Project Assistant, IGA / VSLA at Concern for Women and Children Development Foundation (COWACDI) - 2 Openings

Concern for Women and Children Development Foundation (COWACDI) is a woman-led organization born out of passion for the well-being of Women and Children in Nigeria. It has a special interest in mitigating the suffering of vulnerable persons (mostly Women & Children) in times of crisis. Currently, the organization has focused its attention on the North East of Nigeria with special emphasis on Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states (the BAY states) due to the decade-old crises.

COWACDI intervenes through a community-based approach in addressing Gender-Based Violence prevention and response programmes, child protection, peace-building programmes, and empowerment of youth and women. COWACDI operates with full respect for humanitarian law and works with concrete policies and principles of international standards such as humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence, and accountability to the affected population.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Project Assistant, IGA / VSLA

Location: Borno
Slot: 2 Openings
Contract Duration: 10 Months
Start Date: ASAP

Role Purpose

• The Project Assistant IGA/VSLA will be responsible for implementing efficient IGA/VSLA activities including IGA/VSLA assessment and promotion of healthy eating habits, directly and indirectly through training/mentoring of project community volunteers and beneficiaries, linking up with LGA BOSADP Officers, other NGOs, and private sector actors at the community level.
• The role shall provide overall project supervision, promote and value participatory approaches at the community level throughout the projects’ cycle, awareness raising and sensitisation, and all related program activities, Pre and Post IGA/VSLA activities Monitoring as well as monitoring and evaluation under the direct supervision of the Project Officer.
• Promote the vision, mission and the values of COWACDI as expressed in the regulations & guidelines of the Organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Under the direct supervision of the Project Officer and in collaboration with the community volunteers, CPAs, and other team members of the project and of the base, the Project Officer will:
• Facilitate community entry activities.
• Assist in implementation of community IGA/VSLA project plans and make recommendations to the Project Officer for approval of community project IGA/VSLA activities
• Assist in facilitating the training of beneficiaries of IGA/VSLA component of the project.
• Facilitate surveys on related IGA/VSLA interventions in communities.
• Prepare action plans and provide direct support to beneficiaries through visits, in line with the action plans, etc.
• Facilitate links and referrals relationships between the beneficiaries and community groups and local sources of support.
• Ensure all documentation, reports, and records on IGA/VSLA activities from the community are maintained per agreed procedure, and information is provided on community activities as required.
• Co-facilitate step-down trainings on IGA/VSLA activities for beneficiaries and community groups on various topics, as outlined in the implementation plan.
• Support beneficiaries and community groups to conduct assessments/project on IGA/VSLA activities to all special women and youths in the communities.
• Work on facilitating partnerships with relevant IGA/VSLA value chain actors and their service providers (Private BDS providers)
• Support activities on community disaster risk reduction, famer field schools, asset transfer and revolving fund management, community-based saving and lending groups opportunities
• Ensure data collection of IGA/VSLA activities under technical guidance of the M&E officer.
• Coordinate with community- based LGA BOSADP officers, other NGOs and private sector actors.

Additional Tasks:

• Support Project Stakeholders to implement IGA/VSLA program activities in the target communities listed above, through:
• Co-facilitation of community training on various IGA/VSLA issues and topics as outlined in the project implementation plan and training modules.
• Work with LGA-based project teams to model techniques and processes for community engagement.
• In subsequent stages of community engagement, provide mentoring and oversight on IGA/VSLA activities of the community volunteers and team members.
• Maintain documentation and M&E systems at the community level: under the technical guidance of M&E officer, work with community mobilizers, village agents, beneficiaries, and community groups to ensure that all documents for beneficiaries are kept up-to-date, accurate, and secured; and ensure that information is compiled as needed in an accurate and timely basis to assess progress against activities and outcomes for each community.
• Support the Project Officer and stakeholders as required in representing the program to government agencies, other implementing partners, and service providers. Help establish referral systems with other service providers at the LGA level, to be utilized by community volunteers, CPAs, and beneficiary and community groups to refer beneficiaries for services not provided by this project.
• Facilitate the community volunteers, beneficiary, and community groups to explore opportunities for soliciting additional indigenous support to program beneficiaries from local resources through community and in-kind contributions.
• Co-facilitate IGA/VSLA training activities as required, and in line with the implementation plan.
• Work with the Finance, Admin, Logistics, Security, Procurement Officers, project partners, and community volunteers, and Project Officer to ensure that all financial activities conducted in each community are properly documented in line with COWACDI Project requirement and donor procedures.
• Other ad hoc tasks as requested by Project Officer.
• Applied skills/knowledge and expertise.

Essential Requirements

• Level of Education – University Degree in FSL related studies like Agriculture / Agricultural Economics, Development Studies, Economics, Natural Resource Management, Anthropology, Disaster Risk Management, or a closely related field with at least 2 years’ experience
• Must have substantial experience in implementing community-level development projects, using participatory engagement and grassroots mobilization techniques.
• Experience working on IGA/VSLA value chain actors and their service providers.
• Sound experience working on IGA/VSLA and related projects.
• Excellent training and facilitation skills with a wide variety of groups having diverse experiences, backgrounds, skills, and education levels.
• Experience in handling grants to local groups, ensuring appropriate basic documentation and accountability at the community/field level.
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, Power point
• Excellent verbal communication and listening skills.
• Language Requirements: Spoken English-Excellent; Written English-Good (ability to type and prepare reports and other documents as needed.)
• Must be able to speak at least one local language predominant in that state.

Decision Making:

• Budgetary/savings responsibility: Make decisions to manage community gatekeepers effectively, from identification of volunteers and village agents to the day-to-day management of community programme teams.
• Day to day decision to ensure community projects are running effectively and supporting the projects informed by COWACDI's strategy and strategic focus areas. Make contributions around project proposals, ensuring they are prepared and comply with community expectations.

Relationships:

• External: Build strong relationships with partners, networks, donors, stakeholders, and community beneficiaries
• Internal: Build a strong relationship with program departments, MEAL officers, program managers, M&E units, and all staff.

Analytical Skills:

• Works on complex issues. Problems and issues, risks, and benefits may have implications across several project components.
• Required to develop new ways of doing things to better meet program goals requiring creative or analytical ability.

Desirable:

• Involvement in relevant value chain projects, and/or those involving vulnerable people, especially those with IGA/VSLA interventions.
• Experience in engaging directly with vulnerable people, facilitating women activities, and/or facilitating vulnerable people’s participation in meetings, discussions, etc.
• Involvement in projects and/or initiatives that address issues of power, diversity, exclusion, participation, and gender.
• Ability to multi-task, engage in long-term planning, meet deadlines, and handle last-minute demands; exercise patience, and adapt to changing circumstances.

Application Closing Date
12th March, 2023.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should forward their applications containing a CV and Letter of interest in either word document or PDF format to [email protected] using the Position and Location e.g. “PROJECT ASSISTANT IGA/VSLA / FORESTRY_BORNO STATE” as the subject of the email.

Note

• COWACDI regrets that, due to the large number of applications we receive, we are unable to reply to every applicant.
• If you are being considered for the role, a recruiter will contact you. If you are not contacted within 2 weeks, you should consider your application not successful on this occasion.
• Never pay for any training, certificate, assessment, or testing fee to the recruiter.