PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:
Mercy Corps has been operating in Uganda since 2006 and works to catalyze change makers within the Ugandan private sector, civil society and government to create economically dynamic, healthy and secure communities. Our works focus on building resilience and enable economic growth, improve opportunities to attain better health and nutrition, and improved governance and conflict management. We implement programs in the northern districts of Pader, Kitgum, Agago, Lamwo, Kaabong, Abim and Kotido with funding from USAID, USDA, Walmart Foundation, SDC, DFID as well as other private donations.
We were recently awarded a livelihoods focused 3-year Nike Foundation program working in the Karamoja (Uganda) and West Pokot and Turkana (Kenya) regions and require a highly skilled Adolescent Girls Specialist to provide technical support and knowledge to successfully engage and support girls across the three regions. The project, called Girls Improving Resilience with Livestock (GIRL), aims to empower pastoralist girls, to improve their livelihoods and personal agency, as well as increase the food security and adaptive capacity of their households and the resilience of their communities.
GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
The Adolescent Girls Specialist will be responsible for providing insight and technical support in the design, implementation and monitoring of program activities, will play a key role in relationship building with community stakeholders and will be responsible for ensuring educational and livelihoods focused activities are attuned with girls needs and realities. This role is vital in ensuring the GIRL program successfully provides girl-centered, locally relevant activities resulting in increased livelihood development, girls’ empowerment and improved food security for the three regions.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
Technical Capacity
• Work directly with the Program Director and Program Mangers (Moroto, Kapenguria/Eldoret and Lodwar) to ensure all outreach and activities are sensitive to the needs, challenges and constraints placed on girls in each community
• Strengthen the capacity of local staff and mentors through technical support, ongoing training, and conduct regular meetings with staff and mentors to monitor the progress of activities and address any challenges.
• Provide technical support on gender integration in various market facilitation activities within the urban centers geared towards the augmentation of value-addition for livestock and value addition products and general capacity building for women in pastoralist and agriculture settings, women in urbanizing contexts, and women who are transitioning between the two.
Activity Design
• Collaborate with each region’s Program Manager to identify and strategically engage key gatekeepers in each community, which will contribute to the creation of regional Advisory Committees
• Provide technical support and guidance on key program activities – mentorship recruitment/training, curriculum development, girls recruitment/training and community sensitization
• Participate actively in the design of the livelihoods and education focused activities in rural areas of Karamoja, Turkana and West Pokot and growing areas such as Moroto, Lodwar and Kapenguria to ensure girls are actively engaged in program activities
• Provide technical advice on how to recruit and establish a girls centered mentorship program
• Lead community mapping activities to locate safe spaces for program activities
• Assist in the identification and lead localization of training curriculum targeting girls in school and out of school (safe spaces, financial skills, literacy/numeracy)
• Establish current awareness of the importance of gender-sensitive programming among target participant groups including traditional leaders, government officials, health workers and youth group participants.
• Work closely with the GIRL team to ensure GBV responses are reflective of the needs of girls’ in particular early marriage and sexual violence.
Monitoring & Evaluation
• Develop systems to help recruit, track and retain girls in training and livelihoods activities
• Assess program components for gaps and additional needs, including outlining potential recommendations for improvement
• Maximize program participation and retention by conducting ongoing monitoring and evaluation activities
• Draft reports on activities and contribute to regular donor reports
• In collaboration with the Mercy Corps technical support units, set up gender-focused elements of the GIRL monitoring system and work closely with M&E team to ensure sex and age disaggregated data is collected and that gender analysis is applied.
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
• 4+ years of experience working with adolescent girls, including facilitating trainings and livelihood focused activities targeting adolescent girls
• Bachelors degree in relevant subject, Masters Degree preferred
• Clear understanding of gender inequality, and issues surrounding violence against women and girls;
• Strong understanding of gender dynamics in pastoralist communities
• Experience working in the sectors of sexual and gender based violence, harmful traditional practices, the role of women in community-led processes, especially around livelihoods and education
• Experience designing and adapting programmatic tools to address gender issues or to promote positive gender outcomes
• Experience conducting research and analysis on gender issues, including leading focus groups or research on sensitive issues
HOW TO APPLY:
Applications: Submit your application through email to ug-mcjobs@mercycorps.org addressed to the Senior HR and Legal Manager, Mercy Corps Uganda. Include a cover letter clearly stating your salary requirements, CV (with 3 referees), and copies of academic qualifications/certificates. Deadline for Submission: Close of business on Monday, 10th July, 2017. Subject of email should include the position you are applying for. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted by Mercy Corps. Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer; qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.