Gender and Youth Officer (Maternity Cover)

CARE is an international NGO with local staff and community partners in more than 90 countries. We create local solutions to poverty and inequality, and we seek dignity for everyone every day and during times of crisis.  These solutions have a broad range, from clean water to access to education; from microfinance to ensuring that everyone has nutritious food; from agriculture and climate change to disaster response. CARE puts women and girls at the center of everything we do because they have proven to be the best hope for creating lasting change in the world.  Our staff live where they work, which makes us effective at understanding the challenges they face. We’ve been doing this for over 70 years, since World War II. It started with the world’s first CARE Package® of food for the post-war hungry in Europe.  Our work today is as important as ever, we believe that poverty and inequality are historic injustices that we can end within a generation, for good. If you share our core beliefs: poverty is an injustice; poverty is solvable; and together, we have the power to end it, join us.

JOB SUMMARY:

Under the technical leadership of the Gender and Youth Advisor, the Gender, and Youth Officer at CARE’s implementing Zones, will provide technical assistance and capacity building on gender and youth development to the RFSA implementing field offices and stakeholder staffs in the operational areas. The position holder will support and coordinate gender analysis and support and lead studies with Youth Livelihood and Education Officer on exploring employment opportunities for the youth. Proactively and/or upon direction provided by the technical advisor, s/he will identify gaps, consolidate best practices in the field and share lessons to all concerned bodies. The Officer will ensure that standard quality training, guidelines and tools are adopting consistently without major deviations in all RFSA technical themes to ensure gender, women empowerment and youth priorities are integrated uniformly. In consultation with the advisor, the officer will support and contribute to formative research in implementation areas to identify key issues, social norms, and barriers and to make recommendations on how to address gender and youth related concerns and challenges.

II. RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS:

Job Responsibility #1: Strategy design, planning, monitoring and implementation (40%)

• Leads/supports the development and implementation of evidence based, realistic and effective gender, women empowerment, and youth engagement strategies, as directed by the technical leadership team at the consortium and Gender advisor for all technical areas under RFSA project.
• Provide Inputs into gap identification, problem analysis and activity development in relation to women empowerment and youth engagement.
• Collaborate and participates in zonal, Regional/Woreda level RFSA detailed implementation planning (DIP), and annual reviews to ensure the proper implementation of Gender and Youth activities throughout the life of the project.
• Closely work with Woreda Women, Youth and Children Affairs Office on women’s empowerment and youth activities and develop/extend networks with women and youth league to collaboratively work on Gender and Youth issues.
• Ensure that proper records are available to respond to the RFSA result framework indicators in areas of women empowerment, gender equality and youth activity intervention indicators-access to resource, control, leadership status within community and etc;
• Actively keep abreast of results of research and regular monitoring and suggest ways to improve the nature and depth of activities in their implementation area;

Job Responsibility #2:  Capacity Building, Staff training and coaching (30%)

• In-collaboration with the Advisor and/or independently, provides staff induction and ongoing training/capacity building training processes on Gender and Youth focused programs to CARE-RFSA and implementing partners including government staff at field office level.
• Leads the development and facilitation of trainings for staff and implementing partners staffs using SAA tool on Gender and women empowerment, PACE integration and Youth Behavioural and Social Change Communications on Social and Gender Norms, Intergenerational Youth dialogue on Substance abuse and other Youth focused initiative programs.
• Develops and implements follow-up, engagement, and coaching plans to build staffs and PSNP institutions capacity to increase knowledge and accountability for gender equity and Youth Inclusions so as to increase their level of expertise, skills and their commitment to apply strategies. 
• Works with the relevant government structures to facilitate Gender and Youth related activities and monitoring in the operational areas
• Work closely with all program staffs and provides continuous technical support and ensure the proper implementation of Gender and Youth Interventions across the purposes
• Participate in the designs of Gender and Youth assessments, analyze results, and write reports at the field office level
• Under the direction from the Gender Advisor designs and supports the community facilitators to promote appropriate community mobilization strategies around gender and youth
• Documents and shares lessons/results of gender and Youth activities and strategies in SPIR/RFSA operational Woredas
• Produce and weekly, quarterly, and annual activity reports and submit timely.

Job Responsibility #3:  Networking, Learning, Policy Implementation (20%)

• Establishes all necessary relationships with RFSA gender equality and youth empowerment partners within CARE and government stakeholders to ensure that gender and youth issues and priorities are tabled, addressed and lessons are shared;
• Keeps up to date with developments in gender and Youth initiatives, including best practices and experience sharing with government implementing partners and other NGO’s and ensure ongoing personal development and learning.
• Explore networks and participate in gender and youth related task forces, review meetings, workshops at Zonal/Woreda level.
• Together with the Gender Advisor supports in the documentation and preparations of Gender and Youth initiative learnings
• Supports formative research in the assigned operational Woredas.
• Disseminates learning and ensures all staffs at the field office level are updated on gender and youth priorities.
• At the direction of the Gender Advisor, support field level CARE PQL related experts/staffs to measure the impact and document lessons learned and best practices.
• Produces and shares with the Advisor and/or project manager gender and youth related aspects of reporting for USAID for all regular and incidental reports

Job Responsibility #4:  Others (10%)

• Participates in all major activities of the RFSA project in the assigned project area.
• Responds to requests for additional capacity building support within CARE.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

GENDER EQUALITY

• Understanding and demonstrated commitment to the importance of gender, youth, and social inclusion issues.
• Demonstrated commitment to principles of Gender Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and PSEAH (safeguarding), as evidenced in previous positions / programming

IV. QUALIFICATIONS (KNOW HOW)

A) EDUCATION/TRAINING

Required:

• B.A. degree in Social Science, gender studies or equivalent combination of education and work experience.

B) EXPERIENCE:

Required:

• 3-5 years of work experience on gender or social and behavioral change, conversant with adult learning and training of trainer’s methodologies, practical experience in women and youth programming

• At least 2 years of work experience in gender analysis, training, and mainstreaming.

Desired:

• Gender related work in an NGO setting.
• Previous experience with livelihoods programs and or food assistance interventions.

C) Technical Skills:

Required:

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and Afan Oromo.
• Effective interpersonal skills, maturity, intuitive, tact and a high sense of responsibility,
• Analytical, training/facilitation skills.
• Sensitivity to different aspects of diversity (cultural, religious, disability), firm belief in teamwork and sensitivity to HIV/AIDS
• Computer skills (word, Excel).

Desired:

Quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills.

D) COMPETENCIES

Coaching, initiating action, communicating with impact, innovation, planning and organizing, building partnership, facilitating change, adaptability.   

V. CONTACTS/KEY RELATIONSHIPS 

The Officer will work directly with the RFSA team in CARE East/West Hararghe FO with direct relationship with the Project Manager and RFSA teams in the FO with dotted line relationship with the Gender and Youth Advisor at the Addis Office.

VI. WORKING CONDITIONS AND LEVEL OF TRAVEL REQUIRED.

 This position is located in East/West Hararghe.