Arid Lands Development Focus (ALDEF) is an indigenous Horn of Africa NGO registered in Kenya and Somalia committed to Voluntary Service to Humanity. Our mission is to save lives, build resilience and promote dignity of vulnerable populations affected by shocks through empowerment, creating enabling environment and enhancing their proactive participation in good governance.
ALDEF is recognized as one of national NGOs, especially in livelihoods development, disaster risk reduction and humanitarian response, Governance, Advocacy (Gender and Economic Justice). We seek an experienced and dynamic person to fill the Governance and Gender Justice Coordinator post for an initial 15 months, renewable, based in Wajir.
ALDEF anticipated UNICEF-funded, 15 months, Strengthening Child Protection System: Accelerating Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) in Wajir County [1]. The focus is child protection from FGM/C and early marriage through (i) Individuals, families and communities in programme areas increasingly educated and mobilized about girls rights, harms and norms related to FGM/C (ii) Relevant authorities, service providers and civil society organization have improved capacity to coordinate and provide service related to FGM/C (iii) The capacity of policy makers are built throughout the programme cycle in order to mainstream the commitment to end FGM/C throughout the County Government (iv) Partnerships with religious groups, Council of Elders and schools are strengthened as a platform in advancing child protection issues including FGM/C and child marriage while ensuring linkages with education, health care, mental and psychological support, safety and security and legal aid and referral systems. The Child protection project officers are accountable for the all community outreach activities of the project and delivering the results. The successful candidates should be outgoing and conversant with the Somali culture and basic issues related to donor-funded projects.
Position Description: You will be responsible for the overseeing the strategy review and implementation of the ALDEF Governance and Gender Justice program in close co-operation with partners and stakeholders. The ALDEF Governance and Gender Justice program covers both standalone initiatives to address gender inequality issues as well as innovative approaches to mainstream governance and gender into all programs, including work on value chains of key commodities as a solution to empower poor women and girls to improve their economic and political leadership.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- In close co-operation with ALDEF team you are responsible for implementation of ALDEF Governance and Gender Justice strategy.
- Lead the process to review the strategy for ALDEF’s Governance and Gender Justice Program that covers both governance and gender stand-alone initiatives and mainstreaming interventions.
- Manage implementation of Governance and Gender Justice program including: program/project planning, identifying and maintaining direct contacts with key stakeholders and actors and partners; monitoring and supporting in project implementation and their support teams capacity development.
- Actively engage in discussions with all partners and other stakeholders to develop programs that can foster external funding opportunities.
- Coordinate with governance and gender working group and insure its cohesion, accountability and reliability on programme delivery and strategy.
- Report to Program Manager at Wajir on the progress made in the program development and implementation, and also report to donors on progress of external funded projects.
- Provide for appraisal of project progress reports, ensure feedback to community and partners & monitoring of engagements, and ensure creation of a robust ALDEF feedback and complaints mechanism.
- Initiate and facilitate activities concerning knowledge & information management to strengthen the effectiveness and implementation of programs and lessons learned.
- Responsible for identifying, organizing, facilitating and if needed monitoring of the capacity building processes for community groups, staff and partners and other related stakeholders in the Governance and Gender Justice program.
- Facilitate the development and/or actively engage in a network of organizations working on governance and gender justice issues.
- Support the other ALDEF sectorial programme teams in their integration of governance and gender and facilitate learning activities to reinforce capacities among ALDEF team.
- Be part of senior management and key in preparation and consultation on ALDEF’s management public policy and advocacy positions on governance and gender justice including representation and communication as and when required and appropriate to institutions, government, international, national and local organizations as required.
EDUCATION:
Masters of Arts Degree in social science fields especially sociology, social work and law with a minimum of 3 years experience, will be considered an advantage. A degree with essential experience can suffice for academic qualification but not vice versa.
SKILLS AND COMPETENCE
- Having relevant legal and women's rights experience at least 2-3 years of practical experience in promoting women’s legal, land rights, access to justice, or gender based violence.
- Strong conceptual understanding of governance and gender justice issues, how gender mainstreaming, governance and political participation and economic empowerment.
- Substantial knowledge about governance and gender issues in arid and semi arid contexts and familiarity with innovative approaches to address governance and gender problems and to promote governance and gender justice.
- Demonstrable recent and substantial work experience with governance and gender justice and women’s rights related programs in Kenya and the horn of Africa region.
- Experience in strategic planning and program development
- Experience in managing and monitoring development projects, including networks/alliances building and management.
- Sound experience on capacity building and good facilitation skills
- Analytical thinking skills and abilities to influence others.
- Good communication skills and fluent command of English, both in writing and speaking.
- Willingness to travel to remote areas of ALDEF Program operations areas;
- Outstanding social and intercultural skills;
HOW TO APPLY:
This is a local position. To apply for this position, please send your motivational letter and full CV including 3 references info@aldef.org by 31st July 2016. ALDEF provides equal working conditions for men and women. This is a challenging career development and innovative space for growth and a member of the senior management team. We regret that only short-listed applicants will be contacted. .
Furthermore, for candidates with equivalent qualifications and for positions with responsibilities, applications from women are strongly encouraged. The recruitment and selection procedures of ALDEF reflect our commitment for child security and protection.
