Consultant WASH in Healthcare Facilities, WASH PG to WASH Global Practice, Nairobi COE, remote. Req# 588485

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines fordeveloping countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

Consultancy: Consultant WASH in Healthcare Facilities  

Duty Station: WASH PG to WASH Global Practice, Nairobi COE

Duration: 15 December 2025 – 31 December 2026

Home/ Office Based: Remote

 

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

Access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) is foundational to the provision of quality healthcare. Yet healthcare facilities across low- and middle-income countries are without these basic services. A 2022 progress report  from the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene on WASH in healthcare facilities found that worldwide, 1 in 5 healthcare facilities (HCF) lack basic water services, 1 in 2 lack basic hand hygiene services, and 1 in 10 lack toilets. These poor conditions put more than 1.7 billion people at risk of contracting an infection, especially newborns and mothers, while receiving care and placing healthcare workers in dangerous environments to provide healthcare.

In the least developed countries, the problem is even greater: half of HCF lack basic water services. Furthermore, the extent of the problem remains hidden because major gaps in data persist, especially in environmental cleaning. COVID-19 has exposed key vulnerabilities in health systems, such as inadequate infection prevention and control. WASH services in HCF, so often taken for granted, are needed more than ever to protect vulnerable health workers and patients. Inadequate WASH conditions undermine not only quality care, but also impact initiatives aimed at improving maternal and child health and reducing antimicrobial resistance. 

Progress has been made since the 2018 Global Call to Action on WASH in HCF issued by the UN Secretary-General which has elevated the programme among all UN agencies, partners, and Member States. Building upon this Global Call, all 194 WHO Member States unanimously approved a resolution on WASH in HCF at the 2019 World Health Assembly and in 2019, WHO and UNICEF published the Eight Practical Steps for universal WASH access. In 2023, the UN General Assembly passed another resolution in support of the issue. This year, UNICEF and WHO will lead on the reporting back on the UN Resolution and host a major event at UNGA to showcase progress and highlight remaining needs.

In 2023, UNICEF received support from the Republic of Korea to implement the largest-ever global WASH in HCFs programme, under the programme “Maintaining and Strengthening Essential Health Services through ACT-A Investments”. After two years, the programme is winding down activities in the 34 programme countries. This consultancy will support the final workplanning, reporting, and documentation of the ACT-A programme. The consultant will also strategize around future resource mobilization and support global advocacy on WASH in HCFs, including faith-based action.

There is currently no sufficient funding to cover all planned activities. Some deliverables are planned to be completed if additional resources become available.

Scope of Work: 

This consultant will provide the following deliverables:

• Draft the donor report for the second year of the ACT-A programme, based on country programme reporting and the results framework
• Support workplanning for the implementation of the third year of ACT-A programming
• Document key lessons learned from the three years of ACT-A WASH in HCF activities
• Identify opportunities to mobilize additional resources for WASH and IPC in HCFs
• Support UNICEF’s global advocacy for WASH in HCFs and IPC, including hand hygie