Senior Lobby & Advocacy Consultant WASH & IWRM Watershed Programme

Watershed- empowering citizens is a strategic partnership designed to strengthen policy and advocacy capacity of civil society globally. Watershed focus on the linkages between Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The programme is active in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mali and Uganda, as well as a program component in The Netherlands and at international level. Watershed is a 5-year partnership of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IRC, Simavi, Wetlands International and Akvo. The long-term objective of Watershed, is improved governance for WASH and IWRM so that all citizens, including the most marginalised, can benefit from sustainable services. The immediate goal is to enhance citizens’ ability to obtain information so that civil society organisations (CSOs) can advocate for change based on reliable, accurate data. Watershed is currently implementing its fourth year of implementation. For 2019, the consortium and local CSOs have identified three concrete priority areas for capacity development in 2019 in all country programs, namely:

Documenting the impact of capacity building of CSOs on the ground and the effects on people’s lives. Understanding and documenting WASH and IWRM and bringing evidence on the main challenges to the table to monitor progress in government target and propose solutions for IWRM and WASH integration

The need to move from technical to practical solutions at local level by bringing stakeholders together to come up with easier and more practical solutions to the technical WASH and IWRM finance and integration issues at local level.

Linking successes at local level with national level, regional and international platforms by aligning successes on the ground to be heard in national, regional and international platforms and inspire other organisations . In the light of the Leave No One Behind theme for World Water Day 2019 and the High Level Political Forum and Stockholm World Water Week in 2019, Watershed will give a voice to the good practices and impacts emerging from Watershed countries.

International Programme
The recent developments in the WASH sector globally are best illustrated by the main outcomes of the recent review of  Sustainable Development Goal 6 at the UN High Level Meeting in New York. Two important documents that informed the SDG 6 review are the UN Water synthesis report on SDG 6 (July 2018) and the Outcome report of the High Level Panel on Water (HLPW) “Making Every Drop Count” ( March 2018). Both reports coincide in highlighting that the world is not on track in achieving SDG 6 by 2030, and both reports call for concerted efforts to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

The thematic review of  SDG 6 during the High Level Political Forum highlighted that:

• Billions of people lack safe water, sanitation and handwashing facilities.
• Ecosystems and water sources are becoming more polluted.
• Funding for water and sanitation services is inadequate.
• Governance and delivery systems are weak and fragmented.

The recommendations from the Watershed SDG 6 review emphasize the need to create multi-stakeholder partnerships, strengthen regional integration, increase the focus on all of SDG 6 including IWRM.  In addition, the recommendations include enhanced attention to the elimination of inequalities, a new paradigm for financing the water sector and strengthening the importance of public participation in decision making in the water and sanitation sectors.

The main challenge for 2019 is to maintain momentum and consolidate the collaboration of the global and regional networks in a long term commitment to a coalition of civil society organisations that bundles the capacities of the CSOs with the long term support of influential organisations. Watershed will continue working with the CSO network organisations EWP, Coalition Eau, ANEW, FANSA, and more and will deploy its network of influential organisations: 1) in developing and implementing a joint overarching multi-annual work plan that includes the main global and regional CSO networks; 2) in ensuring the financial sustainability of the coalition of CSO networks; 3) to develop, in the context of the existing bilateral MoUs with each of the CSO networks (EWP, CE, FANSA and ANEW), and jointly implement annual region specific bilateral work plans.

In 2019, Watershed and the coalition of CSO networks will prioritise the SWA HLM, the HLPF 2019, Stockholm Water Week and regional events such as AfricaSan for CSO presence and advocacy activities. To ensure effective CSO participation in these events, Watershed will assist EWP, Coalition Eau and the regional CSOs to provide support to national CSOs in:

1. following up the results of the country study on accountability mechanisms for SDG 6;
2. following up the results of the HLFP 2018, Sacosan and the Africa Water Week;
3. engaging with the national governments and other SWA partners in preparations for countries’ participation at the SWA HLM; and
4. engaging with the national governments in the preparations of the Voluntary National Reviews for the HLPF 2019.

By the end of 2019, we expect CSO networks to act collectively and send united messages to international and regional targets. Regional and global networks of CSOs will increase their bargaining power by associating with allies, and global/regional CSO networks will ask for space in global and regional influencing platforms.

Within the International work, Wetlands International role is to lead the thematic area on the adoption of integrated approaches for WASH and water security. It will develop capacity and L&A activities in this area to underpin Watershed’s international agenda.  Wetlands International will bring to the table its network of organisations in water resources management and its network in the broader area of natural resources and water management. This network complements IRC’s mainly WASH oriented network. Simavi will support the implementation of communication activities, particularly when related to the link between WASH and water security and social inclusion. IRC and Wetlands have a clear niche in the implementation of the Watershed programme in terms of content. Both have a strong reputation and track record as think and do tanks in the areas of sector finance and WASH and IWRM. In 2019, the International WP is expected to benefit more from Simavi’s network and track record in Human Rights to Water and Sanitation and social inclusion.

The Netherlands Programme
In the Netherlands, Watershed will continue to work on two main issues:

1. Ensuring that there are proper linkages between WASH and IWRM in the policies and programmes of both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water (MI&W).
2. Ensuring that MFA’s WASH budget is in line with its ambitions as articulated in the WASH 2016-2030 strategy.

This will be done by focusing on the following:  issues along the main pathways of the main lobby activities are:

• to ensure that the MFA develops its IWRM strategy and corresponding indicators, as was promised in its response to IOB (Directorate International Policy Research and Evaluation) evaluation.
• advise the MFA and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment (MIE) on the importance of linking WASH and IWRM, and advise on integrating the two into Dutch water policies.
• Engage in dialogue and lobbying with MFA to promote the development and application of a proper programming framework and corresponding Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) as a follow-up to adapting their results framework. A framework like this would then indicate which targets can be reached where and through which programmes. This can help the MFA in developing programmes that in their totality should help reach their targets. The MTEF provides an analysis of the budgets that are needed and that can be expected to carry out these programmes.
• Engage in further discussion and lobbying with MFA to ensure the recommendation presented in the position paper on socially inclusive WASH programming will foster inclusive and gender responsive target setting in the WASH programmes.

The major Theory of Change outcomes which the Netherlands programme will be focusing on are:

• The Water Envoy promotes sustainable WASH governance (integrating WASH & IWRM) as part of his urban delta approach.
• MFA develops a new IWRM strategy (new outcomes 4.8 and 4.9). MFA develops a programming framework and corresponding MTEF.
• The WASH strategy is supported by a financial chapter that is used by the MFA for budget requests, target setting and leverage of additional funding.
• Improved policy on social inclusion: MFA sets targets for long, medium and short term for the number of people to be reached, with breakdowns per year and for reaching marginalised groups)

The International & NL WASH-IWRM Integration Senior Lobby and Advocacy Consultant

Role and responsibilities

• Represent Wetlands International in the Watershed International and The Netherlands Work Packages
• Lead implementation and further development of Watershed Wetlands International´s strategy for the second half of 2019 and the planning for goals in 2020 together in cooperation with the Watershed partners and country leads (most notably those where WI leads: Mali and India)
• Represent and integrate Wetlands International’s International Lobby and Advocacy planning into the joint planning with Watershed partners
• Coordinate and implement Wetlands International’s International Lobby and Advocacy goals in the International and The Netherlands work packages together with colleagues and Watershed partners in country as needed
• Support and advise the Wetlands International network in the country work packages on the development of their Lobby and Advocacy strategy
• Support and advise the Wetlands International Global Office and Network on capacity development of southern organisations to carry out strategic lobby and advocacy
• Responsible of reporting to the project manager in work planning, key results and outcomes and other relevant issues as inputs to annual reporting process to workpackage leads (IRC and Simavi) and the donor
• Coordinate strategic communications in line with agreed principles and activities under the Watershed communication strategy
• Together with technical staff, the L&A senior officer will play an active role in networking, lobbying and representing Wetlands International in bringing up relevant policy issues at events, conventions and media opportunities. S/he will be able to integrate communication tools and channels in her/his work.

Key deliverables 2019

• Implement and revise the 2019-2020 workplan and strategy of Wetlands International within Watershed’s International and the Netherlands lobby and advocacy work
• NETHERLANDS
  • Lead a the drafting of a Position paper on IWRM with a focus on WASH – IWRM alignment and prepare accompanying lobby strategy and a blog
  • Advocate with MFA to organise a consultative process with NGOs and other key stakeholders to revise its IWRM strategy
  • Finalize a position paper and other relevant lobby and advocacy instruments, and advocate for the importance of WASH governance and WASH – IWRM alignment in Urban Delta Approach and IWA.
  • Coordinate and lead the advocacy with relevant stakeholders on WASH – IWRM governance in the Urban Delta Approach and the International Water Ambition, IOB evaluation, private and other sectors.

• INTERNATIONAL
  • Lead and organize webinars WASH – IWRM and Water Security integration for relevant international network CSOs
  • Organise knowledge exchange (e.g. virtual field visits to Watershed field areas) to discuss good practices and lessons learned in the integration regarding IWRM and WASH integration in Watershed, and document these in a report. Coordinate together with Watershed partners as needed.

Timeline

• Total approx. days needed for the work: 40 days
• Timeframe of the work: 6 months, between 1^st of August (or earlier if possible) 2019 and 1^st of February 2020

Who do we need?

We are looking for a consultant with the following competencies and experience:

• Thorough knowledge of WASH and IRWM issues, challenges and opportunities particularly in the context of the Netherlands and International policy processes and agendas
• Experience with similar type of work and affinity with Watershed Programme objectives and end goal
• Excellent networking and facilitating skills. Influencer. Enthusiastic.
• Experience with communications and advocacy related activities
• Ability to work independently and lead the process towards
• Fluency in English and Dutch
• Based in the Netherlands
• Willingness to work approx. 1.5 or 2 days a week for at least a period of 6 months working closely with the Watershed teams and partners

How to apply

To apply for the post, please send an application email with “Senior Consultant Watershed” as the subject to Jozefa.vanderveen@wetlands.org with the below two documents in English:

• a letter of application (no more than 2 pages) stating your motivation for this position and your demonstrated skills and experience for this post,
• your resume /CV (no more than 3 pages, without photos).

Deadline for the application is 30 July 2019, but interesting candidates can be approached before the closing date.