Senior Technical Officer – Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)

Home » Vacancies » Senior Technical Officer – Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)

Title

Senior Technical Officer - Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI)

Location

Harare

Type of Contract

Fixed Term Contract

Deadline

24/08/2023 (Expired)

About

Zimbabwe Health Interventions (ZHI) is a not-for-profit human development organisation which is registered as a Private Voluntary Organisation (PVO 17/22). ZHI’s mission is to develop and deliver innovative and sustainable high-impact, integrated health interventions to the communities we serve, while working with and strengthening existing institutions.

The Re-Ignite Innovate Sustain and Empower (RISE) program aims to disrupt the main drivers of HIV risk for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Zimbabwe using a proven approach called Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe women (DREAMS). The program goal is to contribute to the reduction of new HIV infections amongst AGYW 10-24 by 2026 in Zimbabwe by strengthening HIV and sexual violence prevention. The program is currently being in eleven priority high HIV burden districts in Zimbabwe (Beitbridge, Bulawayo, Bulilima, Gwanda, Gweru, Insiza, Mangwe, Matobo, Mazowe, Gokwe South and Mberengwa). These districts are in the following provinces: Mashonaland Central, Midlands, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South provinces. ZHI’s primary role is to deliver a comprehensive curriculum on HIV prevention, gender norms and social asset building targeted at AGYW in school, out of school and their sexual partners at community level. ZHI’s core thrust in the DREAMS-RISE Program is to keep girls and young women HIV Free through supporting them to: • Stay in school • Prevent early pregnancies • Prevent sexual violence• Access Post violence care • Reduce child marriage. DREAMS-RISE provides a comprehensive, multi-sectoral package of core interventions to address key factors that make girls and young women particularly vulnerable to HIV. These include structural factors, such as gender-based violence, exclusion from economic opportunities, and a lack of access to secondary school. DREAMS layers multiple interventions at once so that AGYW are surrounded with critical support to keep them safe from HIV and other risks.

Basic Function

The Senior Technical Officer (STO) - Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Officer will assist the Technical Director (TD) in ensuring the overall success of the DREAMS-RISE program and will be responsible for managing the technical direction and integration of gender-transformative and gender-sensitive components as well as ensuring disability inclusion throughout the program operations and implementation. S/he will ensure high quality technical assistance to government partners and all sub awardees working on the program. He/ She will be responsible for coordinating the implementation and monitoring of all Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) activities under the DREAMS-RISE project. He/ She will be responsible for overseeing the execution of the program’s strategy, ensuring that gender and social inclusion issues are addressed and that AGYW, youth with disabilities, and other members of marginalized groups are proactively and seamlessly integrated into the program design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. With support from the TD, the STO will contribute to the operationalization of the designed Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Framework as informed by the GESI assessment findings. The STO will ensure GESI Assessment findings inform identification of priorities and development of action plans for the DREAMS-RISE program across the 11 districts of implementation.

Job Description

Coordinate project planning, ensuring that annual work plans, budgets, and other relevant documents are responsive to gender and social inclusion issues; Ensure that GESI project activities are implemented timely, efficiently, and effectively to meet project objectives and standards; Leading in the development of a Gender Action Plan based on GESI analysis findings to integrate learnings into program design and implementation; Designing evidence-based approaches to improving gender and social inclusion, including male engagement and participation, with government and other partners for integration within DREAMS-RISE program activities; Providing technical oversight in the development and dissemination of tools, strategies for technical assistance and mentorship, materials, reports, and interventions for gender and disability inclusion and integration within the DREAMS program; Working closely with other program teams (E.S, Education, SIE) to ensure activities are implemented according to GESI best practices and frameworks; Document GESI related successes, lessons learned, and challenges in implementation and recommend appropriate remedial strategies; Ensure that the GESI strategy empowers AGYW to participate and lead project activities as appropriate; Coordinate and strengthen engagement and partnerships with relevant CSOs, government agencies, the private sector, and other DREAMS IPs to amplify the implementation and inform adaptation of GESI strategy; Work closely with the SIE team to integrate GESI-sensitive indicators and strategies into the project’s monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) plan; Mobilize local communities and stakeholders at Ward and Village levels to participate, own and contribute effectively to GESI and Community Norms Change program activities; Facilitate the enhancement of GESI practices and women and girls empowerment through engagement of various target groups (school children, parents and caregivers, men and boys forums, community leadership etc.) in program areas especially in the COSEPA initiative; Facilitate improvement of knowledge on GESI best practices among the target communities and ensure access to services by Adolescent Girls and Young Women in 11 districts; Coordinate networking and advocacy platforms supporting the Local Authorities and Rural Stakeholders in the development of long-term plans for GESI and Women and Girls Empowerment interventions and provide necessary training for sustained GESI promotion; Promote GESI and Women and Girls participation in social accountability processes for Empowerment through equitable service delivery; Participate in relevant GESI coordination platforms at National, districts and local level; Prepare and submit accurate timely project reports to meet reporting requirements; Document lessons learnt and impact stories in GESI; Provide and/or ensure the provision of training and mentoring to partners to strengthen their capacity to address gender disparities, women’s inclusion, youth integration, and intersectionality as they pertain to civic engagement; Coordinate the development of training materials and staff training on GESI; Support district teams with identification, training and monitoring of Community change agents and Male Mobilisers in all the 11 districts.

Knowledge, Skills and abilities

Experience in integrating GESI into monitoring, evaluation, and learning plans; Demonstrated ability to design and/or implement programs that engage and mobilize Adolescent Girls and Young women, youth, and/or other marginalized groups; Demonstrate experience working with civil society advocacy organizations and networks, capacity building, and governance issues; Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with civil society, government, and community stakeholders; Demonstrated skills in problem-solving and consensus-building; Excellent oral and written communication skills in English; Has sensitivity to cultural diversity and understanding of the political, contextual, and ethical issues in assigned areas; Articulate and professional and able to communicate in a clear, positive fashion with stakeholders.

Qualifications and experience

Master’s degree in gender, sociology, psychology, public health or related field; Minimum of 5 years of technical assistance experience in gender and social inclusion, particularly within the field of HIV and youth programming; Prior work experience in a similar position within a non-governmental organization (NGO) or government agency; Excellent organizational and analytical skills and strong ability to manage and meet multiple tasks; Substantial experience of developing working relations with government stakeholders; training and capacity development experience preferred; Working knowledge of concepts, practices and procedures with providing technical support for gender and social inclusion activities/ projects and youth programming, including gender integration into M&E systems, gender norms transformation and social behaviour change approaches, GBV prevention and response, and gender sensitive and youth friendly health service delivery; Qualitative research experience, including tool development, data collection around sensitive topics, and data analysis preferred.

Application Procedures

Step 1: click here to complete the job application form.
Step 2: Submit your CV and application letter via email to recruitment@zhi.org.zw clearly indicating the position you are applying for on the subject of the email.

Statement

During the application process, ZHI will not charge any fee nor will it require any payment for an application to be considered. ZHI is an equal opportunity employer and employs personnel without regard to race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, language, citizenship, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, physical handicap or financial ability.