E T Consultant at World Bank Group

Job Description:

The HoA is one of the most vulnerable regions of the world, characterized by complex development challenges and varying degrees of conflict and fragility, food crises, and social, political, and economic conditions. High poverty levels are most prevalent in the northern parts of Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan. A large portion of households remain vulnerable to poverty, with consumption levels only marginally exceeding the poverty line. Food crises remain ubiquitous across the region, with pockets of famine particularly in countries like Somalia. Food insecurity in the HoA is primarily driven by armed conflict and violence, economic shocks and macroeconomic challenges, climate change-induced erratic or below-average rainfall, and desert locusts.

The region is characterized by high levels of fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV). According to the World Bank Group (WBG), Somalia is experiencing a high intensity conflict, and Ethiopia is experiencing medium-intensity conflict. Kenya and Djibouti are heavily affected by FCV-associated stresses. The current situation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region with its spillover effects over neighbor countries, and the tensions between Kenya and Somalia around the Beled-Hawo area, add additional challenges to the region’s growth and development pathway.  As a consequence of these conflicts, but also due to key climate risks (i.e., drought and floods), the HoA is home to a large number of forcibly displaced people. Transboundary spillover effects from local conflicts can trigger a further increase in forced displacement.

Climate change and variability constitute the main drivers of this regional Program: disrupted climatic patterns, changes in the water source and increased uncertainty have elevated the urgency for building resilience and for tapping into stable groundwater resources to cope with drought, among other shocks and stressors. The region has been affected by longer dry periods since the second half of the 20th century. Climate shocks are key sources of vulnerability, and act as a threat multiplier in FCV situations. In 2011, the East Africa drought killed more than 250,000 people, displaced almost one million, and devastated the agriculture and livestock sectors. Average temperatures in the region could rise by up to 1.5°C in the next 20 years, and up to 4.3°C by the year 2080 due to climate change. Droughts are expected to intensify in the 21st century with longer dry spells and increased evaporation, while a greater proportion of precipitation will come in heavy rainfall events. As recognised by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, climate impacts are also heightening the region’s desertification, land degradation and drought, as it relates to soil carbon loss. These shocks are going to be felt more deeply in the borderlands, due to their high level of vulnerability. 

The Horn of Africa Ground Water for Resilience Project (HoAGWRP), a new multi-phase project benefitting from $385 million in International Development Associatio financing that will boost the region’s capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The project fosters cooperation with Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), who will work together to tap into the region’s largely untapped groundwater resources to cope with and adapt to drought and other climate stressors impacting their vulnerable borderlands. Djibouti and South Sudan have also expressed interest in joining the program in subsequent phases.

This first phase of the HoA Groundwater for Resilience Program (GW4R) is estimated to reach 3.3 million direct beneficiaries, of whom at least 50 percent are women, through interventions designed to increase access to water supply and reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts. It will also contribute to improving food security in a region undergoing a severe drought. Project beneficiaries also include institutions responsible for groundwater management, including line ministries, government agencies, national authorities, and agencies at the national and sub-national levels.

In the short term, the project will establish the building blocks that will enable the medium and long-term agenda of improving transboundary water management in the Horn of Africa. IGAD will play a central role as the main promoter and facilitator of the long-term regional strategy, including data and information sharing. First-phase activities will include constructing medium and small-scale infrastructure to provide sustainable access to groundwater resources in the borderlands, developing information and knowledge on regional aquifers, and building institutional capacity on groundwater management and governance.

The ‘Untapping Resilience: Groundwater Management and Learning the Horn of Africa’ (HoA) ASA (P178786) aims to enhance the HoA's institutional capacity and knowledge base on sustainable groundwater management in the region’s borderlands. Translating knowledge into implementation, and implementation into knowledge, is at the core of this initiative. Supported by the Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) program, the project plays a key role in ensuring that state of the art research, shared knowledge and emerging experience strengthen the implementation of the HoA Groundwater for Resilience (GW4R) regional program (P174867). Implemented in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and by the Intergovernmental Authority in Development (IGAD) in Phase I, the GW4R project seeks to enhance the sustainable access and management of groundwater in the HoA, contributing to the resilience of marginalized and remote borderland communities.

Responsibilities:

The ETC – Water Specialist is expected to provide technical and operational expertise to support the implementation of the HoAGWRP and its parallel CIWA learning Agenda. The candidate is expected to carry out specific duties which will include, but are not limited to:

• Support the task team in coordination of project supervision activities, tracking tools, procurement processes, monitoring and evaluation, in close coordination with country and regional TTLs.
• Provide technical expertise in the review of project documentation (ToRs, technical specifications) linked to project activities and participate in supervision of works.
• Provide hands on support to the different PIUs and sub PIUs, including trainings on technical matters related to management of rural water supply schemes.
• Support the CIWA learning agenda, and contribute to applied research in the context of sustainable and resilient service provision of groundwater in rural FCV environments such as the borderlands of the HoA. Contribute to the different CIWA reports related to this agenda. Special focus should be placed on both adaptation and mitigation - by adopting global best practices.
• Support the Task Team in the application of lessons learned in the preparation of subsequent phases of the MPA in other Horn of Africa countries that may join the program in the future.
• Coordinate the project monitoring platform or MIS, in close collaboration with GIS experts, that is used to assess progress of project activities in component 1 on infrastructure delivery, by participating in trainings of M&E staff, and providing quality control of the information uploaded, ensuring the tool is also up to date with latest project information.
• Contribute to facilitation of regional events in hydro-diplomacy dialogue with clients on transboundary project activities.
• Help supervise quality of deliverables from other CIWA consultants supporting the learning agenda, at both national and regional levels.
• Participate in field missions in the areas of specialization, provide technical inputs and guidance to client counterparts as required by operational and analytical task team leaders. Preparing project briefs, Aide Memoires, but also funding proposals for additional TFs to enhance the learning agenda and capacity building linked on groundwater management matters.
• Support the reporting of Trust Funded activities and manage the activities.
• Participate and support knowledge sharing activities across countries in the region and contribute specific knowledge both within the assigned countries and in the World Bank.

Selection Criteria

• Master’s degree in technical fields relevant to water, groundwater and water service provision, such as civil engineering, hydrology, physical sciences, urban infrastructure and planning, environmental planning, public management, or equivalent, and a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in project management or infrastructure supervision.
• Experience in leading an interdisciplinary strategic planning exercises around water, or on a related topic (rural development, climate change, disaster risk planning or infrastructure planning).
• Extensive knowledge of water issues and rural development, climate change (adaption/mitigation), disaster risk management and local government in Africa.
• Experience working on complex risk programs involving multi-stakeholder coordination.
• Experience working in FCV environments.
• Demonstrated skills to engage and effectively lead dialogues with both local communities affected by rural risks as well as community leaders and decision makers charged with action.
• Strong conceptual and research/analytical skills with the ability to rapidly analyze and integrate diverse information from varied sources into conclusion and recommendations.
• Demonstrated effective communication skills, speaking and writing, and outstanding interpersonal skills, effective team member.
• Experience in donor-funded projects and/or project management in water / governance, sustainable landscapes, territorial development, or regional planning dimensions.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to lead teams and function effectively as a member of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Proven track record of delivery of high-quality outputs while working under pressure, in a multi-sector environment, and within tight deadlines.
• Knowledge of World Bank operational policies, practices and procedures is an asset.
• Excellent and effective command of English in verbal and written forms required.