Resilience 4 Peace (R4P) Governance Lead

IRC had a brief presence in south-west Côte d'Ivoire in the late 1990s to respond to the needs of Liberian refugees.It then re-opened its office in Abidjan in 2003 to respond to the humanitarian needs of IDPs brought about by the civil conflict, as well as to address a new wave of Liberian refugees. Currently, IRC conducts programming in the field sites of Man, Korhogo and Yamoussoukro, as well as in its Abidjan HQ office in the following Sectors: Gender Based Violence, Health, Child & Youth Protection & Development (CYPD), Economic Recovery and Development, reaching approximately 2 million beneficiaries.

The goal of IRC Côte d’Ivoire is to consolidate its post conflict development program through increased partnerships and advocacy aiming to achieve quality, impact and sustainability. The IRC in Côte d’Ivoire also aims to prevent or reduce the impact of new threats to the Ivoirian population, such as violent extremism in the Northern regions of the country.

SCOPE OF WORK

The IRC is looking for a Governance Lead for a USAID-funded project for which a proposal will be submitted. This position is thus contingent on the IRC being awarded funding and is anticipated to begin in November 30, 2020. The aim of the R4P program will be to strengthen Resilience and Learning to Countering Violent Extremism in Côte d'Ivoire Northern Border Areas. The Activity will focus on preventing the spill-over of Violent Extremism (VE) from the Sahel into Côte d’Ivoire’s northern border areas. In close coordination with other R4P technical leads, the Governance Lead will have the overall responsibility for the implementation of the governance activities of the project.

This position is based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and will require frequent travel to field offices.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:

•Provide leadership in the development and adaptation of programmatic models that allow for greater community participation in decision-making, better response to their needs, priorities and demands, and greater accountability, to allow them to resist better to the threat of violent extremism in their communities;

•Ensure the development of a methodology to identify and strengthen civil society organizations that can relay community voices in understanding and articulating community priorities at local, provincial and national levels empowering them to counter violent extremism;

•Develop close relationships with relevant government officials involved in the prevention and fight against violent extremism, with a particular focus on regions and districts;

•Ensure the establishment and maintenance of effective engagement with communities and with local government partners, to ensure responsive and sustainable programming;

•Ensure the development of the strategy and work plan for the implementation of the Governance component of the R4P project in collaboration with the other technical leads of the project, government officials, civil society and other stakeholders;

•Ensure that the project’s Governance activities are implemented in accordance with well-defined protocols and tools that maintain a balance between the achievement of objectives and quality processes and methodological rigor;

•Oversee the quality of Governance programming at the central, regional and local levels and ensure that implementation strategies reflect the latest research and best practices;

•Support political economy and conflict analyses, as well as monitoring and evaluation of activities and help develop research initiatives to test and generate conclusions on the efficiency of methods used in project activities;

•Ensure that lessons learned from this project are considered for relevance to ongoing program activities, and propose adjustments as needed;

•Advise consortium partners on all Governance aspects of project implementation, ensuring a consistent and effective approach to achieving project impact;

•Contribute to the development of field staff through training, mentoring, and assisting with professional advancement.

•Identify priorities for the engagement and support of the IRC Governance Unit as well as other project partners.