Gender and Youth Advisor, Niger (Development Food Security Activity)

Position is contingent on new funding

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible.
In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions
into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.
Now, and for the future.

Program / Department Summary

Mercy Corps has been present in Niger since 2005, focusing its interventions on improving food security, livelihoods, health, nutrition, governance and emergency response outcomes. Our work in these areas contributes to Nigerien communities' resilience to shocks and stresses and enables them to achieve long-term, inclusive and equitable development. Mercy Corps' vision for change requires the private sector, government and civil society to work together to create meaningful and sustainable change.

Mercy Corps is recruiting a Gender and Youth Advisor for an expected five-year USAID/Office of Food for Peace-funded Development Food Security Activity for Niger. This proposed program will improve food and nutrition security and economic well-being of vulnerable populations through outcomes focused on agriculture, natural resources, livelihoods, health, nutrition, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and governance.

General Position Summary

The Gender and Youth Advisor will be responsible for leading the implementation of gender and youth integration strategies aimed at ensuring that program activities result in positive outcomes for male and female participants of different age groups. S/he will have overall responsibility for building team members' and partners' capacity to integrate a gender and youth perspective into activities, and raising awareness of the importance of gender and youth integration. The Gender and Youth Advisor will work closely with sector team leads to ensure the effective and timely execution of activities related to gender and age-based access to opportunities. During the first year of the program, in alignment with Mercy Corps' best practices and USAID requirements, the Gender and Youth Advisor will conduct a gender analysis to inform and guide program implementation and to ensure that men, women, girls and boys have equitable opportunities to engage in and benefit from program activities. S/he will promote innovative initiatives for inclusiveness in conformity with the donor and Mercy Corps' gender policy.

Essential Job Responsibilities

Strategy & Vision

• Organize and conduct the donor-required gender analysis during the first year of the program and serve as the lead for any program-related youth assessments.
• Work closely with sector leads/program managers in integrating the findings from the gender/youth assessment into the program's work plan and milestones.
• Conduct gender-based violence risk analysis and incorporate findings into program implementation plan.
• Develop gender and youth integration strategies, oversee the implementation of these strategies in collaboration with the program team and adapt and improve them as needed.
• Coordinate closely, work with and support managers and partners to promote gender/youth integration.
• Work closely with the relevant team members to develop strategies for encouraging youth participation and leadership in project activities and community decision making.
• Work closely with the M&E team on gender/youth integration and analysis tools. Also with the M&E team, provide technical backstopping in the collection and use of sex-disaggregated statistical data, gender-sensitive approaches and gender analysis for development of engendered reporting across the program objectives. Make recommendations based on assessment findings and regular monitoring to inform program strategies to better meet the needs of the program participants.
• Contribute to any research conducted in the program to ensure gender and youth dynamics are fully represented.
• Work closely with Human Resources team to ensure gender accountability is incorporated into the position descriptions of team members.

Program Management

• Develop targeted gender and youth capacity building interventions to promote integration with project staff.
• Support program team in the development and delivery of training and capacity building on key gender and youth topics to project participants.

• Identify and reach out to community partners to create youth programming opportunities and support program team in implementing activities that engage youth.

• Document processes and achievements to ensure impact and best practices are captured and disseminated. This will include the continual re-evaluation of program activities and information, with resulting activity adjustments in keeping with new insights.

Influence & Representation

• Develop relationships and linkages with organizations implementing other donor-funded programs focused on gender and youth in Niger.
• Conduct regular community consultations to ensure programming remains gender and youth sensitive and on-track.
• Collect and share learnings and best practices from this program with actors and in the Mercy Corps world.
• Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, donor, local governments and other stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.

Security

• Work closely with the country team's security focal point to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members.
• Ensure that programs are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

Organizational Learning

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries

• Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Supervisory Responsibility

To be determined, possibly 1-2 gender/youth support officers

Accountability

Reports Directly To: Chief of Party

Works Directly With: Sector leads/program managers, social and behavior change staff, Monitoring & Evaluation staff, field teams, technical support unit, partner organizations

Knowledge and Experience

• MA/S or equivalent experience in international development, political science, women's studies, gender studies, economics, sociology or other relevant field.
• 5-7 years' experience in gender and youth development work including experience developing and conducting gender training, gender/youth mainstreaming and engaging in gender advocacy.
• Demonstrated capacity to lead the collection, analysis and utilization of information from a broad range of sources to ensure effective integration of gender and youth concerns throughout the program's duration.
• Ability to work under pressure and with multi-disciplinary and multi cultural teams.
• In-depth understanding of gender, age and other socio-cultural factors in the context of food security programming.
• Ability to foster commitment and build capacity among project staff and in-country actors around gender and youth integration.
• Experience in Niger or other sub-Saharan African countries strongly preferred
• Fluency in French and English proficiency required.
• Strong public speaking skills required.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office.

Success Factors

The successful candidate will have excellent team and interpersonal relationship skills, with demonstrated ability to work effectively in complex environments. S/he will combine strong communication skills, creativity, initiative, participatory leadership and tactful decisiveness to assist in program implementation. Multi­tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential. S/he must have the confidence and humility to work effectively with a diverse group of people – as well as be sensitive to political and cultural nuance. S/he must ­ be able to consistently apply excellent judgment to a variety of demanding and fast-­changing situations while working as part of a team and coordinate with program personnel.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The Gender and Youth Advisor is based in the program implementation region. The location is accompanied and secure. Housing is individual accommodation with unlimited freedom of movement beyond the house/office. There are international schools in Niger. Staff have good access to services – medical, electricity, water, etc. This position requires up to 30% of travel by air and road to field offices in relatively secure environments. This position is not eligible for hardship and/or R&R benefits.

Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

PI100319070

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