LGA Technical Officer – Improving Equitable Access to Basic Sanitation and Hygiene for People Living in Fragile Contexts

About Self Help Africa

Self Help Africa (SHA) is an international development organisation headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and dedicated to the vision of ‘Sustainable livelihoods and healthy lives for all in a changing climate’. We have almost 50 years of experience working in Africa.

In 2021, Self Help Africa merged with United Purpose, doubling our size. The organisation now works in 17 programme countries, 15 of these are in sub Saharan Africa. Subsidiary organisations, ‘Self Help Brazil’ and ‘Self Help Bangladesh’ have been created for our programmes in the two countries where we are working outside of Africa.

In early 2023, we launched a new five-year organisation strategy, which defines shared mission as the alleviation of hunger, poverty, social inequality and the impact of climate change through community-led, market-based and enterprise-focused approaches, so that people can have access to nutritious food, clean water, decent employment and incomes, while sustaining natural resources.

Our wider organisation also includes social enterprise subsidiaries Partner Africa, which provides ethical auditing and consultancy services, TruTrade, an innovative trading platform in East Africa, and CUMO, Malawi’s largest micro-finance provider.

Our three core values are:
▪ Impact: We are accountable, ambitious and committed to systemic change.
▪ Innovation: We are agile, creative and enterprising in an ever-changing world.
▪ Community: We are inclusive, honest and have integrity in our relationships.Job Purpose:
The LGA Technical Officer will support the execution of a pilot project titled ‘Improving Equitable Access to Basic Sanitation and Hygiene for People Living in Fragile Contexts’ in Benue state.

The 18 months rural sanitation research/learning/implementation project, aim to develop and widely share an adapted approach and ‘toolbox’ of scalable solutions to Area Wide Sanitation (AWS) in fragile and conflict-affected areas in Nigeria.

The approach is based on refinement and evaluation of an approach previously innovated by Self Help Africa/United Purpose (SHA/UP) in Nigeria—the ‘WASH Security Response Plan’—incorporating additional elements such as market based sanitation (MBS) and wider systems strengthening, aiming to achieve AWS outcomes within LGAs affected by conflict and internally displaced communities.

The approach and scalable solutions will be tested in Benue state and shared widely with sector players within Nigeria and globally, with the expectation that these learnings and adaptations will be adopted and further adapted by different actors to reduce the barriers of AWS efforts in fragile communities.

Specifically, the Project Coordinator will focus on achieving the following objectives:
– Objective 1: Learnings from effective approaches to AWS in fragile contexts in Nigeria and beyond are harvested and integrated within action research piloting.
– Objective 2: An appropriate, inclusive, and effective approach to AWS (including CLTS and MBS) in fragile contexts is evolved and tested in Benue State, Nigeria
– Objective 3: Learnings documented, and guidance developed on AWS in fragile contexts and shared for uptake within Nigeria and beyond. Key Responsibilities:

Plan, design and ensure delivery of project activities at the LGA level in line with the project scope of work and Self Help Africa operations guideline.

Coordinate with project stakeholders at the State and LGA level including local government, WASH Department/Unit, WASHCOMs and other stakeholders.

Monitor and ensure planned activities are implemented at the LGA level as per project’s design and budget allocations.

Provide strategic and technical support to partners (WASH Unit) – including in terms of M&E capacities, to community partners (WASHCOMs), and other stakeholders to ensure on-time implementation of project activities at LGA level.

Ensuring quality of delivery through proper evaluation of needs, proper organisation of workshops and implementation of what will be agreed during workshop, promotion of systems strengthening approach and support to stakeholders at LGA level.

Support in the development/identification of training modules SBCC (Social Behavior Change Communication), (Information, Education and Communication) and promotional materials.

Provide support to MEAL team for the tracking and monitoring of progress, data collection, database administration, documentation of the project’s impacts and results, and M&E related support at the LGA level as required.

Conduct regular visits to fields, documentation on field activities including project’s impacts and results, and submit reports to line manager timely.

Ensure health safety and security measures during facilitation of activities at field level.

Specific duties and responsibilities:

Planning, implementation, and budget management:
Prepare and implement activity plans at the LGA level keeping coherent link with the project scope of work and budget.

Support programme structures at the LGA level towards identifying capacity building needs for effective WASH delivery.

Support the development of participatory assessment tools to inform implementation and training strategies.

Support Project team in the review of the project scope of work regularly and update in accordance with learnings, stakeholder input and consultation with project team

Ensure that at the LGA level there is budgetary compliance with grant agreement and alignment to both SHA and USAID financial and procurement policies.

Networking and coordination:
Coordinate with and between all bodies and institutions involved in activities at the LGA level, particularly LGA WASH department/ Unit and other community ensure effective implementation of activities in achieving project objectives.

Conduct in-person outreach with partners at the LGA level, project stakeholders, WASHCOMs, and community leaders.

Provide strategic and technical support to field teams in building and maintaining cohesive coordination with the local government authorities.

Strengthening and capacity building of WASHCOM Groups:
Support Project stakeholders at the LGA level, and WASH Unit in developing a training guide to facilitate WASH activities in the communities.

Facilitate capacity building of LGA WASH departments/units and civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and work closely with the national market-based sanitation consultant, the LGA WASH unit, market actors and other community partners and stakeholders in rolling out an adopted sanitation marketing approach in a fragile context.

Support the development of Strategic Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) materials to local and project contexts in coordination with stakeholders at the LGA level.

Provide technical support to field teams in designing and conducting capacity-building activities for WASHCOMs as per the capacity development plan.

Knowledge management, monitoring, reporting and documentation
Provide support and work with the MEAL Coordinator in tracking of activity progress, and timely collection of quantitative and qualitative information from the fields through coordination with field teams, and other counterparts, when required.

Support the MEAL team’s efforts to document the project’s achievements, results, learnings and impacts.

Provide weekly updates and monthly reports as per the approved format summarising the progress made in implementing activities, lessons learnt, and recommendations for improvement.

Team management and safeguarding:
Supervise and guide LGA Field team (WASH Unit staff), and implement performance planning and tracking for team members.

Ensure coordination and teamwork and cohesive team spirit amongst the LGA-level field team’s members.

Support periodic/schedule coordination and project progress review meetings with the LGA-level field team members, and relevant stakeholders.

Demonstrable experience in and commitment to safeguarding, protection, gender mainstreaming and inclusion of Vulnerable populations including people with disabilities.

Establish feedback response mechanisms across communities of implementation.

Key Relationships:Internal: Programme Coordinator, Programme, MEAL, Operations, Finance & Compliance and Security teams.

External: LGA WASH Unit and other stakeholders.Knowledge, Experience and Other RequirementsEssential:

Education and other qualifications:
At least a first degree in Public Health, Sanitation, Engineering, Rural Development or any other related field.

Demonstrable work experience in the development sector with experience managing complex programmes in the WASH sector.

ICT operation, and proficiency in MS Office.

Experience
At least 4 years of working experience with INGO/NGO in the same sector or equivalent position.

Experience in the field of WASH systems strengthening, Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), and Market-Based Sanitation (MBS).

Experience in the development of high-standard SBCC and IEC material, training modules, and promotional material.

Experience in community development especially empowerment and leadership development of community groups.

Proven experience with projects requiring strong M&E

Experience in working with culturally diverse teams.

Skills:
Project management and implementation

Monitoring and evaluation

Understanding of WASH interventions

Communication, networking, facilitation and community mobilisation.

Effective communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills.

Respect for cultural diversity and gender sensitivity.

Team leadership and mentoring

Organisational development.

Reporting and documentation.

Desirable:

Language Requirements:
Written and oral proficiency in English and relevant local language is required.