Expertise: Water, sanitation, hygiene, public health, water quality monitoring, surveillance
Expertise Group: Biological Sciences & Ecology
Consultant Source: International
TOR Keywords: Water, sanitation, hygiene, public health, water quality monitoring, surveillance
Objective and Purpose of the Assignment
ADB’s Pacific Department (PARD) provides support to its clients on urban development and improving basic services through investments, capacity building and knowledge solutions. The Pacific Department’s Urban Development, Water Supply and Sanitation (PAUW) division requires professional services to provide support for several projects and initiatives.
This assignment for the Water Safety Planner/ Environmental Health Specialist will be until end of May
2023, with the potential to extend depending on performance and PAUW’s needs.
Scope of Work
ADB is implementing a regional knowledge and support technical assistance (TA-6551) which aims to
strengthen Pacific developing member countries’ (PDMCs) capacity to prevent disease transmission through
enhanced water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practices and the associated enabling environment.
Interventions in the 14 PDMCs will directly address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic by (i)
improving WASH practices through behavioral change campaigns; and (ii) strengthening the capacity of
WASH service providers and other stakeholders so that WASH improvements will be sustained and expanded. The Environmental Health Specialist will be until March 2023, with the opportunity to extend depending on performance.
A foundational aspect of improved WASH service delivery is a well-functioning government-led health
regulatory system that is backed with national standards and compliance programs. The role of public and environmental health in WASH cannot be overstated to effectively protect individuals and communities and provide the basis for better planning and decision-making on pandemic resilience. WASH facilities and infrastructure needs to be supplemented with relevant environmental health interventions to employ a holistic assessment of health needs and priorities and in mitigating potential impacts of COVID-19 in the Pacific population.
The development of robust water safety plans is an integral activity to support the resilience of water
utilities and other WASH service providers to pandemics and is one activity to be supported by the
Environmental Health Specialist. Water safety plans involve a risk assessment of all the steps from
catchment to tap in a water system and the implementation and monitoring of controls to manage the
identified risks.
The Specialist will work with the TA-6551 team to provide environmental or public health related inputs
as required across the TA activities. The Specialist will provide targeted and ongoing support to
utilities (TON, PAL, SAM and others) to update or create Water Safety Plans, with a focus on doable
actions to improve data collection and management, monitoring, risk assessment reporting and linking
WSPs to asset management, business continuity planning and other operational improvements to address risks identified. Where possible the Specialist will ensure that current and forecasted climate change related risks to water quality and quantity will be considered and incorporated into WSPs.
Detailed Tasks and/or Expected Output
Specific support for TA-6551 on environmental health and including water safety planning will include
the following:
(i) Identify opportunities to facilitate risk assessment and risk management approaches to WASH with
utilities by following established step-by-step processes (i.e. water safety planning, sanitation safety
planning) that enable robust evaluation of COVID-19 impacts and related water-borne diseases,
operational challenges, natural disasters, long-term climate change impacts to WASH systems and
practices;
(ii) Provide technical advice in response to Pacific DMCs request to develop or improve surveillance
programs, response services to WASH-related outbreaks or environmental hazards, regulatory standards,
and supporting compliance activities in the sector;
(iii) Support utilities in the development, review and/or implementation of water safety plans for water
utilities and service providers, including through mentoring, coaching and/or leading the direct
preparation of reports (depending on level of local engagement and capacity). This may include analysis
of some rural or peri-urban systems and engagement with village-level operators and community
stakeholders as appropriate;
(iv) Review water quality data (where data is provided in a spreadsheet or database format) to include
in quantitative assessment of water quality within WSP risk assessments.
(v) Develop water quality data review processes, spreadsheets and/or water safety plan implementation
processes to assist water utilities in strengthening water quality management and operational practices
(vi) Advise utility partners on the relevant water quality needs and issues, review documents upon
request of clients and prepare monitoring templates and sample reports;
(vii) Support the preparation of contextually relevant training materials and conduct of capacity
building activities for utility clients, water service providers and community scheme operators;
(viii) Contribute to identification of potential investment, rehabilitation and remediation actions
needs to improve environmental/public health based on risks identified through water safety plan
assessments;
(ix) Contribute to knowledge product development such as webinars, blogs, etc to share field experiences
and lessons learned;
(x) Other inputs as discussed and agreed with ADB during implementation.
With particular reference to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), any need for international and/or national
travel shall be assessed by ADB and the Consultant using ADB’s advice at the time of travel. Subject to
ADB’s approval, the Consultant may use remote video technology meetings to replace face to face meetings as considered necessary.
Minimum Qualification Requirements
The Environmental Health Specialist will have at least a Bachelor’s degree in water engineering,
environmental health, public health, or a relevant discipline with at least 10 years’ experience in
urban water supply and sanitation operations and at least 3 years WASH sector experience. The Specialist must have experience working with public utilities and preferably experience working in informal settlements. Other desirable experience includes facilitation of trainings, preparation of training
materials, working experience in bilateral- and multilateral development bank financed projects, and
implementation of government development programs and projects. Relevant experience in the Pacific
region is preferred and background in gender-related work will be an added advantage.
Minimum General Experience: 10 Years
Minimum Specific Experience (relevant to assignment): 3 Years
