ABH Partners Plc is a leading consultancy and human resources sourcing firm in Ethiopia with about 15 years of experience in supporting the implementation of development programs and projects. ABH exists to fuel synergistic societal growth by harnessing local knowledge and international standard. Dedicated to the betterment of societal development, technical assistance, and knowledge management, ABH has gained credibility and industry experience in the development sector in general. ABH partners would like to invite applicants who meet the below requirements to apply for the position of Senior Solarization Specialist.
Title: Senior Solarization Specialist
Level - NOC
Number of Posts: One
Duty Station: Different Regions
Duration: 12months with possibility of extension based on
evaluation of performance.
Reporting to: WASH Managerin UNICEF WASH Section
Background
Ethiopia has made impressive progress in expanding access to water and sanitation from a very low base. In the 1990s, only 14% of the population had access to water and 3% to sanitation coverage. In 2017, this had increased to 65% and 32% respectively. In 20 years, 45 million people gained access to water. Ethiopia has made rapid progress in reducing open defecation (92% of population in 1992 to 28% in 2015).
Despite the good progress that Ethiopia has made in improving access to WaSH, frequent climate variability that led to successive droughts affecting large geographical areas, huge existing unmet needs, and geographical and social disparities have remained key challenges. Especially, for water supply, the source of energy for pumping water continues to be a huge challenge and most of the water system is depending on fuel generators. The fuel cost becoming beyond the community ability to pay. In addition to that, sustainable fuel supply is a day-to-day challenge in the entire country.
To address these challenges, particularly the big fuel price and its nonreliability in the market, with the support of key donors, UNICEF jointly with Government of Ethiopia (GoE) started solarization of water schemes for most affected communities in remote areas.
UNICEF is committed to address challenges related to high cost water production and service delivery by increasing climate resilience through adaptation and mitigation measures which include solarization of water schemes in all regions of Ethiopia. The programme prioritises the most affected and drought prone areas of Ethiopia or sites which are reliant on fuel powered systems through strengthened climate resilient systems of WaSH delivery.
Justification
Since the Solarization Projects are implemented in both fuel and electricity energy source scarce areas, it is expected to be a problem-solving approach . Selected sites are often in remote areas and the water system is serving small towns or multiple villages. The topography is more challenging and complex for the solar system implementation, operation, maintenance, and management. Considering the limited capacity of the government counterparts and UNICEF staff in delivering solarization projects and considering the importance of quality assurance from planning to post construction (during defect liability period), dedicated expertise is required.
As part of the climate resilient programme implementation approach of WASH, solarization projects need to be given due attention for each phase of project implementation, including planning, design, implementation, construction supervision, O&M management, staff capacity building, and project commissioning. This gap shall be filled by deploying experienced sector expert that provide specialized support to the regions and UNICEF.
Specific Tasks
The role of the “Senior Water system solarisation Specialist” working under the Third Party Organization (ABH) to support and facilitate the effective implementation of particularly the “Water system solarisation in different parts of the region of Ethiopia. The role of the Senior Water system solarisation Specialist will be to support UNICEF and Water Bureaus in different regional states of Ethiopia and providing them with preparation of technical specification, construction supervision of solar contractors, payment preparations and approval, skill transfer through providing training by preparing of training manual.
The Senior Water system solarisation Specialist will work with UNICEF Urban WASH specialist that is responsible for managing and coordinating the Solarization Program implementing in different regions. UNICEF Urban WASH Specialist would affirm that work plans developed by the Senior Water system solarisation Specialist to discharge his/her assigned duties are logically compatible with his/her respective job descriptions and would monitor that the planned services are delivered by the expert in a manner and in line with the objective of the project/program. Based on the roles described above, the specific areas of responsibility of the Senior Water system solarisation Specialist include, but are not limited to:
A. Technical aspects
B. Program Planning and Management
C. Sector Support
Methodology
The Consultant will support UNICEF and regional water bureaus, zones, woredas or utilities where relevant in the implementation of the tasks outlined in this TOR. Consultant will ensure that all technical specifications are endorsed by the supplier prior to installation (following modalities which are agreed with UNICEF WASH and supply sections). The consultant will travel at different stages of implementation for pre-implementation to post-construction assessment, as per requirement. Coordination with different partners and actors is of upmost importance to ensure smooth implementation of the Water system solarisation project activities in the regions.
Duration of the Assignment: The assignment will be for six months with possibility of extension based on evaluation of performance. Under- or non-performance will result in immediate termination of the contract.
Expected Deliverables
1.Provide support work plan to be updated Weekly — immediately after deployment,
2.Weekly report every Friday.
3.Monthly consolidated reports at the last week of the month.
4.End of contract report - upon conclusion of the assignment.
Payment Terms
The agreed consultancy fee will be paid in monthly installments, upon presentation of satisfactory reports and good performance.
Reporting
The consultant will be housed in the respective project implementation sites and will work within UNICEF regional WASH team. The specialist will have full responsibility for the Water system solarisation project activities in the regions and will be supervised by the UNICEF Urban WASH Specialist coordinating the Solarization Program.
The reporting requirements will be as per the deliverables plan indicated above and shall be submitted to ABH. ABH will forward each report to WASH section of UNICEF as per the above deliverables plan.
Expected background and Experience
General Conditions: Procedures and Logistics
Policy both parties should be aware of:
Under the consultancy agreement, a month is defined as 21 working days, and fees are prorated accordingly. Consultants are not paid for weekends or public holidays.
Consultants are not entitled to payment of overtime. All remuneration must be within the contract agreement.