Advocacy and Civil Society Program Advisor in Niger CARE Danmark Niamey, Niger

CARE Danmark (CDK) is seeking an Advocacy and Civil Society Program Advisor for the CARE Denmark Program in Niger. The Program supports a few selected civil society organisations working to defend the rights of pastoralists. Three of the partners are national and one is a regional West African network of pastoral associations undertaking advocacy at the ECOWAS level. The Advisor is to facilitate synergy between the partners and facilitate linkages to the network working at the regional ECOWAS level, and therefore needs to have an understanding of the ECOWAS regional institutional setup.

The Program Advisor is to support efforts of linking the national and regional work to international level advocacy through local to global advocacy activities. Policy analysis at national and regional level is a key element of the job.

The CARE Denmark program in Niger uses DANIDA funding to leverage other funds. The Program Advisor is the main responsible for maintaining or increasing the funding volume. The position is based in Niamey, with frequent travel to the field mainly to the Diffa region located 1,385 kilometres from the capital.

Responsibilities and tasks

• Support the National Program Coordinator in managing relations to the three national partners, managing the relation with the regional pastoral network, giving guidance on policy work at ECOWAS level as well as on capacity development and positioning
• Understand and analyse the evolution of civil society in Niger, continuously analyse the political situation in the country and share reflexions with the program and the CO
• Ensure that program content, as well as systems and procedures, adhere to the principle of local ownership (and more generally to the principles of the Paris Declaration)
• Ensure the development and implementation of an operational M&E system and processes for the CDK program that documents results, facilitates learning and enables evidence based advocacy on key policy issues
• Respond to the information needs of the CARE Danmark Secretariat in Copenhagen
• Seek opportunities to increase the funding volume of the program, and craft proposals to donors such as the EU

Profile

• Minimum five years proven experience in programs working with civil society partnerships
• Demonstrate an up to date knowledge of approaches to civil society support and advocacy
• Experience in results based reporting and M&E
• Experience in integrating cross-cutting issues, most notably gender and climate change
• Proven analytical, communications, and writing skills
• Fluent written and spoken French and English is a must
• Knowledge of Western Sahel and pastoralism is an advantage

We offer
A two year contract with possibility of extending. The starting date is January 14th 2013.

How to apply
For questions regarding the position, please contact CDK Program Coordinator Marianne Haahr at mhaahr@care.dk.

Please apply on-line at www.care.dk/english/jobs and use the “Apply online” button in the ad to enter the application form.

Deadline for applications is 28 September, 2012. Interviews will be held in Copenhagen tentatively mid-November 2012.