Nutrition and WASH Specialist at DAI

Summary of primary activities

The Nutrition/WASH Specialist will support the respective Western Nutrition/WASH Manager in implementation, monitoring and reporting of integrated KIWASH nutrition and WASH activities in the assigned county. The Specialist, will be based in Kakamega and will work with county government staff/ partners in supporting scale up of sanitation, sanitation marketing and hygiene promotion within the KIWASH program approach which focuses on convergence and integration of Essential WASH Actions (EWA), Essential Nutrition Actions (ENA) and promotion of productive use of water in the target counties.

Essential Duties:

• Provide technical assistance to county public health and nutrition departments in implementation of WASH and Nutrition interventions in the respective county;
• Advocate for, and provide technical support to counties in, development and review of county sanitation plans/budgets, and identify areas of synergy with KIWASH nutrition and WASH plans;
• Collaborate with county staff/stakeholders in review and harmonization of manuals, guides and job aids developed for promotion of ENA/EWA’s;
• Support the integrated roll-out of ENA training materials and training programs with EWA messaging at the County level by collaborating with the AIDS, Population and Health Integrated Assistance (APHIA) plus partners, Netherlands Development Organization- SNV, County Officer including Nutritionists, Agriculture Extension and Public Health Officers to coordinate and plan trainings for:
  • clinic supervisors, community health volunteers, Maternal Child Health nurses, other facility-based service providers, peer counselors and school clubs on integration of ENA/EWA’s;
  • County public health staff, community health workers and Community Led Total Sanitation/sanitation promoters in up scaling hygienic sanitation in communities.
• Support regular procurement, stockpiling, delivery and end user monitoring of WASH hygiene distribution kits;
• Together with the county-based Multiple Use System (MUS) Household Production Specialist, work with agriculture extension workers and FTF partners to:
  • Identify beneficiaries from the integration of WASH/Nutrition services;
  • Promote integration of ENA/EWA’s through promotion of productive use of water and improved dietary diversity for communities and facilities;
• Establish and nurture partnerships with counties, private sector, community based organizations and organized community groups to promote WASH products and services at the county level;
• Promote and reinforce behaviors and products through KIWASH behavior change communications and messaging strategies;
• Support establishment/strengthening of inter-sectoral coordination forums at counties with representation from WASH, nutrition, health and agricultural sectors at county level;
• Support stakeholders and KIWASH team in project performance monitoring and reporting on lessons learnt and best practices for up scaling;
• Prepare and submit timely progress reports and other necessary documentation as assigned;
• Other tasks as required by the supervisor.

Qualifications

• 5 years of experience working in WASH-related programs (nutrition, water supply, sanitation, hygiene and small scale agricultural production as it pertains to water and sanitation services) in Kenya;
• Knowledge and experience working on Kenyan nutrition, water supply and sanitation and small scale agricultural production is required;
• Qualifications in agriculture or related area an added advantage;
• Experience working in community - based nutrition, CLTS /rural sanitation programs and Behavior change communication is desirable;
• English/Kiswahili language written and verbal fluency required;
• Knowledge of local languages is an added advantage.