NFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office, Johannesburg, South Africa
Duration: 01 September – 31 December 2018, with a possible 6 months’ extension
Closing date: 17 August, 5pm (Johannesburg time)
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS VACANCY IS OPEN ONLY TO NATIONALS AND PERMANENT RESIDENTS OF SOUTH AFRICA*
Background
Providing girls and women with the necessary information, resources, skills, social support, and water, sanitation, waste disposal and health facilities required to manage their menstrual needs and other types of vaginal bleeding through the life course from menarche to menopause is important for girls’ and women’s health, well-being, mobility, educational and economic empowerment, and dignity. Yet many girls and women in Africa, especially those who live in poor areas and those that have been displaced or affected by political, economic and social emergencies, have little to no access to age-appropriate information on menstrual health, skills, health and hygiene facilities (including disposal and waste management) and products that are accessible, effective, comfortable, convenient, affordable and safe to use and change. This hinders the ability of girls and women to understand and manage menstruation and to seek help and support when they experience menstrual health problems, thereby negatively impacting their self-esteem, sense of agency, and ability participate in daily activities, including school, social activities and work.
Today many countries in Africa are moving towards more holistic responses to menstrual health management (MHM) with strengthened efforts to ensure that the focus on menstrual health management is expanded from product availability as a stand-alone solution to integrated, cross-sectoral policy and programmatic responses involving gender, education (including CSE for in- and out-of-school youth), water and sanitation (WASH), waste disposal and health system strengthening with a competent workforce, both in development contexts and humanitarian responses. It is also increasingly recognized as an issue for research and learning, monitoring and evaluation. However, despite progress in countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Zambia and Ethiopia, many of these efforts remain undocumented, limited in geographical coverage, lacking a strong evidence-base, and are largely donor or charity dependent. More needs to be done to strengthen high-level policy commitment, coordination, knowledge sharing, and evidence based programming. There is also a need to develop effective and innovative approaches to supply management and distribution, build commitment to strengthen education efforts, improve water and sanitation infrastructure in school and other spaces, and to ensure that multi-sectoral plans are costed and supported with adequate financial resources to sustain efforts, develop monitoring and evaluation, and bring programmes to scale across the African continent.
It is against this background that the UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office, in close collaboration with government, UN partners, religious and traditional leaders, CSOs, NGOs, private sector and youth led organizations, has established the African Coalition for Menstrual Health Management, which is to improve policy dialogue, knowledge management, partnership and coordination of menstrual health management across the continent.
Job purpose
To support regional efforts to improve policy dialogue, knowledge management, partnership and coordination of Menstrual Health Management in Africa, the UNFPA Regional Office for East and Southern Africa is recruiting a coordinator to oversee the establishment and daily management of the secretariat for the African Coalition for Menstrual Health Management. The secretariat is based at the UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office in Sunninghill, Johannesburg.
Key roles and responsibilities
Working under the overall supervision of the Regional Director, UNFPA East and Southern Africa and daily supervision by the Regional Adolescent and Youth Programme Specialist, the Coordinator for secretariat for the African Coalition for Menstrual Health Management will provide support for:
Advocacy, policy and strategy development and implementation
- Work with UNFPA and the Coalition leadership to develop and implement a 5-year strategy, action plan and a joint advocacy strategy for the African Coalition for Menstrual Health Management;
- Develop position briefs and statements; reviewing of policies, and advocating for policies/legislation at regional/national levels;
- Represent the coalition in relevant policy dialogues and high-level discussions; and
- Conduct media outreach and act as the media spokesperson in all matters related to menstrual health management.
Research and knowledge management
- Continually broaden expertise in the area of African Coalition for Menstrual Health Management and serve as resource person;
- Conduct literature/resource reviews to identify and document best practices on MHM for the African Coalition for Menstrual Health Management
- Support the development and implementation of knowledge products, such as:
- A common set of SMART goals, tangible outcomes, indicators and a shared Theory of Change to guide menstrual health management programming, monitoring and evaluation in the region;
- Guidelines for data collection methods, tools, and evaluation measures for coalition activities and associated projects in conjunction with coalition members; and
- Application of instruments and tools for testing effectiveness of coalition strategies.
- Liaise and broker TA between global, regional and national partners for knowledge management, capacity building and South South collaboration within the Coalition
Partnership and resource mobilization
- Represent the coalition in relevant fora global, regionally and nationally;
- Recruit and maintain a diverse Coalition membership with regional and national partners;
- Assess performance and provide guidance to the African Coalition for Menstrual Health Management taskforces on TOR development, implementation and reporting;
- Establish and maintain partnership with global menstrual health management initiatives such as MHM in Ten, the MH Hub, the International Menstrual Hygiene Day and the Cup Coalition; and
- Seek and write grant proposals to obtain additional funding for Coalition staff and activities.
Communications
- Continually maintain and develop content for the Coalition website;
- Develop marketing and media materials, campaigns, and identify African Coalition for Menstrual Health Management promotion opportunities in conjunction with the Coalition members;
- Compile, analyze and document findings and progress of Coalition activities in written quarterly reports to UNFPA, other funding agencies, and Coalition members; and
- Report and present coalition progress and program findings through online and face-to-face communication with Coalition members and external partners.
Management
- Direct the work and activities of Coalition communications and administrative support staff;
- Supervise, mentor, and direct the work activities of interns and assigned temporary staff; and
- Collaborate with relevant UNFPA staff at HQ, the Regional Office and Country Offices.
Required Qualifications and Experience
Education:
- A University degree at Master level or equivalent in health education, public health, social sciences, or other field directly related to the substantive areas of this position.
Experience and skills:
- 5 years’ relevant work experience with government, UN or NGOs on issues related to sexual and reproductive health, health education, adolescent health or related areas;
- Experience in strategy and action plan development;
- Strong advocacy and networking skills with the ability to liaise with and engage government, UN agencies, CSOs and other stakeholders in a professional and friendly manner;
- Experience in M&E, including development of indicators and tools;
- Excellent administration, coordination and organizational skills;
- Strong communication skills and proven experience with the use of social media and other channels for effective advocacy, knowledge sharing and campaigning;
- Strong writing and analytical skills;
- Ability to work with and within inter-disciplinary and multicultural groups;
- Good computer skills, including for the establishment and maintenance of online databases; and
- Experience with resource mobilization and grant/proposal development is an asset.
Language:
- Fluency in English; and
- A working knowledge of French and/or Portuguese is an asset.
How to Apply
Applicants are requested to send a one-page motivation letter and CV noting ‘Regional Coordinator for the African Coalition for Menstrual Health Management’ in the subject line to Maja Hansen at [email protected] with copy to Cleopatra Okumu at [email protected] by 17 August 2018.
More Information
- Job City Johannesburg
