WASH Advocates - looking for a great Communications Manager

Please let all of your communications friends know! 

Thank you! 

 

NVF Project Name: WASH Advocates

Position: Communications Manager  

Location: Washington, DC

Status: Exempt, Full-time (Temporary for one year)

Reports to: CEO of WASH Advocates

Position Summary: WASH Advocates (WA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan initiative dedicated to helping solve the global safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) challenge. Our mission is to increase awareness of WASH challenges and solutions, and to increase the amount and effectiveness of programming and grantmaking devoted to those solutions throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. WA seeks a Communications Manager to help develop and implement our overall communications strategy, with the goal of increasing the visibility, understanding, and reach of the WASH sector and our work.

The Communications Manager will strengthen WASH Advocates’ presence as a resource for the WASH sector and act as a main point of contact for those wanting more information on the global WASH challenge and sustainable solutions. Activities will align with and support WASH Advocates’ three main focus areas - WASH sustainability, strategic communications, and in-country advocacy.

Responsibilities

·         Develop and implement a 12 month (2015) communications strategy that will raise the profile of the WASH issue and its linkages to related development challenges; this will include key objectives, target audiences, specific opportunities, timelines, and messages;

·         Draft, refine, and disseminate WASH advocacy materials, including talking points, press releases, blogposts, case studies, Tech Notes, congressional briefs, sample letters and social media messages;

·         Build and maintain relationships with other communications experts in the sector and participate in relevant working group meetings, increasing coordination of partners active in WASH advocacy;

·         Coordinate WASH Advocates’ external communications with an independent, sector-wide voice, including a newsletter, website(s), social media outreach, and one-on-one grasstops outreach;

·         Cultivate new spokespersons for the WASH sector and maintain relationships with current spokespersons;

·         Cultivate relationships with journalists to pitch WASH stories and generate and respond to incoming media requests;

·         Develop and maintain a communications style standard for all external messaging; and

·         Plan and support events that raise awareness of the efforts of WASH Advocates and its partners, including for World Water Day (March 22), Global Handwashing Day (October 15), and World Toilet Day (November 19). 

Minimum Education and Skills

The successful candidate will have:

•        Masters degree or commensurate experience in mass communications, advocacy, marketing, journalism, or a related field;

•        5+ years of experience in communications and/or advocacy-related work;

•        Strong understanding and experience in communicating international development and ideally WASH issues;

•        Strong writing skills, particularly for web-based content, email action alerts, and press releases;

•        Excellent computer skills, particularly in using mass email platforms (Email Now, Constant Contact, MailChimp) and social media tools (Facebook, TweetDeck, HootSuite, Instagram, Flickr, Tumblr); and

•        Experience with developing and managing websites, ideally on Wordpress.

Necessary Competencies

To be successful, the Communications Manager will:

•        Have strong and persuasive oral and written communication, facilitation, advocacy, and stakeholder engagement skills;

•        Be able to work well in a small and highly productive team and foster collaboration among a diverse set of stakeholders;

•        Engage partners to actively participate and contribute to the WASH sector with time and resources;

•        Exercise creativity and opportunism in raising the profile of WASH issues;

•        Build relationships and networks, linking appropriate spokespersons within the WASH community with specific opportunities and needs.

Desired

• 2-3 years of experience with international WASH issues;

• Existing relationships and contacts with media.

How to Apply: Please send résumé and cover letter to John Oldfield at joldfield@WASHadvocates.org.

This is a one-year position, available starting immediately through December 31, 2015. Salary range is $45,000 - $55,000 per year. Successful completion of a writing test will be required. No phone calls please.

New Venture Fund Careers

WASH Advocates is a project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. The New Venture Fund is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential. The New Venture Fund's work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of races, ethnicities, national origins, ages, sexual orientations, gender identities, beliefs, religions, faiths and ideologies, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and levels of physical ability.

GLAAS Report 2014 - The most important WASH report you haven't read (yet)

The most important report that you have never heard of, and why and how it should change the global water and sanitation sector

For months, millions of people have been eagerly anticipating the release of the latest UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) report.

Well, that’s not entirely true. In fact, it’s not even mostly true. But it should be. The biannual GLAAS report is one of most important reports in the global water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. 

So what does the 2014 GLAAS report – released today – actually mean? What are its most important findings and recommendations, and how should we respond to them?

The 2014 report - using data from 94 countries and 23 donors - shows increasing momentum, political commitments, and financial support for WASH. It also highlights the huge regional disparities that remain, the continuing challenge to attract more and smarter money to the sector, and the relative lack of attention paid to sanitation. Implicit in the report are a number recommendations that the international nonprofit and donor community should take to heart.

What are the report's most urgent findings?

• There is a need for more, smarter, and better targeted money in the sector, the vast majority of which will need to come from the public sector (domestic tax revenues). 80% of respondent countries indicated insufficient financing for the sector, and 70% of countries reported that tariffs do not cover the costs of operation and maintenance. Extra credit assignment: read this article from IRC about public finance in the WASH sector.
• There is an imbalance between where the money is going, and where it is most needed. For example, rural sanitation expenditures comprise less than 10% of total WASH finance. This is particularly germane on World Toilet Day.
• There is a noted lack of human resources in the global WASH sector, leading to problems in monitoring and evaluation, pro-poor (viz. rural) targeting of programs, and operations and maintenance of systems. There are simply not enough professionals engaged in water and sanitation.
• It’s not just about households. Schools and health facilities also have a dire need for sustainable WASH systems, as manifested recently by the outbreak of Ebola and by the ongoing challenges of childbirth and increasing the enrolment of girls in schools.
• And perhaps the scariest findings in the report: 
• “…most sector decisions are not evidence-based due to the widespread lack of capacity for monitoring, inconsistent or fragmented gathering of data and limited use of information management systems and analysis. . . ” and
•  “…less than half of countries track progress in extending sanitation and drinking-water services to the poor.”

With limited capacity for ongoing monitoring and evaluation, the sector runs the risk of continuing to repeat mistakes and make decisions based on inadequate evidence.

So what? What can I do about these findings?

I urge you to read the report or at least its highlights and digest some of its impressive country profile work. Second, use the report to help you identify gaps in your corner of the global WASH sector, mismatches between supply and demand, and opportunities for your organization to help rectify some of those imbalances and misalignments.

No, seriously, what can I do about it?

Since you asked, here are some concrete ideas:

Nonprofits and implementing agencies:

• Focus more on local government and community capacity-building; on the poorest of the poor (predominantly rural); on sanitation and hygiene as key components of an integrated WASH program; on enabling environments including policy advocacy; on sustainable financial models appropriate to local contexts; on monitoring and evaluation (particularly long after the ribbon-cutting ceremony); and on converting the high levels of political commitment we see in the GLAAS report to tangible country-level action.
• Work alongside or within government (national and local) systems in your program countries rather than in spite of the local government; support those governments’ efforts to develop and strengthen their own capacity to monitor and evaluate WASH efforts rather than imposing your own.  

Private, corporate, and government funders:

• Think less about how many wells you can buy, and more about how to have a transformative impact in your program countries and communities. Start with a problem, and fund the appropriate solution set, not vice versa.
• Seek out and fund efforts as outlined above; ask your potential US and local grantees tough questions early in the proposal process about technical and financial sustainability and appropriateness. Are you helping to transform a community, or just creating/deepening dependencies?
• Support programs designed to leave behind capacity, not holes. Some of the best/promising initiatives we are following most closely now include:

o   Water For People’s Everyone Forever campaign

o   Water.org’s Watercredit

o   WASH policy advocacy efforts at various levels, including the Sanitation and Water for All Partnership, End Water Poverty, and the WASH Advocacy Challenge. 

o   Sustainable Service Delivery

• Focus less on the low hanging fruit (e.g. large drinking water projects in dense urban environments) and more on the most difficult people to reach as identified by the GLAAS report (e.g. small rural or per-urban integrated sanitation programs).  
•  Think beyond the household: fund WASH efforts in healthcare facilities and schools, in part to prevent the next Ebola or cholera outbreak from becoming an epidemic.

 Bottom line: Make sure the right people across the globe read the 2014 GLAAS report. When more people read it, and act on its findings, the WASH sector will see both higher levels of political and financial commitments, and better designed, implemented, and targeted WASH programming. 

Ebola, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

A few thoughts/data points on the linkages between Ebola and WASH:

Summary: Safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are important in treating patients infected with Ebola and in preventing the transmission of Ebola (and other infectious diseases). WASH is vital at household, community, and health facility levels. Longterm, sustainable public health and WASH infrastructure are important to better prepare communities, particularly in West Africa, for the next occurrence of such diseases.

From An Open Memo on Ebola and Water:

·         Water Supply Needs and Usage:

o   Any medical facility, hospital, field station, isolation unit must have a supply of fresh water that is adequate in flow volume and quality. This requirement, and the need to develop such a reliable supply in advance of facility construction or placement, is as or more vital than the need for reliable electricity. . .

o   While . . . data suggest that emergency minimum water supply volumes on the order of 150 to 200 liters per person per day might be sufficient, it should be a top priority to inquire of current medical facilities in Liberia, Guinea, and other affected areas of West Africa for specific data and insights on their current level of water use as well as the end uses of that water (washing, sanitation, sterilization of equipment, cooking, etc.).

o   A wide range of water-treatment systems can ensure that water supply is safe, including chlorine-based treatments, ultraviolet light treatment, and top-quality reverse osmosis membrane systems. The CDC provides a short overview of various treatment options and their ability to remove viruses here. Before choosing a water-treatment system, . . .confirm that they are designed and can be operated to specifically remove or inactivate Ebola-type viruses with high reliability.

·         Water that may be contaminated with Ebola virus:

o   A separate water-quality risk is that during patient care and treatment, contaminated fluids, including water, will have to be reliable handled, treated, and neutralized.

o   According to the World Health Organization, Public Health Agency of Canada, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ebola virus is known to be susceptible to solutions of chlorine bleach, germicidal chemicals, gamma radiation, sufficient ultraviolet C light exposure, some soaps, alcohol-based sanitizer (at least 60% concentration), and by boiling water.

From Handwashing and Ebola: The Facts:

·         Ebola virus is present in all body fluids of an infected person, and once they become symptomatic, is transmitted by direct contact with these body fluids, including blood, sweat, vomit, diarrhea, urine, saliva, tears, semen and breast milk.

·         Direct contact may involve directly touching infected body fluids, or touching items and surfaces like doorknobs that have been recently contaminated with these infected fluids. Once it is on your hands, Ebola virus can enter your body through breaks in the skin of your hands, or when you touch your eyes, nose or mouth (mucous membranes). Similarly, if you are wearing gloves that have Ebola virus on them, Ebola virus can enter your body if you touch your eyes, nose or mouth with your gloved hands. Finally, when you remove gloves that may have Ebola virus on them, you must wash your hands immediately in case any Ebola virus on your gloves or other protective clothing is transferred to your bare hands during removal.

Newspaper Articles/Blogs

·         Professor Taylor of the University of Brighton said: "Our Environment and Public Health Research Group is currently developing low-cost ways to disinfect human waste following disease outbreaks,” and is advising the World Health Organization (WHO) to help control the spread of the disease. Source: University scientists help tackle Ebola

·         Médecins Sans Frontières epidemiologist Kamiliny Kalahne said outbreaks usually spread in areas where hospitals have poor infection control and limited access to resources such as running water. "People who become sick with it almost always know how they got sick: because they looked after someone in their family who was very sick -- who had diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding -- or because they were health staff who had a lot of contact with a sick patient," she said. Source: Ebola virus: Nine things to know about the killer disease.

·         As recently described by Laurie Garrett of the Council of Foreign Relations, the Ebola virus in West Africa should be tackled the same way it was done in 1976:  with soap, clean water, protective gear, safe medical practices, and quarantine; technology and vaccines are of no use. Source: The Ebola Threat: A “new normal”? (The World Bank)

·         Should hygiene be more of a priority for donors than health care? (Devex) UNICEF staff hands out soap and chlorine in Conakry to prevent the spread of Ebola in Guinea.

·         Interventions to Control Virus Transmission during an Outbreak of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever: Experience from Kikwit, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1995 (The Journal of Infectious Diseases)

Further Reading:

·         There are a number of resources here (http://www.medbox.org/ebola-toolbox/listing?q=water&sort) regarding the importance of water, sanitation, and general hygiene to treat and prevent the spread of Ebola.

How Do We Really Solve the World's Water Challenge? / Skoll World Forum

Thank you Skoll World Forum for publishing some of my thoughts about the end game for the global safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) challenge...

Please do review this piece, and I very much look forward to your thoughts: 

How Do We Really Solve the World's Water Challenge?

I had the honor of chairing a session on Sustainable Water Solutions and the Rule of Law at the recent World Justice Forum IV in The Hague. During the vigorous two hour dialogue, it became clear that the street between water and rule of law runs both ways: A solid rule of law foundation will likely enhance the sustainability and scalability of water programs by increasing collaboration with and leadership from governments, and effective water programs will fortify rule of law by strengthening the social contract between citizens and their governments.

I spent years implementing democracy and governance programs in Africa on behalf of the U.S. government, and jumped at the opportunity to build this bridge between that world and my current water portfolio – two seemingly distinct development sectors. In framing the panel, I positioned rule of law – broadly defined, as in Wikipedia’s “authority and influence of law in society” – as an enabler, as a catalyst, of sustainable, institutionalized progress toward all global development challenges. On the flipside, I also see more progress on water challenges as one of many ways to strengthen the rule of law. For example, the most interesting question asked during the opening plenary of the World Justice Forum was “Is there a primary school for rule of law, or does one have to wait until graduate school to learn about it?” I assert that there is indeed a primary school for the rule of law: a village water committee anywhere in the world. The first experience many people – especially women – have in the developing world with rule of law and with participatory democracy is via their participation on local committees designed to identify and sustainably address local challenges. Tip O’Neill, a famous American politician, said “All politics is local.” Well, so are development challenges and solutions, especially those related to water. So that village water committee in rural India is a primary school for rule of law. An HIV support group in South Africa is a primary school for rule of law, solving its own community challenges, often alongside its government. A women’s neighborhood group focused on sanitation in Nairobi or Mexico City is a primary school for rule of law, as are local school boards, housing committees, and the like.

Water challenges at local, national, and transboundary levels all offer individuals an opportunity to strengthen the Social Contract between themselves and their governments. To achieve universal coverage of safe drinking water on the planet, in the compressed timeframe for which U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy advocated at the Forum, governments must work hand-in-hand with their constituents.

Here are a handful of rule of law / water solutions underway, and worth tracking and supporting:

• Community water boards by the thousands are becoming stronger throughout Latin America with the help of la Fundación Avina, making safe water more accessible to millions of Latin Americans, and at the same time creating more open, democratic societies.
• Rule of law is making water more accessible and safer across the globe: e.g., cities are adding rainwater harvesting to building codes in India, and municipal development plans are incorporating community sanitation facilities in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
• The Nile Basin Initiative continues to strengthen the capacity of the Nile’s riparian states to stay ahead of the water conflict predicted by many for the region.
• Water For People’s Everyone Forever effort focuses first and foremost on the interaction between citizens and their governments, with the international community playing a catalytic role; this will eventually obviate the need for any outside assistance.
• The Sanitation and Water for All Partnership attracts Finance Ministers to its High Level Meeting every two years. Stronger political will makes it possible for those Finance Ministers to do what they already want to do: increase budgets and strengthen policies for water in their countries by making and meeting tangible, time-bound commitments.
• Civil society organizations across the developing world are now using this toolkit “How to Campaign on Water and Sanitation Issues During an Election” to make sure that elected leaders have committed to tackling water challenges long before their terms in office. This toolkit should be used in every election tracked by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

The water challenges across the globe are grave. But they are solvable, and being solved by communities and governments as I write. My ambition is that rule of law and water communities will find more ways to work together across a number of platforms, and that both communities will emerge stronger from those collaborative efforts.

Funding for Water and Sanitation / USAID / Development Grants Program

Dear nonprofit partners,

We would like to make you aware of a funding opportunity offered through USAID - the Development Grants Program (DGP):

http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do;jsessionid=kQ2pRgRDQDTnQgTvt58Y7Z4MfHKvkqKzPWQf9LwDH2wTpJ10fJcH!-337921640?oppId=237329&mode=VIEW

DEADLINE: August 8, 2013

(Awards up to $2million for US and Non US-based nonprofits.)

Background

USAID has established the Development Grants Program as a small grants program to increase the number and quality of NGO implementing partners who can partner with USAID. This Program is open both to U.S.-based nonprofits and those based around the world. A total of $45m is available through this program for the estimated fifteen grantees.

In its first three years, the program funded 145 organizations in over 26 countries. Water and Sanitation is one of the DGP’s selected technical sectors for the program, having providing funding for over 24 organizations focused in this sector. "In the water sector, the DGP supports activities that directly increase access to safe drinking water and sanitation and improve hygiene. This includes investments to support infrastructure as well as activities related to organizational/institutional capacity-building needed to create sustainable management, improve service delivery or promote human behavior change."

Here are some examples of DGP-funded WASH activities:

Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Zambia

Received $2 Million to extend a WASH in schools programs that served over 320,000 pupils in over 800 schools

Alliance for Youth Achievement

Received a USAID DGP grant to implement 30 new clean water projects in Uganda

Pacific Institute

Received a USAID DGP grant to create a highly accessible communication and monitoring system that develops crowd-sourced map data to improve water and sanitation services for the urban poor in Indonesia

Palms for Life Fund

Received $1.9 M over 3 years for a WASH in schools project affecting 42,000 pupils in 120 schools in Swaziland

*** At WASH Advocates, we see this as an invaluable opportunity for WASH organizations doing vital work around the world to receive USAID funding. The August 8 application deadline is fast approaching. ***

TO APPLY:

1)     Go to www.grants.gov (or follow this link: Click Here)

2)     Left hand menu: select “find grant opportunities”

3)     Left hand menu: Select “browse by agency”

4)     Select “Agency for International Development”

5)     Select “Funding Opportunity Number: RFA-OAA-13-000020”

6)     Select “full announcement”

7)     Download the “full announcement” PDF. (See attached.)

To jumpstart this process, here are countries whose USAID Missions have prioritized water/WASH (these are listed on pages 1-3 of the Request for Applications):

Angola, Botswana, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, Office of Middle East Programs, Philippines, South Africa, South Africa (regional), and Ukraine.

I encourage those of you active in those countries in particular to consider applying for Development Grants Program assistance. Please distribute this notice as widely as you can – the more WASH applications they receive, the more likely a nice chunk of the $45m will go to WASH.

US organizations: please consider applying directly, and share with your local partners.

Nonprofits in Africa, Asia, Latin America: please consider applying directly, and share with other WASH groups as appropriate.

Please, contact Ben Mann at 571-225-5823 or bmann (at)  WASHadvocates (dot)  org with additional questions.