Analysis of a site census, service gaps and governance

United Nations agency · Written recruitment test

Practical exercise

Site Management Officer

Duty station: Mayo-Tsanaga department, Far North region (Cameroon)
Time allowed: 90 min
Marks: 100 marks
Pass mark: 60 %
Profile: Officer, 2 to 4 years of experience

Instructions

The test lasts 90 minutes. It is marked out of 100; the pass mark for the interview is 60.
Answer in English, in a structured way. Show your workings: a correct result without workings receives only half the marks.
Calculator and spreadsheet allowed. Any outside help (another person, artificial intelligence) is forbidden.
The documents are fictional but built on realistic data. State any assumption you make.

Original practice test, built on the format of written tests used by United Nations agencies and international NGOs. The context and figures are fictitious.

Documents provided

Document 1. Census by block and functioning services, displacement site (September)

Block	Households	People	Functioning latrines	Functioning taps	Water distributed (l/day)
A1	112	604	28	3	10,200
A2	98	541	26	2	8,900
A3	130	742	19	2	9,100
B1	85	470	24	2	7,800
B2	120	688	22	3	11,600
B3	141	812	17	2	8,400
C1	76	402	21	2	7,100
C2	104	575	29	3	9,800
C3	158	903	20	2	9,900
D1	90	498	25	2	8,300
D2	117	655	30	3	11,200
D3	66	371	18	2	6,500
E1	149	861	23	2	10,100
E2	95	529	27	2	9,000

Document 2. Population movements since the last census

Population registered at 1 August: 8,420. Registered arrivals: 412. Reported births: 21. Reported departures: 96. Reported deaths: 9. The September count (document 1) was done door to door on a Tuesday, market day.

Document 3. Governance

The site committee has 14 block leaders, including 2 women. No representatives of persons with disabilities or of young people. During focus group discussions, women from blocks B3 and C3 say they avoid the latrines at night.

Question 130 marks

Calculate for each block and for the site: litres per person per day, people per latrine, people per tap. Compare with the Sphere indicators (15 l/person/day, 20 people per latrine, 250 people per tap).

Your answer

0 words

Model answer

Block	l/p/d	People/latrine	People/tap
A1	16.9	21.6	201
A2	16.5	20.8	271
A3	12.3	39.1	371
B1	16.6	19.6	235
B2	16.9	31.3	229
B3	10.3	47.8	406
C1	17.7	19.1	201
C2	17.0	19.8	192
C3	11.0	45.2	452
D1	16.7	19.9	249
D2	17.1	21.8	218
D3	17.5	20.6	186
E1	11.7	37.4	431
E2	17.0	19.6	265
Site	14.8	26.3	270

Site: 8,651 people, 127,900 l/day, 329 latrines, 32 taps. The site average (14.8 l) appears close to the standard, but four blocks (A3, B3, C3, E1) are well below on all three indicators. B2 has enough water but lacks latrines; A2 and E2 slightly exceed 250 people per tap.

Marking grid

Correct indicators by block (14 marks)
Correct site indicators (6 marks)
Identification of the four critical blocks and of the special cases (6 marks)
Critique of the site average (4 marks)

Your mark for this question / 30

Question 220 marks

Reconcile the census with the population movements (document 2). What discrepancy do you find, how do you explain it and what population figure do you use for the next distribution?

Your answer

0 words

Question 330 marks

Write the service gap note to the WASH cluster for the four critical blocks: quantified needs for latrines, taps and water, and priorities.

Your answer

0 words

Model answer

Subject: WASH gaps, blocks A3, B3, C3 and E1 (3,318 people, 38% of the site).

Block	Latrines missing	Taps missing	Water missing (l/day)
A3	38 − 19 = 19	3 − 2 = 1	11,130 − 9,100 = 2,030
B3	41 − 17 = 24	4 − 2 = 2	12,180 − 8,400 = 3,780
C3	46 − 20 = 26	4 − 2 = 2	13,545 − 9,900 = 3,645
E1	44 − 23 = 21	4 − 2 = 2	12,915 − 10,100 = 2,815
Total	90	7	12,270

(Latrine requirement = people / 20 and tap requirement = people / 250, rounded up; water = people × 15.)

Priorities: B3 and C3 first (worst indicators and feedback from women on safety at night): sex-segregated, lit and lockable latrines; then E1 and A3. Outside the priorities: B2 (13 latrines missing), A2 and E2 (1 tap each). Response requested within 7 days and follow-up at the site coordination meeting.

Marking grid

Correct latrine needs (8 marks)
Correct tap and water needs (8 marks)
Reasoned prioritisation, including women's safety (8 marks)
Clear and actionable note format (6 marks)

Your mark for this question / 30

Question 420 marks

Propose a plan to make the site committee more representative, taking document 3 into account.

Your answer

0 words

Other tests for this profession

Panel interview question for this profession

Tell us about a situation where you had to coordinate several actors to fill a major service gap in a site.

Competency assessed : Coordination of actors and accountability to residents

What the panel expects : A gap quantified against standards, a clear role for the camp management agency, coordination tools, escalation to the right level, participation of residents and a measured result.

Possible follow-up questions

Which partner resisted, and how did you act?
How were residents involved?
When and how did you refer the matter to the cluster?

Strong answer

In a site of 14,000 people in Ituri, there were 74 people per functional latrine and 9 litres of water per person per day after an influx. I produced a gap analysis by block, presented at the site coordination meeting, with a map and a shared action plan. The water partner lacked funds: I referred the matter to the CCCM cluster and the water, sanitation and hygiene cluster, which mobilised a second partner for 60 latrines and water trucking. Block committees, elected with 50% women, chose the location of the latrines and monitored their condition every week. I also set up a single activity calendar to avoid duplication. In six weeks, we reached 41 people per latrine and 15 litres per person, and water-related complaints fell by 70%.

Weak answer

"I organised meetings with all the partners and everyone did their part." This answer specifies neither the gap, nor the personal role, nor escalation, nor resident participation, nor the result.

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Instructions

Documents provided

Question 130 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 220 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 330 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Question 420 marks

Model answer

Marking grid

Result

Common mistakes that cost marks

Useful references