Gender Equality, Social Inclusion, and Safeguarding Consultant

Position Title: Gender Equality, Social Inclusion, and Safeguarding Consultant

Position Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Reports To: Project Director

Contract Term: 1 Year Part-time Position at 20 hours per week ( renewable)

Application Deadline: 12 April 2024

Expected Start Date: 02 May 2024

BACKGROUND

World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a leading Canadian international development organization focusing on three programmatic areas: Economic Opportunities, Education, and Empowerment. Our vision is a better world for all young people. It is a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable world in which all young people, especially women and refugees, are empowered to secure a good quality of life for themselves, their families, and their communities.

WUSC currently works in over 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with an annual budget of approximately CAD 50 million. Globally, we partner with a network of higher education institutions, civil society organizations, private sector partners, professionals, students, volunteers, faculty, and community leaders who help us achieve our mission.

ACTION FOR PAID CHILDCARE SECTOR TRANSFORMATION PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Action for Paid Childcare Sector Transformation (ACT) project is a 4-year collaborative initiative that uses an innovative systems approach to drive gender-transformative, locally-owned, collaborative action to transform paid childcare from a job of last resort to a vocation of choice and for the paid childcare sector to become one of economic prosperity for women in Kenya and Malawi. ACT aligns with Canada’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality and empowerment, SDG 8 on decent work for all, and Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) action area on growth that works for everyone.

The project will be implemented in close collaboration between WUSC and partners in Kenya and Malawi, notably Uthabiti and the Coalition of Violence Against Women (COVAW) in Kenya and the Women’s Legal Resources Centre (WOLREC) in Malawi.

NATURE AND SCOPE

The Gender Equality, Social Inclusion (GESI) and Safeguarding Advisor will provide support in integrating findings from the GESI analysis, support the development of GESI strategies for the project, strengthen gender mainstreaming capacity across the project team and partners, and ensure that WUSC programming addresses the unique needs of women, men, boys, girls, gender-diverse individuals, and marginalized groups. The GESI and Safeguarding Advisor will develop resources and conduct training for WUSC staff, partners, stakeholders, and volunteers to enable them to contribute to WUSC’s and the ACT project’s gender equality and social inclusion goals. ACT project activities will focus on Kenya in Year 1 while expanding to include Malawi in Year 2.

KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide high-quality technical advice and support to the project implementation team, building a solid evidence base for implementing gender-transformative approaches.
• Provide leadership in developing and revising project-specific GESI strategies, plans, and activities in close collaboration with the project’s two Women’s Rights Organization partners – WOLREC based in Malawi and COVAW in Kenya, who are responsible for leading key GESI project components related to the rights of paid care workers.
• Lead and support project staff in integrating GESI into project planning and management approaches (including results-based management tools) and propose strategies to increase project impact on GESI.
• Work with the Project Director to ensure GESI integration into the WUSC-led components of the program focused on increasing access to business models, services, and financing that meet the needs of women childcare workers.
• Identify strengths and opportunities in existing GESI practices, leading the development of improved systems, processes, and tools for improving project results in GESI.
• Designing customized GESI training and delivery for key project partners and stakeholders where relevant.
• Facilitate and promote evidence-based learning, reflection, and decision-making within the project using GESI data.
• Participate in designing and executing research and learning initiatives to build evidence about what works best for GESI-focused interventions within ACT’s project contexts.
• Support the development of knowledge products to document and share key learnings from the ACT project.
• Liaise regularly with other WUSC GESI Advisors to share best practices, tools, and lessons learned to enhance knowledge sharing and impact.
• Participate in GESI-related working groups and maintain close working relationships with counterparts in other relevant local WROs and NGOs.
• Engage with regional and global GESI communities of practice to ensure the project is current on evolving best practices.

SAFEGUARDING

• Lead the thinking on Safeguarding risks, compliance gaps, and protection issues within the project, including appropriate prevention, programming, and response methodology.
• Network and collaborate with local partners, WROs, government bodies, NGOs, and other relevant Safeguarding peers or networks.
• Support developing and integrating a project-based Safeguarding Strategy that is inclusive and culturally sensitive.
• Develop and coordinate capacity-strengthening for all staff, partners, and stakeholders, including the obligation to report known or suspected Safeguarding violations immediately.
• Ensure accessible complaints and response mechanisms are available to report harm, abuse, exploitation, or other violations by staff, volunteers, partners, or stakeholders.
• Coordinate with WRO partners to map out available survivor-centered support services in targeted areas in Kenya and Malawi to address any Safeguarding violations within the project.
• Coordinate with WRO partners to maintain the Safeguarding risk register and regularly review safeguarding risks for the project.

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

EDUCATION

• Masters or equivalent in International Development, Gender Studies, Social Sciences, or a related field;
• Training in Gender Equality, Social Inclusion, and Safeguarding is an asset.
• Formal education or non-formal training in systems thinking, the care economy, and/ or gender lens investing are assets.

EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES

• A minimum of 5 years of active Gender Equality, Social Inclusion, Safeguarding, and the care economy experience in regional development programming (this position would also cover Malawi) are required.
• Have a theoretical and practical background in GESI, be skilled in designing and conducting intersectional gender equality and social inclusion analyses, and develop practical and actionable strategies and methodologies.
• Understanding of intersectional approaches to understanding gender equality, including the articulation of sexual and gender diversity, ethnicity, race, class, ability, and other areas of marginalization.
• Knowledge of accountability, protection, women’s and children’s rights frameworks, and best practices.
• Proven ability to work productively with a variety of stakeholders to facilitate participatory processes and meet tight deadlines with an emphasis on producing quality products;
• Excellent capacity-strengthening and creative skills, with demonstrated experience in practical gender-transformative and inclusive training, coaching, and facilitation approaches.
• Proven experience fostering organizational culture and accountability conducive to achieving gender equality and social inclusion outcomes.
• Experience working with Global Affairs Canada and other key international donors, such as the UK FCDO, Mastercard Foundation, and USAID, is a strong asset.

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES AND SKILLS

• Able to work independently and be self-motivated in defining goals and objectives while working collaboratively across disciplines, geographical locations, and cultures.
• Highly collaborative and can work effectively with various partners and stakeholders.
• Ability to be strategic and entrepreneurial and to foster a cultural environment of innovation and collaboration.
• Ability to synthesize information and analyze its relevance for different functions.
• Excellent writing skills and the ability to contribute to research, monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Strong verbal and written communication skills in English