondary data sources and processes for acquiring secondary data on WASH human resources in Liberia highly preferred.

Position Description

• SI is seeking two Subject Matter Specialists - HR for WASH to support the implementing of this assessment.
• This is a consulting position with an estimated start date of November 28, 2022.
• The estimated level of effort (LOE) for each Subject Matter Specialist will be 35 days, with expected travel across several counties in Liberia.
• The Subject Matter Experts will directly report to the Team Leader (TL), as well as DELTA Deputy Chief of Party and Senior M&E Advisor and work under the supervision of the Assessment and Evaluation Specialist, both based in Monrovia.

Responsibilities

• The two Liberian subject matter specialists will work under the supervision of the TL.
• They will be responsible for providing specific health workforce for WASH expertise (especially in management and operations of sanitation and water systems) and contributing to all aspects of the assessment.

Subject Matter Specialists will perform the following duties alongside the Team Leader:

• Document current environment for human resources for the WASH sector through a comprehensive desk review, including gathering, cleaning and analyzing a large quantity of secondary data,
• Travel within selected counties and conduct in-person and remote KIIs,
• Contribute to the consultant team’s collaborative production of the following high-quality deliverables:
  • Work plan with methodology and interview protocols
  • PowerPoint presentations to USAID/Liberia
  • Draft Assessment Report
  • Final Assessment Report
  • Infographic Brief
• Make recommendations based for greater impact/results in the HR for WASH landscape of Liberia and future programs and designs.

Qualifications
Requirements for this position include:

• A Master's Degree in a relevant Public Health discipline with 5 - 7 years of experience in the public health sector 
• Significant experience in the WASH landscape in Liberia
• Prior experience with the Department of Public Works, Ministry of Health and Government of Liberia WASH entities is preferred
• Proven expertise in conducting operational research (both quantitative and qualitative), monitoring and evaluation and/or health program implementation research
• Significant experience in assessments or evaluation and conducting qualitative/quantitative data analysis (including statistical regressions)
• Ability to liaise with multiple agencies/clients and exceptional organizational and communications skills,
• A commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive work and learning environment.
• Willingness to travel to multiple areas within Liberia
• Prior work experience in Liberia is recommended
• Fluency in English is required.