Consultant- Regional Capacity Gaps and Needs Assessment in the Water Sector in West Africa

JOB DETAILS

Type of contract : Consultant Contract

Level : Level 3 - Senior

Hiring Unit : Sciences Sector (SCS)

Duty Station : Dakar

Work location : Remote

Duration of contract : 4 months

Hiring open to : External candidates

Application deadline (Midnight UTC±0 (UTC) Time) : 21/10/2026

UNESCO Core Values: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism

I. CONTEXT

West Africa faces increasingly complex and interconnected water security challenges driven by climate variability and change, rapid urbanization, population growth, ecosystem degradation, groundwater depletion, deteriorating water quality, and the increasing frequency and intensity of floods and droughts. These pressures are placing growing demands on water resources and highlighting the need for more integrated, resilient, and science-based approaches to water resources management. At the same time, regional policy frameworks developed by ECOWAS, UEMOA, river basin organizations, and other regional institutions, together with national water policies and strategies, establish ambitious objectives for integrated water resources management (IWRM), climate resilience, and universal access to water and sanitation. However, translating these commitments into effective action remains constrained by persistent capacity gaps at individual, organizational, institutional, and systemic levels.

A comprehensive and evidence-based assessment is therefore needed to identify current strengths, priority needs, implementation bottlenecks, and opportunities for collaboration across the region. Such an assessment will enable capacity development investments to be more strategic, demand-driven, and aligned with the priorities of regional water agendas, and national development frameworks.

Thus, UNESCO through its Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP), seeks to undertake a regional assessment of capacity gaps and needs in the water sector in West Africa, complemented by an in-depth assessment in one selected pilot country. The assessment will examine capacities across scientific, technical, institutional, organizational, and governance dimensions, with particular attention to the implementation of the IHP-IX Strategic and Operational Plans. Its findings will provide an evidence base for the development of a regional capacity development framework, a prioritized portfolio of regional and national interventions, and a country-specific action plan to strengthen institutional performance, knowledge generation and sharing, water governance, and long-term resilience across the region.

II. OBJECTIVES

2.1 Overall objective:

To assess capacity gaps and needs in the Water sector in West Africa, at the regional level and through an in-depth analysis in a pilot country, to provide a solid analytical basis for the design of targeted capacity-development interventions.

Long Description

2.2 Specific objectives

Map existing capacities (institutional, organizational and human) in the Water sector across West Africa;

Conduct an in-depth analysis of capacity needs in a selected pilot country, including consultations with national and local stakeholders;

Formulate concrete and prioritized recommendations for capacity-development interventions, at both the regional level and in the pilot country;

Propose a replicable methodological framework for capacity assessment, which could be applied to other countries in the region.

III. TASKS

The consultant will undertake the following tasks:

At a regional level:

Desk review of strategies, policies, investment plans and prior assessments relevant to the Water sector in the region;

Consultations with regional stakeholders (ECOWAS, UEMOA, river basin authorities, professional networks, technical and financial partners);

Identify key regional and country-level capacity gaps and their underlying causes.

Mapping of key institutions and of ongoing or past capacity-development initiat...