Unicef Consultant for The National WASH Advocacy - Jobs in Tanzania

Unicef Consultant for The National WASH Advocacy - Jobs in Tanzania

In Tanzania, latrine coverage is high though much of it is composed of unimproved latrines. The 2015-16 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) reported that only 19% of the households used improved sanitation while 73% in rural areas used unimproved sanitation and 10% practiced open defecation.

In the survey, a relatively high diarrhoea prevalence of 12% for children under five was reported. The high prevalence indicates that people are living in a faecally-contaminated environment.

The challenge has been moving the big proportion of people using unproved latrines up the sanitation ladder and those practicing open defecation to adopt improved latrines.

This calls for innovative strategies to help register results for children.

Local religious groups are usually found at the heart of the communities, not only upholding beliefs, cultural values and social traditions, but also as a force for positive change and development.

The religious leaders were tasked with the responsibility of demonstration by constructing and using improved latrines at their institutions and homes and sensitizing their followers on issues to do with sanitation and hygiene.

Justification

According to the TDHS 2015/2016, 10% of Tanzanians still practice open defecation, in addition to a huge burden of 73% of the rural population using unimproved latrines that do not protect them from fecal contamination.

Diarrhoea, one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among populations, accounts for 12% of the disease burden in children under 5 in Tanzania (TDHS 2015/2016).

Globally, 88% of all diarrhoea is attributed to poor Water, sanitation and hygiene. Cholera is an indicator of ingestion of faecal matter either through food or water and as of 8th August 2018, there were 32,067 cases with 532 deaths and CFR 1.7 (MOHCDGEC daily report; WHO Fact Sheet 2018).

Statistics on stunting in Tanzania are not any better. According to the TDHS 2015-2016, 2.7million (34%) of Tanzanian children suffer from stunted growth.

The WASH Advocacy package with religious leaders will guide on the different avenues where/how religious groups could contribute to engage in the WASH agenda in the country hence contributing to the achievement of National Sanitation Campaign, Tanzania Development Vision 2025, and the Sustainable Development Goals commitments by the Government of Tanzania to achieve a 100% basic sanitation service level by 2030.

There is therefore an opportunity to nurture intentional engagement of a stakeholder group that has traditionally been left out of the WASH agenda in the country yet they have an enormous outreach to over 97% of Tanzanians.

This Advocacy WASH Package with religious leaders will also contribute to the UNICEF Tanzania Country Programme 2016/2021, Outputs 3 and 4 and is in line with the UNDAP WASH and Nutrition Outcomes in support of the Government of Tanzania and Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar's coordinated, scaled up national response for improved water, sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition.

The purpose and Objectives of the Consultancy

This assignment is aimed to support the Tanzania InterFaith Partnership (TIP) to develop a comprehensive WASH advocacy package with Religious Groups in Tanzania in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly, and Children, (MoHCDGEC).

It aims to build capacity of trainers drawn from religious groups and the MoHCDGEC and strengthen skills and knowledge about what/how religious groups can contribute to the WASH agenda and SDG 6 in Tanzania.

The consultancy has the following specific objectives: