The Organisation
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.
We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination and it’s girls who are most affected.
Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.
We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.
We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.
The Opportunity
Plan International seeks an outstanding Gender and Disability Inclusion Expert [Position ****Contingent upon the pending and full ToR being published by the donor and *Contingent upon successful securing of the funding by Plan International*] to provide overall technical support (in thematic area of Gender and Disability Inclusion) to the design and implementation of the anticipated UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) funded programme in Sierra Leone which will aim to improve access to education, learning, and sexual and reproductive health information for over 800,000 adolescent girls and children with disability in Sierra Leone. The programme will be delivered over 5 years (TBC). Further details including budget and geographical scope are yet to be confirmed.
Responsibilities
Technical delivery
Provide technical advice throughout the development, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the Programme on how to effectively mainstream gender equality and disability inclusion across all programme’s components and activities.
Provide expertise on best practices that can be applied to the Programme to ensure a girls’ centred and gender transformative approach is used.
Provide technical support to the Government of Sierra Leone’s staff working with the consortium on the implementation of programme’s gender and disability inclusion related interventions.
Lead on a gender and inclusion analysis that will feed into the design phase of the programme.
Support and contribute to the writing of the inception report to the donor and other regular reports to be produced throughout the programme with the key responsibility to report on progress towards achieving gender equality and disability inclusion.
Support the development of costed annual workplans, as needed.
Ensure that the Programme aligns with Plan Internationals global policies for Child Protection (CPP), Safeguarding, and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) as well as embeds successful programme models and organisational best practices.
Ensure documentation of case studies, best practices and lessons learned as well as share those with other Plan offices and externally.
Support M&E colleagues in formulating indicators to measure the effectiveness of Gender and Disability Inclusion interventions and in the development of the M&E Framework.
Support M&E colleagues in designing participatory M&E methods that are inclusive and transformative.
External representation and relationship building:
Represent Plan International Sierra Leone at project management committee meetings, consortium and government partner meetings at district, regional and national levels on behalf of the consortium, as needed
Build strong relationships with national, regional and district level Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), Ministry of Gender, and other relevant line ministry officials responsible for addressing gender inequalities in education and disability inclusion related matters. Coordinate regularly to ensure close alignment and complementarity of Government activities with those gender and disability inclusion interventions of the programme
Work with relevant Government representatives to ensure the programme’s gender and disability inclusion interventions are focused on sustainability post-implementation
Engage with key national, regional, and community stakeholders, including government representatives, donor, civil society, and academic institutions to ensure that sector best practices are integrated into the programme as needed.
Present to various audiences on the technical gender and disability inclusion aspects of the programme and support the process of dissemination and learning.
Support and capacity building to delivery teams:
Provide hands-on support to the Plan Sierra Leone project delivery team providing expertise in the area of gender equality and disability inclusion.
Promote the understanding and the sharing of key concepts, ideas, information and experience on gender and disability inclusion issues among team members.
Carry out capacity gap assessments and analysis with Plan International UK for Plan Sierra Leone project staff and coordinate training sessions based on gaps identified by the project.
GENERAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
Ensure staff understand Plan International’s commitment to driving a feminist agenda within the organisation, and the ambition for gender equality and gender transformative leadership is embedded in our value- based leadership framework.
The Person
In order to succeed in the challenging and varied role, you will have extensive experience in the following areas:
Extensive technical knowledge of gender equality, girls’ rights and disability inclusion within development programmes
Knowledge of various strategies and interventions to promote gender equality and disability inclusion within the education context
Experience of liaising with and supporting government bodies to deliver gender and disability inclusion strategies at different levels
Experience in implementing community-level interventions to promote positive gender norms and disability inclusion and/ or acting as a technical advisor to such programmes
Experience of working on large, complex, donor-funded programmes. Preferably FCDO-funded contracts with results-based delivery on projects
Experience working with/ through partners, including building technical capacity of implementing partner organisations and government staff
Strong understanding of the contextual challenges faced by communities in Sierra Leone, including discriminatory gender norms and gender dynamics, as well as solid working experience in the country
Strong public presentation skills and ability to represent the programme to a variety of audiences ranging from government representatives, donor, academic institutions, civil society, community representatives, and other as required.
Experience managing teams to deliver quality and meet deadlines
Familiarity with girl-centered, participatory approaches to data collection
Experience in supporting the design of both qualitative and quantitative M&E tools
Advanced report writing skills.
Strong passion and commitment to championing girls’ right to education and to challenging harmful gender and social norms and behaviours
Education and language
Degree in a relevant field, for example, Gender Studies, Gender and Inclusion, Gender and Education, Gender and Development, Development Studies, or Sociology
Fluency in English - both spoken and written
Knowledge of languages spoken in Sierra Leone would be an advantage
Type of Role: Fixed term contract (number of years TBC). Contract will be renewable on annual basis depending on performance, funding etc.; Unaccompanied position
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone. Travel to programme field locations required (frequency TBC)
Salary: Competitive salary available
Reports to: Project Team Leader; Plan Sierra Leone Country Director (TBC)
Closing Date: 21st Dec 2021
How to apply:
Qualified candidates should send their CV and cover letter to programmeresourcing@plan-uk.org. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis and only short-listed candidates will be contacted.**
Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.
Please note that only applications and CVs written in English will be accepted.
A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Child Protection Policy.
As an international child centred community development organisation, Plan International is fully committed to promoting the realisation of children's rights including their right to protection from violence and abuse. That means we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with.
Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. We must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.
Plan International operates an equal opportunities policy and actively encourages diversity, welcoming applications from all areas of the international community.