National Consultant to Support Implementation of Menstrual Health and Hygiene Activities in Selected Schools and Dormitories

Purpose of consultancy:

Background

UNFPA Mongolia is implementing menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) initiatives to support adolescent girls to manage menstruation safely, hygienically, and with dignity. The initiatives aim to reduce period-related barriers by improving access to accurate information, strengthening supportive school and dormitory environments, and addressing practical challenges related to menstrual hygiene management.

The baseline assessment conducted under the MHH project found that adolescent girls continue to face interrelated challenges, including limited knowledge and misconceptions about menstruation, stigma and teasing, limited access to menstrual hygiene materials when needed, and inadequate WASH (Water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities in schools and dormitories. These challenges affect girls’ comfort, confidence, privacy, dignity, and participation in school and dormitory life.

Addressing these issues requires an integrated approach. Safe, private, clean, and functional girls’ toilets are essential for menstrual hygiene management. However, physical improvements alone are not sufficient unless they are accompanied by awareness-raising, peer support, and positive engagement of boys, teachers, dormitory staff, and the wider school community.

As part of this integrated approach, UNFPA will support selected schools and dormitories to improve existing girls’ toilets and related WASH facilities in line with minimum MHH-friendly requirements. In parallel, schools and dormitories will be supported with simple practical guidance to establish or strengthen adolescent-led MHH clubs, orient peer educators, conduct girls’ awareness activities, and engage boys in promoting respectful and supportive peer behaviour.

To support this work, UNFPA aims to hire a National Consultant to provide practical implementation support. The consultancy will contribute to creating both an enabling physical environment and a supportive social environment for menstrual health and hygiene in selected schools and dormitories.

Purpose  

The purpose of the consultancy is to provide technical support for integrated MHH activities in selected schools and dormitories. This includes translating MHH standards and project plans into simple, actionable tools, guidance, and recommendations that enable schools and partners to implement MHH-friendly WASH improvements and adolescent-led awareness activities.

The consultant will support functional assessment, development of practical improvement inputs, and preparation of simple guidance and tools for schools and dormitories. The consultant is not expected to have expertise in engineering or architectural design, but should be able to assess facilities from a functional, user-centered, and MHH perspective.

Objectives

The consultancy will specifically aim to:

1. Assess selected girls’ toilets and related WASH facilities against minimum MHH-friendly requirements, including through the development and use of an assessment checklist with scoring criteria. Identify practical improvement needs to make the facilities more private, safe, hygienic, functional, and adolescent-friendly. 
2. Prepare procurement requests, including item lists, functional requirements, quantity estimates, and prioritization of essential items. 
3. Provide technical and practical inputs to UNFPA and partners during procurement, delivery, installation, verification, and handover of MHH-friendly toilet improvements, without assuming formal procurement or engineering supervision responsibilities. 
4. Develop simple operation and maintenance guidance to support the sustainability of improved MHH-friendly facilities. 
5. Develop practical guidance and tools for schools and dormitories to establish or strengthen adolescent-led MHH clubs, orient peer educators, conduct girls’ awareness activities, and organize boys’ engagement sessions. 
6. Develop simple monitoring and reporting templates to document MHH club activities, peer education, girls’ awareness discussions, boys’ engagement sessions, and the functionality of improved toilets.

Scope of work

1. Review documents and prepare tools

• Review relevant project documents, baseline findings, the girls’ toilet standard, and available MHH training materials. 
• Prepare a workplan, a practical toilet assessment checklist, and an outline of the guidance package for adolescent-led MHH activities.

2. Assess selected girls’ toilets and identify improvement needs

• Assess toilets in selected six schools and dormitories against minimum MHH-friendly requirements and identify practical site-specific improvement needs.

3. Provide practical support during procurement, delivery, installation, and handover of MHH-friendly toilet improvements

• Review and prepare a site-specific procurement package, including required items, specifications, quantity estimates. Advice on the functionality, safety, privacy, accessibility, hygiene, and adolescent-friendliness of proposed improvement items.
• Provide practical inputs during installation and handover, including supporting documentation of completion and handover.

4. Develop guidance for adolescent-led MHH activities

• Develop a simple guidance package to help schools and dormitories establish or strengthen adolescent-led MHH clubs, select and orient peer educators, plan club activities, conduct girls’ awareness discussions, and organize boys’ engagement sessions. 

5. Monitoring and reporting tool

• Develop simple monitoring and maintenance tools

Duration and working schedule: The National Consultant is expected to work for 40 non-consecutive working days over a four-month period from 1 August to 30 November 2026. A place where services are to be delivered:

For the MHH-friendly WASH facility improvement component, the assignment will cover six selected school and/or dormitory girls’ toilets in the project target locations. The final selection of these sites will be confirmed by UNFPA in consultation with project partners.

For the adolescent-led MHH activities component, the guidance and tools developed by the consultant will be designed for use by all project target schools and dormitories.

Part of the assignment may be carried out remotely, while field visits to the selected WASH improvement sites will be required.

Delivery dates and how work will be delivered (e.g. electronic, hard copy etc.):

Deliverables: 

1. Inception report and workplan, including methodology, field visit plan, draft toilet assessment checklist, and outline of adolescent-led MHH guidance package – 10 August 2026
2. Site assessment report for six selected WASH improvement sites, including scoring results, site-specific findings, prioritized improvement needs, and practical recommendations – 25 August 2026
3. Procurement input package for MHH-friendly WASH facility improvements, including item lists, functional specifications, quantity estimates, prioritization, and site-specific notes – 5 September 2026
4. Practical guidance package for adolescent-led MHH activities, including MHH club guidance, peer educator orientation, girls’ awareness sessions, boys’ engagement sessions, sample session plans, safeguarding considerations, and school/dormitory roles – 15 September 2026.
5. Technical support and handover documentation for procurement, delivery, installation, and handover of MHH-friendly WASH improvements - 30 September 2026
6. Operation and maintenance guidance for improved MHH-friendly toilets – 20 October 2026
7. Monitoring and reporting templates for MHH activities and toilet functionality/maintenance – 10 November  2026
8. Completion report summarizing outputs delivered, key findings, challenges, lessons learned, and recommendations for follow-up – 25 November 2026

Supervisory arrangements: 

The consultant will work under the overall guidance and supervision of the Programme Analyst, Adolescents and Youth, UNFPA Mongolia.

The consultant will work closely with the Youth and SRHR teams, as well as the Operations/Procurement team, project partners, selected school and dormitory management, local education authorities, as required.

Expected travel: Travel to selected project provinces and schools/dormitories is expected. Required expertise, qualifications, and competencies, including language requirements:

The consultant should have practical experience in supporting health, adolescent and youth, gender, human rights, education, or development-related projects. Experience in menstrual health and hygiene, adolescent health, school health, or related gender-sensitive programming is highly relevant for this assignment. The consultant should be able to support field-level implementation, coordinate with national and local partners, document progress, and translate project plans, standards, and baseline findings into practical tools, guidance, and recommendations.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, education, social sciences, gender studies, development studies, human rights, international relations, public administration, or a related field.

Experience

• At least 3 years of relevant professional experience in health, education, adolescent and youth development, gender, human rights, social development, or project/programme coordination.
• Practical experience supporting menstrual health and hygiene, adolescent health, school health, gender equality, or youth-focused initiatives.
• Experience coordinating with government institutions, development partners, civil society organizations, schools, local authorities, or multi-stakeholder platforms.
•  Experience supporting project implementation, including organizing activities, coordinating with partners, following up on agreed actions, and documenting progress.
•  Experience preparing reports, meeting notes, guidance materials, checklists, training or orientation materials, monitoring templates, research summaries, or other project-related documentation.
• Experience supporting field visits, partner coordination, or monitoring activities will be considered an advantage.
• Previous experience with UN-supported or international development projects will be considered an asset.
• Good understanding of menstrual health and hygiene, adolescent-friendly and gender-sensitive approaches, gender equality, privacy, dignity, safety, and inclusion.
• Basic understanding of school and dormitory environments, including privacy, hygiene, accessibility, safety, and maintenance needs for adolescent girls.
• Ability to translate standards, baseline findings, and project plans into practical tools, guidance, recommendations, and procurement inputs.
• Strong coordination, communication, documentation, and report-writing skills.
• Ability to work effectively with schools, dormitories, local authorities, implementing partners, young people, and community stakeholders.
• Fluency in Mongolian is required; working knowledge of English is an advantage

Skills and Competencies

Schedule of Payments:

• First payment: 20% upon acceptance of deliverable 1 by 15 August 2026
• Second payment : 50% upon acceptance of deliverables 2, 3, and 4 by 20 September 2026 
• Final payment: 30% upon acceptance of deliverables 5, 6, 7, by 30 November 2026

Institutional arrangements Travel costs to selected provinces and Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) will be provided by UNFPA in accordance with the project budget and travel policy. Other relevant information or special conditions, if any: N/A

UNFPA provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, diversity, integrity and healthy work-life balance. We are committed to ensuring gender parity in the organization and therefore encourage women to apply. Individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community, minority ethnic groups, indigenous populations, persons with disabilities, and other underrepresented groups are highly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodation may be provided to applicants with disabilities upon request, to support their participation in the recruitment process. UNFPA promotes equal opportunities in terms of appointment, training, compensation and selection for all regardless of personal characteristics and dimensions of diversity. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the heart of UNFPA's workforce - click here to learn more.

Disclaimer:

Selection and appointment may be subject to background and reference checks, medical clearance, visa issuance and other administrative requirements. 

UNFPA does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process and does not concern itself with information on applicants' bank accounts. 

Applicants for positions in the international Professional and higher categories, who hold permanent resident status in a country other than their country of nationality, may be required to renounce such status upon their appointment.