Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Advisor at Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada

The Project – VOICE for Women and Girls

• The VOICE for Women and Girls project is a seven-year initiative (2020 – 2027) aimed at strengthening the performance of developing country partner (DCP) organizations to advance gender equality and economic empowerment of 50,000 women and men from marginalised communities, in particular young women (target: 60% women and girls), in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and Malawi with a focus on action areas of the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), namely:
  • Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls, and
  • Growth that Works for Everyone.
• The Project responds to the needs identified by women and men of cooperatives and the entire members in the countries of operation and is designed to increase the capacities of individual producers and primary co-operatives to support more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth. Supporting institutions, including apex co-operatives, co-operative colleges, and government/regulatory institutions will also be engaged to increase the capacity and prioritization of vulnerable groups.

The Partners you will work with

The African Confederation of Co-operative Savings and Credit Association (ACCOSCA)

• The African Confederation of Co-operative Savings and Credit Association (ACCOSCA) is a Pan-African confederation of national associations of savings and credit cooperatives societies. Having been established in Kenya by Co-operative leaders from across the continent in 1968, ACCOSCA has worked with various stakeholders in promoting the usage of the Co-operative Business model in a manner that would organically contribute towards the stimulating economic growth and development of a Country. Since its revitalization program at the Malawi General assembly in 2007, ACCOSCA has been leading the continent toward promoting financial inclusion in the local communities.
• Currently, ACCOSCA has developed programs aimed at empowering and promoting cooperatives in Africa and is collaborating with various government bodies, development agencies and research institution in her service delivery to promote financial inclusion in Africa. Overall ACCOSCA aims at: Promoting the establishment of an institutional framework for mobilizing personal saving and credit cooperatives, Capacity Building, Technical Assistance, Information exchange, and Research on topical issues and addressing them amicably.

Cooperative University of Kenya (CUK)

• Cooperative University of Kenya (CUK) is a public institution that provides education and training with an emphasis on Cooperative development. The mission of the college was defined and stated as, a national training institute involved in the training personnel of co-operative societies and unions as well as middle cadre government officers who help in the supervision of activities of the movement on behalf of the Ministry in charge of Co-operative Development (COCK Annual Report, 1983). CUK also works with small and medium entrepreneurs Co-operative Enterprises in Kenya to build their capacities and enhance their sustainability.

What you will do – Activities and deliverables

• The Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) advisor will be reporting directly to the Country Program Officer, who is coordinating all project activities at the country level. He/She is also expected to work hand in hand with the local partner ACCOSCA, the BOD and management of SACCOs and Cooperatives on regular basis. The ESG advisor is expected to host meetings and sessions with the Partner, the BOD, and the branch managers of the coops to interact and collaborate to get project goals accomplished. The expectation is that any potential volunteer should consider committing not less than 6 months up to one year to the project.
• The GESI advisor will be working with SACCOs and Cooperatives to support them to identify any new challenges and opportunities for leaders to create sustainable, inclusive growth by implementing GESI strategies that will enhance gender integration and gender transformative programming and ensure their application in results measurement processes.

Objectives

• The SACCOs and cooperatives would like to improve their services and develop innovative services that will enable them to serve their members satisfactorily. This calls for the cooperatives to be supported to look at their policies and revise them to meet their expectations. The Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Advisor is expected to play a lead role in gathering the needed information, analyzing the information, and advising the co-ops on best practices to support their co-op members.
• The advisor will also work with the volunteers to ensure that all their activities have incorporated the VOICE GES in them in such a manner expected of the project output. The VOICE for women and girls project is working in 9 Sub-counties in Kenya. The project interest is to improve women access and control over productive resources to ensure an economic growth the work for all. The aim is to have and implement a gender strategy that will enable the men and women in the co-ops to collaborate for women in general to improve on their economic circumstances.

Deliverables

Co-op support

• Provide technical support in the integration of gender equity and social inclusion (GESI) into the VOICE project.
• Collaborate with project managers, SACCOs, and partners to review and ensure integration of GESI in the VOICE and Strategic Innovation Funds projects.
• Undertake research and analysis, maintain progress trackers and databases, and contribute to reporting and capacity-building activities.
• Assist in the development of and support ACCOSCA to implement and monitor the integration of the gender strategy across her projects.
• Design and facilitate GESI and Gender model family training modules for partners SACCOs, and the members.
• Support the identification of new community ideas and the development of concept notes and SIF proposals.
• Develop and share case studies, success stories with communications advisor for social media content that communicates the project’s activities, outputs and/or outcomes.
• Self-reflective and aligned with CDF and ACCOSCA values.
• Other duties as assigned.

Project Management

• Document all program related information and share with the country Program officer.
• Stay in constant communication with the CPO, partner’s focal person and the co-op managers to obtain the needed information regarding the co-ops.
• Prepare and submit weekly deliverables to the program officer and discuss what you require to complete those tasks.
• Complete monthly reports and timesheets and submit to the volunteer coordinator.

Training and development of training materials

• Will be required to provide technical support in the preparation of session plans on the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion for coop and women thematic area as captured on the capacity building plan or use available learning material to provide training for the co-ops.
• Develop training assessment tool, use the tool to collect information about the training and use the information to revise the session plans.
• Ensure that only the most current session plans are appropriately stored in a format that is easy to retrieve and use.

Your qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in social work, development studies, gender, or related humanities field.

Experience:

• Experience and expertise in supporting integration of GESI in development programs across a range of sectoral areas.
• Well-developed presentation, proposal, and report writing, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to carry out training and capacity building sessions at the community level.
• Commitment to upholding the organization’s values and principles of CDF and ACCOSCA.
   

Support package

This is a voluntary assignment. CDF Canada supports volunteers through the provision of a comprehensive package designed to cover a modest and healthy lifestyle, while allowing for effectiveness in the placement:

• Return-trip international and/or domestic airfare.
• Visa-related costs (if needed).
• International health insurance.
• Vaccination and health-related costs (if needed).
• Interpreter and/or translator (if needed and depending on the position and duration of the assignment).
• Pre-departure support and orientation.
• Support and orientation during the assignment.
• Debriefing upon completion of the assignment.