TA-6612 REG: COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control through an Integrated Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Health Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that safely managed water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and hygiene behaviors are fundamental to protect human health from and through infectious disease outbreaks. Proper hand hygiene is one of the most important infection prevention and control (IPC) measures in the context of COVID-19. The continuity and sustainability of WASH services and community engagement through enhanced facilities and products and using multimodal awareness, risk communication, and behavior change techniques are critical for improved hand hygiene. The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) support to its developing member countries (DMCs) in its response to COVID-19 prioritizes the protection of human health via IPC measures to combat the spread of infectious disease.

Responding to COVID-19 and other water and sanitation related public health emergencies  calls for strengthening multisector collaboration through better integration of WASH and health (WASH+H). To achieve this,  this TA promotes COVID-19 IPC through an inclusive, gender-sensitive, effective, and sustainable WASH+H program, with a particular focus on the poor, marginalized, and vulnerable who have been most affected by COVID-19. Through its outputs, the TA will direct resources toward (i) supporting the scaling up and effective integration of COVID-19 IPC as well as impact mitigation WASH+H activities into ADB projects in the social, water, and urban sectors;and (ii) promoting multisector and multistakeholder awareness raising, knowledge and capacity building, policy dialogue, and strategy development.

The purpose of the assignment is to strengthen ADB Water Sector Group's (WSG) and Health Sector Group's (HSG) efforts to mainstream a more integrated and effective WASH+H program with the aim to promote and achieve healthier populations in Asia and the Pacific. The international WASH Specialist supports the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department (SDCC) and regional departments in the overall implementation of the TA activities. Integrated WASH+H should be promoted and scaled up in ADB social sectors, urban, and water projects, thus the assignment  will facilitate TA support to: (i) project preparation and implementation, and (ii) enabling environment, knowledge, and capacity forCOVID-19 preparedness, management, resilience, and sustainable recovery.