Recrutement  BULGARIA (Sliven) - General Coordinator

BULGARIA

GENERAL Coordinator (Sliven)

Reference MDM_COORDOg-BUL

One of the largest Roma communities in Europe lives in Bulgaria: 365 797 Roma are officially recorded and 700 000 unofficially. 10% of the Bulgarian Romas live in Sliven in the Eastern part of the country. Among them, 8000 persons live in the Nadezhda’s quarter including 3200 children and 2100 women of child-bearing age. Nadezhda quarter is the largest of the 4 quarters of the Roma minority in Sliven. The poorest and most vulnerable community is the “Naked” one which represents 50% of Nadezhda’s inhabitants. The “Musicians” one and the “Turks”one count for a quarter of the total Roma community.

The relationships between the various « groups » are complex, especially since the collapse of communism and the impoverishment of the Roma communities. The “Turks” are rather hostile towards the other groups. The “Musicians” is the leader group whereas the “Naked” are rejected by the other groups, even by children. The life expectancy of the Roma population in Bulgaria is of 52 years old (vs 71.75 years old for the rest of the Bulgarian population). 50% of the population is less than 18 years old.

The Roma living in Nadezhda are heavy discriminated in the Bulgarian society although Sliven is a place where thousands of Roma live and where the majority of them is better integrated than in the rest of the country. The access to ambulatory and hospital care depends on the grant of social security rights. However, the reform of the Bulgarian health system in July 2000 brought about the exclusion of the high majority of Roma from access to health care: about a third of the Roma population would be “out” of the system and would not have any social security rights since January 1st, 2005.

Médecins du Monde implemented a Mother and Child Health Care centre in Nadezhda in January 2005. An assessment mission was conducted in July 2005. The programme activities have been stopped in September 2006 for administrative reasons.

The title of the project is:” Improve Mother and Child Health Care of the Roma Population Living in Nadezhda”. The implementation is in Sliven (relatively large town with 110,000 inhabitants; the 8th largest in Bulgaria). The beneficiaries are Roma women and children living in Nadezhda’s quarter (whole population of the quarter, which is around 8000 persons -+/-600 due to seasonal migrations). The direct beneficiaries are 3200 children and 2100 women of child-bearing age (12 years old for Roma).

Since 2004, MdM has been working in the heart of the largest Roma communities in Bulgaria, in the Sliven’s Nadezhda quarter. After two years, the 2006 evaluation synthesized data collected and highlighted the deep disparities between the general population and the Roma local population regarding access to mother and child health cares, access to medical facilities and information on health issues.

In order to meet these needs, MdM elaborated a comprehensive project that aims at giving the community the means and human resources to ensure its access to health. The main goal would be to make the community exercise its rights for medical insurance and for a better access to care and prevention.

The MdM General Coordinator in Sliven is a challenging position that requires commitment, dexterity and diplomacy for:

- Programme planning, supervising and managing activities’ implementation (re-launch the program, guaranty the quality)

- Setting up the programme’ monitoring & evaluation (plan, implementation, reporting)

- Team management in a complex environment

- Collaborate closely with national medical coordinator and most particularly for technical aspects (team training, training plans, health education)

- Elaborating and following-up of programme’s budget

- Building up and upholding effective relations with local authorities

- Conducting a network of partners and promoting the coordination of participants

- Building up the advocacy for ROMs’ health rights (keeping the health and political bodies aware of the problems of access to health care and social situation of Nadezhda quarter)

- Representing MdM for the Bulgarian authorities, the donors, the NGOs, and embassies (regular meetings and negotiations)

- Building relations to donors (fund raising, reporting)

- Capacity building on national team

- Regular relations to the desk officer and the benevolent Mission Responsible: writing of monthly reports and regular contacts and communication

Departure: 01/10/2008

Duration: 1 an

Status: salaried

Profile:

¨ Experienced in health programmes

¨ Extensive experience in programme coordination and team management

¨ Capacity to represent the organization

¨ English speaking (good level)

¨ Computer skills (Word, Excel)

¨ Experienced in management of humanitarian and/or development programmes

¨ Experienced in mother and child health and social issues

¨ Experienced in training methodologies and planning

¨ Understanding of Rom or minorities issues

¨ Skilled in fundraising processes

¨ Qualifications in public health is an asset

¨ Experienced in advocacy or lobbying is an asset

¨ Knowledge in Mother and Child Health would be an asset

¨ Knowledge of Slavic languages (Bulgarian, Russian) would be an asset

¨ Organizational skills, public relations and diplomacy

¨ Interest in the social approach of health issues

¨ Committed and concerned with minorities’ rights

¨ Intellectual curiosity, respect for the others, team spirit, patience and tenacity