Monitoring and evaluation specialist, Tanzania
A new way of volunteering with VSO: 4 weeks per year for the project cycle of 3 years.
Background
The St. Francis Referral Hospital (SFRH) is located in Ifakara,
Southern Tanzania and has a capacity of 400 beds and attracts
approximately 700,000 referral patients per year from Kilombero and
other neighbouring districts. The hospital is connected historically and
operationally to a number of other health institutions. All the local
partner institutions depend on each other in order to be able to act as a
platform for health care, training and research. Through the support of
volunteers there is real potential to strengthen Ifakara as a centre of
excellence in healthcare, training and research.
In order to allow the hospital to fulfill its role as a regional
referral and teaching hospital, quality of services need to be improved
through better infrastructure, strengthening of the financial and human
resource management and by ensuring availability of qualified staff,
equipment and drugs. Swiss Development Cooperation and VSO are
supporting the SFRH to improve its quality of healthcare services in a
sustainable way by offering accessible and affordable quality services
to the population and providing excellent training and research
opportunities to the local partner institutions. Based in the hospital
as the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, you will work closely with
the staff to improve quality of healthcare services in a sustainable
way.
What does the role involve? • Supporting the hospital management to
develop tools for collecting departmental data concerning quality of
services • Developing a platform to generate reports related to clinical
services, management and accounts using ICT systems • Guiding
departments to establish data collection and management systems •
Facilitating capacity building of all staff in the departments to
improve the overall data collection system • Establishing clear
monitoring and evaluation policies and procedures for hospital
management • Facilitating collaboration between departmental management
and Ifakara health Institute on research specific issues
Skills, qualifications and experience required
You can apply for this role if you are a qualified monitoring and
evaluation specialist with a masters-level research-based degree and a
minimum of 2 years experience. You will have the ability and experience
teaching, training and mentoring staff and developing specific goals and
plans for trainees. It is desirable but not essential to have worked in
Africa. You will need to be available for the period of project, 3
years or a minimum of 2 years with the flexibility and availability to
travel and come to train for 12 weeks in a year, (2 weeks every 2
months). We are looking for someone who is a team worker with good
social and interpersonal skills and networking abilities. You should be
able to handle conflicts in a constructive consultative way and have a
flexible personality, adapting easily to new situations, and being able
to set realistic expectations on working in a hospital in the tropics.
And the rest….
Ifakara in the south of Tanzania is an authentic savannah grassland
area that is green during the rainy season and brown in the dry season.
Daytime temperatures vary between 32-39 degrees Celsius throughout the
year. Southern Tanzania is home to some of Africa’s best national parks
and game reserves. There is some good hiking around Mbeya, the largest
town in the southwest, but it’s the country’s two largest parks, Ruaha
National Park and Selous Game Reserve that provide the most
awe-inspiring encounters with lions, elephants and wildebeests. Mikumi
is a smaller national park, but its proximity to Dar es Salaam makes it
handy for those without the time for the full safari but who still want
to see some wildlife. While on placement, we’ll ask you to commit to 12
weeks per year for up to 3 years to make a sustainable contribution. In
return, we’ll give you comprehensive financial, personal and
professional support. We’ll provide you with extensive training
including language classes before your placement, and our financial
package includes a local living allowance, return flights,
accommodation, insurance and more. When you return to your home country,
we’ll support you to resettle.
How to Apply
To find out more about volunteering with VSO or to apply go to http://www.vsointernational.org/volunteer/and
quote T0785/0018/0001 on your application. On average it takes a
minimum of 4 months to go through the application process so apply now
for departure as soon as possible.
