Work placement Report

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NOHA Joint Master’s Programme in International Humanitarian Action

Work placement Report

Student Name: Jiyeoun Bae

Home University: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen Host University: University College Dublin NOHA Coordinator: Dr Talita Cetinoglu

Internship Organization: Doctors with Africa CUAMM (Medici con l’Africa CUAMM) ❏ Address: New Bagamoyo Road, plot n.14, Regent State

P.O.Box 23447 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania ❏ Telephone: 00255 (0) 222775227

Name of supervisor: Dr Giovanni Fernando Torelli Period: 26th August 2019 - 1st February 2020 (800 hours) Date of Submission

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The Assistant Country Manager Intern works closely with the Country Manager in boosting program activities in Tanzania for both development and emergency projects. The intern supports in proposal writing, donors hunting and CUAMM visibility at the country level. The main location is the coordination office in Dar Es Salaam, but the intern could be involved also in field missions. The following tasks were considered under the supervision of the Country Manager, who supports and teaches the intern on how to carry them out throughout the internship period.

❏ Reviewing and updating country health and nutrition data

❏ Mapping stakeholders at country and district level providing an updated context and need analysis for proposal writing

❏ Support in finding new donors opportunities in-country and internationally according to the NGO’s strategic plan

❏ Writing project draft proposals supporting field and HQs staff

❏ Health and nutrition data analysis to be submitted to donors and stakeholders ❏ Ensuring CUAMM visibility in-country and regionally

❏ Supporting Project Managers in reviewing periodical project reports

1.2. Application and Selection process

Doctors with Africa CUAMM, as a partner organization of NOHA, offers internship to the NOHA students in various countries where it operates. For the 2018-2020 cohort, Internships in Uganda and Tanzania offices were offered hence the student applied for both of the positions with a preference of the position in Uganda.

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The application, CV and motivation letter, was submitted in February 2019, and the student was invited to a skype interview in early March, received the offer of Tanzania opening in Mid-March then accepted the offer at the end of March.

The skype interview was around 30 minutes, with questions of ‘what are the expectation, why would you like to work with CUAMM, what can you contribute to CUAMM’. Upon the confirmation of the internship, the internship contract among the student, CUAMM and NOHA was signed, document preparation for the VISA was arranged.

1.3. Expectation and objective of the Internship

The organization has extensive experience in operating Health programmes in various African countries since 1950. Hence the expectation around the internship was very high, in terms of gaining hands-on experience on a health project management, knowledge of contemporary agenda of the health sector in the development setting, and skill in the coordination of health projects. Furthermore, understanding how to coordinate different health projects at the country office level was one of the major expectation.

The main objectives of the internship are as followings;

❏ To have a better understanding of country programme operation ❏ To have insight into managing a Health programme

❏ To have insight about project implementation in the context of HDPN ❏ To identify and understand the personal point of growth and strength

2. The Internship Organization 2.1. Introduction

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Doctors with Africa CUAMM is one of the first NGOs working in the international health field, established in 1950 and one of the biggest organization with a great reputation and recognition by the donor society as well as the general public. The organization aims to contribute to ensuring the human right to health across Africa, currently working in 8 African countries.

2.2. Area of intervention and Key Strategy

The area of focus is Maternal and Child Health(MNCH), Nutrition, Infectious disease, Training, Monitoring, Evaluation and research and Chronic diseases. The organization works with a long-term development perspective, in strengthening health systems throughout the diverse level of the health system from the community to peripheral hospital, district /regional hospital, the national hospital and the national policy.

2.3. Work In Tanzania

The organization has been operating in Tanzania since 1968, in MNCH, Nutrition, Infectious disease, and Chronic disease. At the moment, it is operating 5 projects in 5 regions across the country. Moreover, it hosts the Italian medical residences for 6 months of training in its partner hospitals in two project sites. The organization is an active member of the national technical working group in Nutrition, Early Childhood Development and HIV/AIDS.

3. Tasks & Activities of the Internship

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With the newly assigned Country Manager, Doctors with Africa CUAMM Tanzania was seeking to come up with the country strategic plan for 2020-2022. Developing the Country Profile contents was assigned to the student, and the activity was aline with the process of developing the country strategic plan.

Unlike profiles of other countries where CUAMM operates, in Tanzania, the contents were drawn per thematic areas of; Maternal Newborn and Child Health, Nutrition, Non-communicable disease, Early Childhood Development, Child Protection, Infectious disease(HIV/AIDS), and Operational Research.

The student drafted the contents which were reviewed by each programme managers for their input, lastly updated data of key indicators per sector was collected.

3.2. Communication and Visibility activities

One of the major tasks assigned to the student was to work on Communication and Visibility activities. Direct guidelines were provided through several skype meetings with the communication officer in the Headquarters.

1) Visibility assessment and improvement

Assessments of communication and visibility activity for the MNCH and Nutrition projects, coordination and project offices were conducted, assessment reports with suggestions to improve the visibility and communication were produced. The reports were reviewed by the country manager, project managers and the communication officer for the implementation of visibility activities according to the report and upon the resource availability. The student liaised with the communication officer and the project officers in drafting the contents of visibility materials, then various visibility materials were produced and

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implemented; stickers with donor/CUAMM logos, informative posters, roll-up banners, a plaque for the Mother’s waiting home, and training module cover pages.

After successful implementation of produced materials, the communication and visibility report was updated accordingly and shared with the Headquarters, communication officer, project manager and the country manager for their review.

Through this activity, the student was able to enhance the ability to draw key information among others considering the purpose and target audience of the communication. Furthermore, it helped to understand the importance of establishing a synchronized brand identity of the organization.

2) Cover brief of major events

During the internship period, there were numbers of major events held by the organization, for instance, the 2019 World Diabetes Day campaign, Southern Africa Development Committee summit, National Health summit, Documentary clips at the UNICEF, World HIV/AIDS Day, Non-Communicable Disease regional level training, Field assessment of external Early Childhood consultant, Annual Meeting of Accelerating Stunting Reduction Programme etc. The student was assigned to take photos of the event, collect voices from the event participants then to draft a cover brief of the event.

The cover briefs were shared with the communication officer for publication on CUAMM’s website, social media channels, and also to the donor institutions. The activity enriched the understanding of the arrangement and coordination of

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the major events, also interviewing various participants ignited interest of ethical considerations on communication and photography.

3.3. Development of Project Concept note

The student was assigned to assist a project officer developing a new project concept note. The project is about enhancing the knowledge and skills of health personnel in the management of emergency and critically ill patients in the Iringa region where the organization operates. The backbone of contents which requires technical knowledge in the management of ICU and critically ill patients was listed by the project officer who is an Anesthesiologist and has been working in ICU. The student assisted in structuring the concept note, developing problem tree, the theory of change, M&E Matrix and a timeframe. Utilizing google document for rapid and active communication was introduced to the project officer which allowed close teamwork even when the student was staying in the remote project site.

Visualized theory of change, timeframe and the problem tree were highly appreciated, allowing the project officer to present the concept note in a more audience-friendly manner.

3.4. Facilitation of Research approval

With the growing needs for evidence-based project management, the organization has been carrying out numbers of operational researches and strategies the results into the project implementation. During the internship, the student was assigned to facilitate ethical approval of three operational studies from the National Institute of Medical Research(NIMR) and further to proceed with the procedure of obtaining research permits

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from the national authority. The information on each procedure was not precise, therefore it was critical to develop a draft of informative protocols on each procedure. Collecting precise information on steps and procedure was challenging although with several visits to the NIMR ethic committee office and communication via emails the student was able to gather relevant information. Three studies have obtained certificates of ethical clearance, applying for the research permit is still on the process.

The student has summarized the process using PowerPoint to visualize the procedures, with the indication of a focal person’s contact details from the NIMR.

Through this assignment, the student has deepened her understanding of research initiating procedures, required elements of research protocols such as informed consent form in both English and Kiswahili(the local language), written information sheet in both languages, engagement of local institution, and Data Transfer Agreement.

3.5. Assist stakeholder Meetings

Occasionally the student was requested to assist in the preparation of stakeholder meetings. Although in the case of the field assessment of external Early Childhood Development(ECD) consultant, the student requested to join the team since the topic is in line with the personal interest and career aspiration. The organization held stakeholders meeting in Dar es Salaam coordination office, inviting national-level key stakeholders namely, UNICEF, World Bank, UKAID, and the National ECD taskforce. The student was assigned to take the meeting minutes and to arrange the meeting room. Drafted minutes were shared with the country manager and the ECD consultant for their review then it was shared with the participants.

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Another major meeting that student had engaged in was the Annual meeting of the

Accelerating Stunting Reduction Programme that is implemented by three consortia in 4 different regions. As the programme is entering the last year of 5 year implementation, the coordination party, UNICEF, requested the implementing partners to develop a plan for documenting the best practices, which the student was assigned to develop and revise according to the comments from the project field officers. The document was presented by the project manager during the meeting, which received positive feedback from stakeholders and further shared with the other implementing partners, PACT and CRS, as a good example. Lastly, the student drafted the report on the meeting to share with the participants of the meeting including UNICEF stakeholders.

Through participating in key stakeholders’ meeting, the student was able to build a network with several focal persons from UNICEF and UKAID. Moreover, it introduced the student on the contemporary agendas around nutrition and Early Childhood interventions in Tanzania which further developed into the Master thesis topic.

4. Supervision of the Internship

Supervision received was very minimal both from the organization and the university. While the student was carrying out the assigned duties, guidelines were provided from a staff who is relevant to the assignment.

5. Living Conditions

The accommodation was provided from the organization throughout the internship period. The organization runs resthouses in both Dar es Salaam and Tosamaganga(project site) to accommodate occasional M&E visiting teams, external consultants, Italian medical students,

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interns and short-term volunteers. Both of the resthouses are well furnished, with a private shower in each room. The food is also provided at the resthouse at a very low cost, and in good quality, mainly Italian cuisine and the local foods. Laundry service is available at both of the resthouses for 3-4 euros per time. Resthouse in the Dar es Salaam is located in the same compound as the coordination office, hence the commute is very simple. Although the resthouse in Tosamaganga is a bit remote from the Iringa project office, and the commute takes around 30 minutes by motorcycles with around 3-4 euros per trip.

Cost of living in Dar es Salaam is pretty high, which reflects that diverse amenities are available. There is a huge expatriates’ community in Dar es Salaam, therefore, leisures, art workshop, good quality of restaurants and cafe, well-equipped supermarket, occasional art exhibition, farmers market are available in the town.

Transporation is relatively easy in Dar es Salaam using UBER, public transportation at very low cost is available although it takes a considerably long time to reach one place from another.

6. Conclusion

6.1. Reflection: intrinsic and personal learning effect

Through having experience in working with the organization, the student was able to have an idea of health project operation in the development setting. By witnessing the different environment of health facilities in diverse level, the student understood critical elements of health system strengthening projects. Moreover, constant engagement in the national stakeholders meeting offered the student to understand the nature and the impact of advocacy. The internship helped the student to build multicultural and human right sensitivity as the student was exposed to a diverse environment, interacting with people from different backgrounds. On top of that, communication and teamwork skills were

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improved, as well as understanding the nature of major donor institutions such as the European Union, UKAID and UNICEF.

Through the internship, understanding of health programme operation has been enhanced. Although it did not offer any experience in the context of HDPN. Due to the unprecise job descriptions and duties assigned, further extend to the miss-match of Human resource, it has been challenging to identify oneself within the organization. The tasks were given without a timeframe, in other words, they were given randomly, therefore the internship was not appropriately structured. Identifying the needs of the organization prior to the intern recruitment and considering applicants background accordingly was suggested to the Country manager for the future purpose.

6.2. SWOT analysis of internship/organization

Below table is a brief SWOT analysis of the organization. The findings can be translated into SWTO of the internship itself, for instance, the adequate human resource with medical background allows the intern to be exposed to technical knowledge of health project. On the other hand, since most of the staff’s English skill is limited, the information, discussions were often made in Italian which can be a barrier to the intern depending on the intern’s knowledge on Italian.

Strength

- Adequate Human resources with

Medical background

- Well established reputation in Italy and health sector

- Strong network with international

institutions

- Strong support from religious

institutions

Weakness/limitations

- Limited capability of staffs in English

- Limited Human resource of skilled

project management

- Lack of Human resource of skilled

emergency response

- Low level of localization

- High staff turn over(Expatriates)

Opportunities

- Active engagement in national task

Threats

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- Exploring new sectors; ECD, Child protection

- Increasing focus on the operational

researches

- Complicated VISA process in

Tanzania

- Growing professionalization of

project management

6.3. Evaluation of internship component within NOHA master

Although the internship was in the context of development, it allowed the student to practice the learnings points during the academic component of the NOHA masters. Particularly, the knowledge gained during the Anthropology, Public health, Management, and Gender-Based Violence in Emergency have been applied in major and minor assignments carried out, and the further extends to the personal reflection.

6.4. Career aspiration

Even though the internship did not offer much experience in health project management, the student was able to identify interesting sector by exposing oneself to the topic and constant review of recent studies in the relevant field. The nutrition sector, integrated with the Early Childhood Development. The Master thesis will be developed in the relevant topic, further job searching will be carried out in related fields.

7. Reference

7.1. Cover briefs of major events published on CUAMM website

❏ Southern African Development Community Summit: Health and Nutrition

https://doctorswithafrica.org/en/whats-new/news/nutrition-dialogue-and-best-pra ctices/

❏ Accelerating Stunting Reduction Programme annual meeting

Work placement Report

NOHA Joint Master’s Programme in International Humanitarian Action

Work placement Report

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