Laurine Atieno and Mercy Awuor Odhiambo shared a common goal – they wanted to pursue a career in logistics and supply chain management. However, like many women across Africa, they faced challenges entering and navigating the public health supply chain workforce.
“There is a gender imbalance in the supply chain sector,” said Recky Kyalo, Program Lead for the Girls on the Move (GotM), a program at Pamela Steele Associates. “Girls are not being absorbed into supply chain management. They were missing key skills that employers were looking for.”
Despite frequent interactions with the health care system to receive services, they remain underrepresented in the public health supply chain (PHSC) workforce making up only 41% of the workforce and 26% of management positions.
Bridging the Gender Gap in Supply Chain Careers
The “Girls on the Move” initiative presents a pioneering approach to enhancing youth employability and fostering professional development among young women. The model is rooted in a blend of innovative strategies tailored to the unique needs and aspirations of participants.
These are some of the challenges that The GotM pilot program, conducted in Kisumu, Kenya, sought to address. The program focused on issues of youth unemployment among women and aimed to create a space where women were empowered and prepared for supply chain career opportunities.
The 8-month-long program was launched in July 2022 with 36 young women and focused on introducing female graduates to career opportunities in the Kenyan supply chain sector to bridge the supply chain skills gap and increase female representation in the workforce.
For Laurine, GotM gave her hands-on experience in supply chain skills, business skills and leadership. While she interned at Pamela Steele Associates, other program participants had internships in both public and private supply chain organizations, including the public health supply chain.
Laurine highlighted many benefits to the internship, including free health supply chain management courses and monthly stipends. The program even offered mentorship, which Laurine said, “encouraged me to strive to accomplish more in my career. During the tough times at work when I was almost giving up, my mentor motivated me. The program empowered my personal and professional growth.”
Laurine is now working at Kentons Pharmaceuticals and spoke to how GotM empowered her career in health supply chain.
Learning Invaluable Workforce Skills
This practical experience, as opposed to theory-based learning, was what made GotM an invaluable experience for young women entering the supply chain workforce.
“In university, you go through theory,” said Recky. “But the workplace is a challenge.”
In addition to learning about time management, CV writing and interviewing skills, the program also focuses on developing interpersonal skills, such as communication, teamwork and building confidence. And for Mercy, this program gave her confidence as she pursued her career in the PHSC.
“When I came into the program, I had low self-esteem and was afraid to talk to people,” Mercy said. “I’m a completely different person now and I’m consistently the top salesperson at my job month after month.” She now works in the hospitality industry in Kisumu.
“This program enabled me to gain different skills and values,” Mercy said. “I gained much knowledge in the health supply chain, such as drug storage and dispatch, labeling… I was privileged to work in different sectors and currently in hospitality; this has allowed me to gain lots of experience in the supply chain.”
Success and Looking Towards the Future
GotM has seen great success, with 60% of women who completed the program finding work in the supply chain sector.
“Most of them are doing fine and enjoying their work. Their friends are asking about [GotM]. I already have 50 applications from people waiting just from word of mouth,” said Recky, on the future of the program.
Though the project ended in August 2023, VillageReach has partnered with Pamela Steele Associates to expand and scale the program in Kenya and other countries. VillageReach aims to train and graduate 500 interns across Kenya and one additional country in the next 5 years in the health supply chain sector.
“It often takes a woman to perceive what a woman needs,” said Recky. “Having professional women in the supply chain sector, with a deep understanding of what women go through as caregivers both at home and professionally is a critical step to achieving universal health care.”
Learn more about gender imbalance in the supply chain workforce and contact Rebecca Alban, Senior Health Systems, rebecca.alban@villagereach.org, for more information about GotM and women in the public health supply chain workforce.