RFP: Survey on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) practices among adult women in urban slums of Bangalore, Karnataka via DevNetJobsIndia

WaterAid

Bangalore, Karnataka, India 🇮🇳

Background and Rationale:

Established in 1981, WaterAid has its operations in 38 countries worldwide, transforming millions of lives every year with safe water, sanitation and hygiene, and working in India since 1986. From 2010, WaterAid India (WAI) is registered as Jal Seva Charitable Foundation (JSCF), a not-for-profit company under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956. JSCF is an associate member of WaterAid International. Across India, WAI’s presence is in 13 states, covering 47 districts.

While WAI’s goal is universal access to WASH, its work is prioritised from the locations of the excluded and most marginalized communities. WAI works on themes such as drinking water security, sanitation, WASH in health and nutrition, WASH in schools and Menstrual Hygiene Management, in rural areas and in urban locations including census, small and medium towns. Apart from its own programs, WAI’s work also focuses on WASH policy and advocacy, both at national and state levels.

Survey on Menstrual Hygiene Management:

The Census 2011 indicated that 31.16% of India now lives in urban areas of whom more than half, i.e. 18% are in slums. The number of slums in Bangalore has grown from 159 in 1971 to over 2000 slums (notified and non-notified) in 2015. Those living in slums accounted for just over 10% of the city’s population in 1971 and an estimated 25 to 35% in 2015. While there has been some progress in ensuring they are provided with basic services, there continue to be several challenges, these include poor capacity of city governments to address issues of the poor in the urban slum settlements and their access to basic services. The urban slums are rapidly growing resulting in additional stress to existing facilities. Getting clean drinking water and decent toilets to these slums, especially to informal settlements is often complex and controlled by multiple institutions with overlapping jurisdictions. Most of the slum dwellers being migrants may have come from rural areas which may already be plagued by limited access to health information and health care services and limited access to water and sanitation services. This set of physical conditions makes them susceptible to WASH-related diseases.

Among the people living in urban slums in Bangalore, women are amongst the most marginalised and impoverished subpopulations of the urban poor – illiterate, unskilled, lowest in the caste hierarchy and the poorest of the poor. Compromised access to safe drinking water, decent toilet and clean environment makes them further vulnerable to morbidity and mortality and a denial of their basic right to live. Poor awareness on the link between WASH and health have in turn aggravated the situation in the slums. As per a World Bank survey, an estimated 500 million women and girls lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management (MHM).The lack of means for hygienic management of menstruation can cause discomfort and psychological stress and adds to the shame and sometimes depression that women and girls experience because of menstruation-related taboos and stigma (Sweetman and Medland 2017).

Promoting MHM is imperative for safeguarding women’s dignity, privacy, bodily integrity, and, consequently, their self-efficacy. Awareness of MHM contributes to empowering women, and promote gender equality.

Disposable absorbents contribute to large amounts of global waste. Ensuring women and girls have access to sustainable and quality products, and improving the management of the disposal of menstrual products, can make a big difference to the environment. As per a study conducted by Bhor and Ponkshe in 2018, an average woman trashes about 150 kilograms of non-biodegradable waste. In India alone, roughly 121 million women and girls use an average of eight disposable and non-compostable absorbents per month, generating 113, 000 metric tons of annual menstrual waste.

The challenges that menstruators face encompass more than a basic lack of supplies or infrastructure.  The multi-dimensional issues that menstruating women face require multi-pronged, multi-stakeholder interventions.

In order to better understand the current state of landscape in context of WASH (Water, Sanitation and hygiene) in the communities and institutions in select 09 slums of Bangalore where WaterAid will be implementing the programme, WaterAid intends to undertake a survey on Menstrual Hygiene and its management among adult women (Knowledge, Attitude and practices on Menstruation and disposal of menstrual waste. WaterAid invites proposals /quotation to conduct survey across 09 slums spread across different region/zone in Bangalore, Karnataka

Objective and Purpose

The objective of this study is to generate information on MHM practices prevalent among adult women in slums and assess needs and requirements of women to manage MHM. To establish the key change indicators for the project (in 09 slums of Bangalore), which will include, the following as examples:

  • Women’s understanding and knowledge of menstruation
  • Socio-cultural beliefs and taboos surrounding menstruation
  • Current MHM practices
  • Product (menstrual absorbent) use and preference and its disposal mechanism
  • Managing post-partum bleeding
  • Recommendations for better menstrual hygiene and its management.
  • FGD: Challenges faced by target community in accessing water and sanitation services and hygiene including menstrual hygiene

Methodology:

WaterAid has developed questionnaires for each of the proposed exercise based on our experience and expectations. Once the research agency is selected this can jointly be reviewed and refined if required. Research agency is expected to use the developed questionnaire for survey

It is very important that the data collected is reliable so that robust analysis can be done later.

Team leader of the project from WaterAid India will lead the overall supervision and coordination. Whereas at field level the field team will provide required support.

WaterAid team will provide training on mWater and on the tools and field team will participate in enumerators training on data collection to ensure quality assurance.

For detailed information, please check the complete version of the advert attached below 

Job Email id:WAIProcurementBengaluru(at)wateraid.org
Download Attachment:MHM Survey_RFP Bangalore.doc

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