Sample Exam — WASH Officer (Public Health)

Instructions

 Time allowed: 60 minutes

 Total marks: 100
 Answer all questions
 Clearly label each answer with the question number

Section A: Multiple Choice (20 marks – 2 marks each)

1. Which of the following is not primarily a responsibility of the WASH Officer

according to the job description?
A) Conduct rapid assessment and detailed assessment at targeted areas
B) Prepare bi-weekly and monthly implementation work plans
C) Design the entire water and sanitation infrastructure from scratch (engineering
design)
D) Develop WASH messages and disseminate IEC/BCC materials

Answer: C — the job emphasises supervision of hygiene promotion,

sanitation/hygiene activities and facilitating implementation rather than full
engineering design from scratch.

2. The position requires at least how many years of experience for a Bachelor’s degree
holder?
A) 1 year
B) 2 years
C) 3 years
D) 5 years

Answer: C — At least 3 years of experience is required. HaHu Jobs+1

3. Which of the following hygiene approaches is specially mentioned as advantageous

for this role?
A) Water-borne disease modelling
B) CLTSH (Community Led Total Sanitation and Hygiene)
C) Deep-well hydrogeology
D) Hospital infection control

Answer: B — CLTSH is stated as an advantage in the job requirements. HaHu

Jobs+1

4. In addition to English and Amharic, which of the following is considered an

advantage?
A) French
B) Arabic
 C) Somali
D) German

Answer: B — Knowledge of the local language of the area is an advantage; in a

similar ZOA job Arabic was mentioned as advantage. NGO JOBS IN AFRICA+1

5. What software skills are listed as assets for the WASH Officer role?
A) AutoCAD and GIS
B) Photoshop and Illustrator
C) Epi-Info and SPSS
D) MATLAB and R

Answer: C — Experience of data analysis software (Epi-Info and SPSS) is listed as

an asset. HaHu Jobs

Section B: Short Answer (30 marks – 5 marks each)

6. Define what WASH stands for and explain why it is important in public health.
Answer: WASH stands for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. It is important in public
health because access to safe drinking water, appropriate sanitation facilities, and
hygiene practices (such as hand-washing) reduces the transmission of many infectious
diseases, prevents waterborne diseases, improves dignity and quality of life, and is a
fundamental element of public health in both emergency and development contexts.
[Link]+1
7. List at least three major responsibilities of the WASH Officer in this role.
Answer:
o Conduct rapid assessments, detailed assessments and feasibility assessments in
targeted areas using the organisation’s WASH tools. HaHu Jobs+1
o Prepare bi-weekly and monthly implementation work plans; collect and record
data on sanitation facilities and coverage. HaHu Jobs+1
o Develop hygiene promotion messages, disseminate IEC/BCC materials within
the community context; supervise implementation of hygiene campaigns,
WASHEM, CLTSH, school hygiene and MHM (Menstrual Hygiene
Management) interventions. HaHu Jobs
8. What qualifications (education + experience) are required for this position?
Answer: A degree or above in Environmental Health, Public Health, Health
Education or a related field. At least three years of experience in managing WASH
(specifically sanitation and hygiene promotion) projects in a rural community or
refugee setting is required. NGO experience with both emergency and development
contexts is preferred. Good command of spoken and written English and Amharic;
local language of area is an advantage. Basic computer skills (Microsoft Office) and
preferably data analysis software (Epi-Info, SPSS) are required. HaHu Jobs+1
9. Explain what “Community Led Total Sanitation and Hygiene (CLTSH)” is and why it
might be important for this role.
Answer: Community Led Total Sanitation and Hygiene (CLTSH) is an approach to
sanitation programming that aims to stop open defecation by empowering
communities to analyse their sanitation situation, trigger collective behavioural
change, and take action to become open-defecation free (ODF). It emphasises
 community mobilisation rather than subsidy of toilets by outside actors. For this role,
using CLTSH means the WASH Officer will facilitate community mobilisation,
promote behaviour change, ensure sustainability of sanitation facilities and hygiene
practices, which aligns with the organisation’s aims of sustainable WASH
interventions.
10. Describe three key challenges you might face when implementing WASH activities in
a rural or emergency setting and how you would address them.
Answer:
o Challenge: Poor infrastructure or lack of access (roads, remote terrain)
making delivery of materials and supervision difficult. Solution: Plan logistics
carefully, build relationships with local leaders, use local resources and adapt
project timelines for delays.
o Challenge: Low community awareness or resistance to behaviour change
(e.g., hand-washing, latrine use). Solution: Use participatory hygiene
promotion, tailor messages to local culture and language, involve community
champions, monitor behaviour change indicators.
o Challenge: Sustainability of water and sanitation facilities (maintenance,
operation) once initial project support ends. Solution: Establish and build
capacity of water committees, train local operators, integrate maintenance
plans/budget into project design, monitor operation and maintenance regularly.

Section C: Case Study / Essay (50 marks)

Case Scenario:
You are the WASH Officer for ZOA in a rural district where recent flooding has displaced
many households. There is widespread contamination of water sources, many households are
without latrines, and hygiene practices have suffered. The district health office and the local
government want urgent action.

Question (50 marks):

Draft a detailed implementation plan covering the first 6 months of the WASH intervention
under these conditions. Your plan should include: assessment phase, planning, hardware
(infrastructure) and software (behaviour change) activities, monitoring & evaluation,
sustainability arrangements, risk mitigation, staffing & logistics. Be specific in timelines, key
deliverables, staffing responsibilities, community involvement, and indication of how you
will measure success.

Suggested Answer Outline (you should fill out full plan):

 Month 0–1 (Assessment & Planning): Rapid assessment of water source damage,
sanitation/hygiene baseline (data collection using KPC or similar tools), stakeholder
mapping, community consultation. Deliverables: assessment report, detailed
workplan, budget, procurement plan.
 Month 2–3 (Immediate Response / Hardware): Provide emergency water trucking or
purification (if flood-contaminated), distribute WASH NFI kits & MHM kits,
commence rehabilitation of affected water points, temporary latrines. Also initiate
hygiene promotion campaign (behavior change messaging).
 Month 4–5 (Scale-Up / Software & Community Engagement): Roll out CLTSH
triggering in communities, hygiene behaviour change sessions, sanitation marketing
for latrine construction, school hygiene programmes. Ensure water committees are
trained.
 Month 6 (Monitoring, M&E & Sustainability): Midline survey, collect data on
coverage (e.g., % households with latrines, % households practising hand-washing),
hold stakeholder review, training of local O&M staff, hand-over plan to local
government/water committees.
 Monitoring & Evaluation Metrics: Number & % of households reached, # of latrines
built, # of water points rehabilitated, functionality rate of water points after 3 months,
behaviour change indicators (e.g., hand-washing with soap at critical times),
community satisfaction surveys.
 Risk Mitigation: Access issues (logistics plan), community resistance (engagement
strategy), sustainability risk (water committee training, budget for O&M), flood
recurrence (design flood-resistant infrastructure).
 Staff & Logistics: WASH Officer leads project, supervised by Project Manager;
hygiene promoters in each community; M&E officer part-time; procurement/logistics
officer; field vehicle & fuel budget; coordination meetings with health office.
 Sustainability Arrangements: Establish service “user groups”, local government co-
financing, regular maintenance schedule, training refresher every 6 months,
monitoring mechanism for water point functionality.