Consultancy: WASH Financing at United Nations World Food Programme

Job description

The main objectives of this assignment are to develop four detailed country level assessments of WASH financing; and produce a report on the state of current and future WASH financing in ESAR. UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Background and Justification

UNICEF’s Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) is seeking a consultant to assess the state of financing of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in the Eastern and Southern Africa region (ESAR). This consultancy aims to fill a critical void of evidence in the region by producing the first-ever publication that covers the broad scope of WASH financing issues in a single document. The study will look at all aspects of WASH financing, including the overarching sector context, government financing, donor financing, household financing, the quality and equity of financing, the financial gap and financing options. This will involve both primary and secondary data collection efforts, including country visits, to put together the most comprehensive picture possible. Ultimately the findings and core recommendations will bolster planned advocacy activities at the country level with Budget and Finance Departments in government ministries that are responsible for delivering WASH services so that all children have access to quality WASH services.

Objectives and Scope of Work

The main objectives of this assignment are to: (i) develop four detailed country level assessments of WASH financing; and (ii) produce a report on the state of current and future WASH financing in ESAR.

The assignment will begin with a draft inception report. This will include a comprehensive review of existing data on WASH financing from governments, donors and households – e.g. the UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) , the World Health Organization’s (WHO) TrackFin , Government Spending Watch , UNICEF’s WASH budget briefs , OECD-Development Assistance Committee Creditor Reporting System , Public Expenditure Reviews (PERs), Public Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS) and other country-level studies – as well as a detailed description of the methodology (including report structures) and proposed work plan.

It will then produce four case studies. This will involve data collection missions to countries selected by UNICEF in ESAR (countries to be decided). The production of analytical and advocacy products will benefit the respective countries, but these deep dive assessment are also expected to serve as key inputs into the regional report to complement.

Lastly, the assignment will develop a regional report. An initial structure is presented in Box 1 to facilitate discussions around the scope and content. The analysis will rely on compiling and analysing information from various sources (as earlier identified), which will be complemented by the detailed information collected during the field work. For information on the financial gap and financing options, the consultant will build on existing literature as well as the cost and financing gap tool developed by UNICEF and the World Bank and implemented through Sanitation and Water for All . A technical review committee will be established within UNICEF to guide the content of the report and provide quality assurance as the various drafts are developed.

Box 1. Draft chapter outline

Introduction

• Background
• Methodology
• Caveats
• Report structure

WASH sector context

• History/geography
• Demography
• Macroeconomy
• Recent developments in WASH systems and snapshot of current status
• WASH sector policies, strategies and plans (based on country consultations)
• Key takeaways

Government financing of WASH services

• Overall trends since 2000: nominal and real values, as % of GDP, per person spending
• Overall priority of WASH: as a % total budget, compare to military spending and global benchmarks
• Priorities within WASH sector: by individual services (water, sanitiation and hygiene)
• Key takeaways

Donor financing of WASH services

• Trends since 2000: early enthusiasm and recent decline, role of bilaterals and multilaterals
• Main modalities (budget support, pools) (trends based on country consultations with gaps filled by OECD-DAC database)
• Accounting practices (on budget, off budget – based on country consultations)
• Fragmentation and alignment with needs
• Growing interest in performance-based financing mechanisms
• Key takeaways

Household financing of WASH services

• Privitization trends
• Tariffs
• User fees
• Key takeaways

The overall financing picture

Comparison of government, donor and household financing
Key takeaways

Composition and equity of WASH investments

• Capital versus recurrent
• Rural versus urban areas
• Relationship between more investments and improved services
• Key takeaways

The financial gap

• Projected financial shortfall to meet relevant SDGs
• Key takeaways

Financing options

• Key statistics
• Summary of general options to increase fiscal space for WASH
• Summary of global innovative financing ideas
• Key takeaways

Delivering quality WASH services for all children: Main recommendations

Note: This will build on the key takeways from each of the chapters
Recommendation 1
Recommendation 2
Recommendation 3

The consultant will be required to work independently and carry out all of the data compilation and analysis, literature reviews and development and writing of the content for the country and regional reports. She/he will also be expected to follow up with UNICEF country offices across ESAR to collect and validate information, as required.

Overall the work is expected to be carried out in 90 days over a nine month period. The performance will be assessed according to the quality, creativity and usefulness of the content produced, responsiveness to feedback throughout the process, and capacity to on time delivery. The main tasks and deliverables are summarized below.

• Main tasks
• Details
• Deliverables
• Duration