Senior Civil Society Officer, AHGC2 at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) - Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Senior Civil Society Officer, AHGC2

Reference: ADB/20/120
Location: Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Grade: PL5
Position N°: 50093619

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’(AHVP), is a Sector Complex focusing on the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy High 5s priorities of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.
• The complex objectives are (i) to develop, policy and strategy; (ii) provide deep sector expertise to the Regions by gathering pools of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) the VP will act as the spokesperson to represent the Bank with external stakeholders on aspects of “Feed Africa” and Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

The Hiring Departement / Division

• The role of the Gender, Women and Civil Society Department is to operationalize the High 5 priorities of “Feed Africa and Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa” with special focus on Gender, Women and Civil Society. The Department is designed to improve coherence and coordination across complexes on Gender and Civil Society Organization issues.
• The Department will ensure strategic priorities are reflected in resources allocation, enhanced monitoring and management of performance, and strengthening the focus on results.
• The Civil Society and Community Engagement Division (AHGC2), coordinates, monitors and reports on Bank-wide engagement with Civil Society to ensure that Civil Society Engagement (CSE) is an integral part of AfDB procedures and policies.

The Position

• The Senior Civil Society Officer will be based in one of the Regional Office of the Bank and will support the effective operationalization of civil society engagement mainstreaming within (i) the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy 2013-2022 and (ii) the High-5 priorities areas, in support of Civil Society engagement mainstreaming in Bank operations at regional level; and in support of innovative approaches to promote participation and inclusion in the Regional Members Countries (RMCs).

Duties and Responsibilities

• Under the direct supervision of the Division Manager, AHGC2, the Senior Civil Society Officer is responsible for providing policy and technical support on mainstreaming Civil Society Engagement throughout the Bank’s operations, while promoting international best practices to reflect participation and inclusion principles and practices pertaining to loans and grants management.  
• He/ She will contribute to the development of and the implementation of the guidelines and tools on Civil Society engagement.
• He/ She will work with other complexes and regional departments to ensure that Bank operations, policies and guidelines reflect the Bank’s commitment to Civil Society engagement in order to promote inclusion and citizen participation in Regional Member Countries.
• He/ She will provide strategic advice and implementation support to develop an operational approach to civil society engagement mainstreaming in policy dialogue and operations.
• Under the supervision of the Manager, AHGC.2, the overall objective of the Senior Civil Society Officer is to promote the mainstreaming of civil society engagement in the Bank’s workplace and its operations by providing support and contributing to the origination, development and implementation of public and private sector projects, as well as to country strategic papers, country papers review and economic and sector works, to ensure they adequately address civil society engagement concerns.

The responsibilities of the Senior Civil Society Officer include and are not necessarily limited to:

• Engage in policy dialogue and advocacy activities on civil society engagement in RMCs;
• Guide in the review and provision of operational inputs for the mainstreaming of civil society engagement in Bank’s projects to improving inclusive business opportunities and development outcomes;
• Build strategic institutional partnerships on civil society engagement and mobilize resources to implement related projects;
• Assist in developing indicators to monitor the civil society engagement impact of Bank supported projects;
• Contribute to the development of and engagement in monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the outcomes and impact of the program activities are measured and evaluated for constant learning and improvement;
• Collect and make available to the Country Offices civil society engagement -related information on each of these countries (for example in the form of country-level “Civil Society Engagement Profiles”);
• Collaborate with cross-department members to support the development and implementation of innovative civil society engagement strategies and incentives towards economic inclusion in Bank’s operations;
• Promote a one Bank approach by ensuring common objectives across the Divisions of the Department and with other Departments and Complexes, are followed up and implemented to foster inter- Division work and collaborative and relevant bank wide engagement to deliver on the Department’s mandate;
• Assist in the collection, analysis and dissemination of information on civil society engagement;
• Guide on the participation of the Division in project and country strategic papers teams (from identification, appraisal and supervision) to influence on civil society engagement activities and outcomes;
• Assist in providing top quality analysis and substantive inputs to Bank strategic documents, peer reviews and economic and sector works as it relates to financial and economic inclusion for civil society engagement;
• Initiate and lead on knowledge products on the business case for civil society engagement to enhance the quality of the operation of the Bank’s top priorities (High 5s) and key selected flagships;
• Contribute to Analysis/Briefs/Case Studies of Bank’s projects to showcase civil society engagement results;
• Contribute to research and studies relevant to civil society engagement and/or contribute to civil society sensitization and skills building activities;
• Liaise with key CSOs/NGOs, multilateral, national and regional institutions and any relevant stakeholders in countries and regions served by the Regional Office for purposes of partnerships, information sharing, networking and potential operational collaborations;
• Organize and/or attend technical trainings, seminars and policy summits in related areas;
• Undertake any other duties as assigned, in the interest of the Bank.

Selection Criteria

• At least a Master's Degree or its equivalent in Social Sciences, Governance, International Development, Development, Economics or related areas.
• Have a minimum of five (5) years of professional experience on civil society engagement and social inclusion in the development space and experience in project management.
• Demonstrate understanding of regional social issues, analysis and policy formulation; knowledge of the practices of major bilateral and multilateral partner development agencies in African countries is an added advantage.
• Demonstrate experience in policy dialogue;
• Demonstrate strong communication and organization skills, dealing with various stakeholders with different backgrounds and capacity to perform in complex situations.
• Ability to build effective working relationships in a diverse multicultural environment;
• Communicate and write effectively in French or English, with a good working knowledge of the other language.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP is desirable.

Application Closing Date
23rd September, 2020.