Madagascar: Project Development Officer (Community Health)

Day-to-day coordination of the development, implementation and evaluation ofa rainwater harvesting (RWH) projectin one of the leading sustainable development and conservation NGOs in Madagascar

Project Development Officer, Community Health (Madagascar)

• Title: Project Development Officer
• Timeframe: 12 months extendable
• Probationary period: 3 months
• Contract:Dependant on funding confirmation. Voluntary, unsalaried. Subject to passing the six-month review, a small stipend is granted to cover accommodation costs.
• Reporting to: Tatirano Project Manager

Position Overview:

Based in the coastal town of Fort Dauphin in the southeast of Madagascar, this post will provide support to the second Phase of Project Tatirano; a RWH project focused at improving drinking water provision in a rural fokontany (cluster of villages) called Sainte Luce. The successful candidate will work within a combined Malagasy and international team to assist in the research, planning, implementation and evaluation of project activities. The role is 70% office-based and the diversity of activities undertaken will provide a wide ranging experience for an early-career development professional who can effectively and efficiently deal with a comprehensive range of tasks related to the complex world of overseas development work. Initially an internship for the first three months, this exciting post would suit someone with some experience and a strong passion to learn, and would be essential in-country experience for anyone wishing to begin a career in international development, and in particular the water sector.

Primary responsibilities:

Support of Project Manager; preparation and editing of reports and papers; monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the project; researching international best practice as per project requirements; liaison with the London project development team and local staff.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Conduct, analyse and evaluate research into international best practice, working closely with Malagasy staff to apply to the specific cultural context
• Write project reports that clearly demonstrate the successes, challenges and learning of the project, and give clear budgetary information
• Work closely with the Project Manager to plan, implement and evaluate day-to-day activities both in the office and in the field
• Work closely with the project’s Senior Community Liaison Officer (SCLO) to carry out effective and efficient project activities, with a special emphasis in the field
• Work closely with the Project Manager and Head of Project Development for Health to prepare the dissemination on general project progression and more in-depth evaluations on specific findings to national organisations and international RWH and WASH forums
• Take an active role in ensuring accuracy of all statistics relating to the project
• Take an active role in project management meetings
• Work with the Malagasy team in increasing their skills and capacity, providing mentoring or training where appropriate
• Work closely with the Project Manager and Head of Project Development for Health to ensure the effective and efficient planning and implementation of best practice MEL tools, and working with the Tatirano team in the office and field on implementing these
• Analyse data and be able to clearly and concisely present to the team, with demonstrable ability in gathering and assimilating information from various sources, compiling documents (reports, proposals, journals etc.), and identifying lessons learnt for future application to the project
• Work alongside the Tatirano Project Manager in managing the budget
• Take the lead in writing social media and website content for the project
• Liaise with the UK team in London ensuring clear communication at all times
• Maintain the database of photographs for the project
• Take an active role in international team meetings and the support to members of the wider team
• Any other tasks required by the Tatirano Project Manager, Head of Project Development for Health, Director of Operations or Head of Department commensurate with this role

Person specification:

• Hold a relevant undergraduate/Master’s degree in or with elements relating to international development, or community health, or have equivalent experience
• Demonstrate sound knowledge and a keen interest in WASH and development; previous experience of community-based work would be an asset
• Demonstrate an awareness of and comfort with increased social and professional responsibility, working at all times with cultural sensitivity and respect
• Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to SEED’s ethos and approach and be a good ambassador for SEED and the project at all times
• Have passion, curiosity and motivation for the job and the ability to enthuse others
• Have the ability and desire to work with teams from different economic and cultural backgrounds and across multiple language barriers
• Have the ability and desire to build capacity and share skills across cultures
• Demonstrate proven ability to recognise and appropriately deal with challenging situations
• Demonstrate the ability, social skills and confidence to give clear guidance and support to other members of the team in respect to the philosophy and procedures of SEED in order to protect both their safety and the reputation of the NGO
• Be punctual and be able to work to tight deadlines in an organised manner and to a high standard
• Have a very flexible and patient attitude
• Have excellent problem-solving skills
• Be able to work both independently and as part of a team

Practicalities:

The successful candidate will be able to financially support themselves for the full duration of this post and be equipped with a laptop computer (non-tablet).

Background

Organisation

SEED Madagascar (previously Azafady UK) is a British-registered charity (1079121) established in 1994 and registered in England & Wales in 1999. The acronym SEED (sustainable environment, education and development) reflects the organisation’s holistic approach to projects; all of which are built around the most pressing and directly expressed needs of disadvantaged communities. Cross-departmental collaboration between SEED’s four programmes – Community Health, Sustainable Livelihoods, Environmental Conservation and Education – maximises progress towards SEED’s central mission: to build community and institutional capacity to lead and support effective conservation and sustainable development initiatives.

Madagascar

In Madagascar, poor access to basic water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) perpetuates the country’s status as the world’s fifth poorest country (World Bank, 2015), with over 82% of the population living below the international poverty line of $1.90 per day (UNICEF, 2016). Just 35% of the rural population have access to improved water sources (WHO/UNICEF, 2015), which when combined with inadequate sanitation, contributes to the deaths of over 2,000 Malagasy children each year from diarrhoeal disease (WaterAid, 2016). Furthermore, women and children could save up to 5 hours a day (Tatirano Baseline Studies, 2015) by collecting and storing rainwater on their own homes, rather than walking to far away sources.

Project Tatirano

“Tatirano” in the Malagasy language translates as “collecting water”, perfectly summarising the project’s aim: improving access to clean drinking water by demonstrating the simple, affordable and effective technique of RWH. Despite the region receiving high volumes of rainfall and a general lack of clean drinking water, RWH is not commonly practiced for drinking water provision.

Tatirano Phase II stems from the success of the pilot school RWH project in Sainte Luce which provides clean drinking water for 144 EPP (primary school) children, educating children and the community on essential WASH themes and dramatically raising the profile of RWH. Nonetheless, the supply of rainwater from the pilot RWH system is limited by the size of the collection area and storage capacity. Consequently, the system is only able to provide clean water to the wider community on a limited and irregular basis, leaving demand for clean water unmet for much of the year.

By expanding RWH to households in Phase II to capitalise on the greater collection area per capita, vulnerable families will have access to clean water right at the home, encouraging long-term recognition and prioritisation of the health and livelihood benefits to consuming clean and convenient water.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants should send a CV and covering letter outlining how their skills and experience match the requirements in the role description criteria to Harry Chaplin by email: harry.chaplin@seedmadagascar.org. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until position is filled. Long-listed applicants will have an initial informal chat with Madagascar based staff and short-listed applicants will then be offered a face-to-face interview with the London team in-person.

More information on Project Tatirano and the work of SEED Madagascar can be found at www.madagascar.co.uk/projects/community-health/tatirano