PROJECT MANAGER: MENSTRUAL HYGINE MANAGEMENT PROJECT

Are you interested in joining an international organisation with a long-term commitment to fighting poverty? Would you like to work in a challenging environment to develop a career focused on shared values and lasting impact?

SNV TANZANIA is looking for a:

 PROJECT MANAGER:  MENSTRUAL HYGINE MANAGEMENT PROJECT

                                         Based in Mwanza, Tanzania

                                                     (Local contract)

SNV Netherlands Development Organization is an international NGO with a trusted presence in Tanzania for more than 40 years.  Currently SNV is working throughout mainland Tanzania in three main sectors of Agriculture, Water and Sanitation Hygiene (WASH), and Renewable Energy (RE).

The SNV Tanzania programme in the WASH sector develops and applies innovative solutions for increasing access to water and sanitation in rural and peri-urban Tanzania.

99% of girls in primary school in rural areas who have reached puberty do not use appropriate sanitary wear during their monthly menstrual cycle. Common sanitary options in Tanzania:

• Re-Usable Sanitary Pads
• Disposable Sanitary Pads

Both options pose a number of challenges with regard to their use particularly by adolescent girls in schools.  The re-usable sanitary pads are relatively cheap and can be produced using locally available materials such as pieces of clothes, and absorbent materials.

In Tanzania there is no proven evidence and track record on effectiveness; hygiene and on sanitation benefits gained from using re-usable sanitary pads. Secondly, due to lack of water in most of schools in rural areas, washing of re-usable pads poses a serious challenge. Disposable pads are ready made commercial products. 17 types of disposable sanitary pads are available in Tanzania, most of them being imported from manufactures through local agents. Quality assurance and certification for sanitation, hygiene and health safety of imported pads is provided by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS). However the main consumers of sanitary pads are urban based women with a few of urban based school girls. It is established that only 2% of school girls across the Tanzania (mostly urban based) use the disposable pads. There are rural school girls who have not even seen a sanitary pad. The challenges around the disposable pads are:

• Accessibility: Sanitary Pads are available principally in the urban areas; the demand for disposable pads and particularly from the school girls is low, therefore supply of disposable pads in the rural areas is prohibitive

• Affordability:  School girls are unable to buy disposable pads due to low income and competing  priorities of what to buy by their parents

• Knowledge:  Not only that the disposable pads are quite a new items to some of the school girls and their parents; but also, the are wrong perceptions about industrially manufactured pads and genuine low understanding regarding the use and management of disposable pads in the rural communities and especially amongst the school girls.

As a result of above mentioned challenges, female pupils either use improper materials to manage menstrual flow; or/and opt to stay at home and not attend school during the 3-4 days of their menses. If they attend school without proper sanitary wear, many girls soil their uniforms; suffer psychologically due to shame and embarrassment.  Poor Menstrual Hygiene Management is considered to be not only one of the contributing factors to poor performance and completion rates among female pupils; but also  exposes school girls to health risks.

SNV Tanzania will implement a 2 year project with the objectives of addressing the above mentioned challenges. The project will demonstrate a Social Marketing model whereby Private Sectors and micro and small enterprise actions impact on the social sphere through Inclusive Business Approach to address a problem affecting adolescent girls in schools in society. The project will be implemented at scale reaching pupils throughout Tanzania.

Overarching Results

• Affordable school girls’ menstrual pack produced and distributed to primary and secondary schools across Tanzania and in the four target regions of Ethiopia.
• Increased school girls access and use of affordable sanitary Increase education benefit for girls and other pupils (attendance, completion and pass rates)
• A business model for school girls’ sanitary pack developed.

Beneficiaries and stakeholders

The primary beneficiaries of this intervention will be primarily school girls as change agents; they will influence other adolescent girls to adopt proper MHM starting with access and use of safe and hygienic sanitary pads

The secondary beneficiaries are school teachers who will gain knowledge and skills on guiding girls on menstrual management and sanitary pads management.

Increased business skills and income for women reusable pad producers organized in small and micro enterprise industry.

Parents and community level institutions will gain new insights and awareness of disposable sanitary pads. They are a supportive structure for enhancing demand for disposable sanitary pads.

Other Stakeholders are the importers and suppliers of the school girl’s menstrual pack who will participate in the innovation and the supply chain of the disposable sanitary pads. They are important actors responding to the demands for affordable sanitary pads from the school girls. Textile industry, micro and small enterprise agencies and education and women and youth affair ministries are also important stakeholder in raw material supply and creating the enabling environment.

SNV is looking for a reputable person who will be the Project Manager for Menstrual Hygiene Management project (GIRLS IS IN CONTROL: Managing Menstruation) with the following key duties & responsibilities:

• Leading implementation of the project at district and community level based on the project documents and community consultation in coordination with Programme Unit Management and in line with WASH/Health sector guidelines/ standards
• Provide technical support on Menstrual Health Management to community-based groups supported by the project
• Participate in developing annual project outlines and quarterly and monthly project work-plans and budgeting
• Establishing and maintaining appropriate working relationships with all project implementing partners to build meaningful relationships
• Preparation of project related reports that are timely and of high quality based on the key project indicators and reporting formats as required by the donor and Plan.
• Support documentation of project processes on development of a business model, community Based Management systems, and good practices, among others for learning.
• Carry out community mobilization and sensitization on access to and importance of MHM services
• Facilitate capacity building sessions for resource teams on Menstrual Health Management.
• Facilitate participatory project monitoring and evaluation sessions for effective service delivery.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

• A degree in Nursing, Public Health, Social Sciences, Social Work or development studies.
• At least two years’ experience of working on initiatives related to MHM
• Computer knowledge in Microsoft Office Software (Word, Excel spread Sheets and PowerPoint presentation)
• Experience & knowledge in participatory & rights based approaches to development
• Ability to work in teams with good negotiation, partnership building, networking, facilitation, documentation, report writing, and communication (both oral & written) skills in multi-cultural contexts.

Additional skills  of the MHM Manager :

• To facilitate Multi-stakeholders processes -  Helping actors at all levels to be informed of and react to, and where appropriate exploit opportunities from one another’s actions,
• Providing day to day management of the MHM  project under WASH sector
• To promote gender and social equity
• To negotiate and mediate around conflicting interests and agendas
• To foster data and information collection, processing, management and dissemination,
• To develop creative learning systems and structures

The project duration is 2 years and the duty station is Mwanza Tanzania.

Contract duration: 2 years National Contract

Desired start date: 1st March 2014

How to apply

Please apply by sending your application letter and CV toTanzaniaHR@snvworld.org  or to our offices to the attention of

Human Resources Manager,

P.O. Box 3941,

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania