Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion (GYSI) Lead, USAID/DRC Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA)

Summary:

Save the Children is seeking a Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion (GYSI) Lead for an anticipated five-year USAID-funded Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The goal of the Activity is to improve food and nutrition security and resilience among poor and chronically food insecure households and communities in a sustainable manner. Hiring is contingent upon successful award of the program and USAID approval of the candidate.

The GYSI Lead will support the project to ensure that activities account for and address the different needs and inequalities experienced by individuals – women, men, boys and girls – to ensure equitable participation in project activities. They will support the design, implementation, and monitoring of gender-sensitive and -transformative approaches. The GYSI Lead will provide onsite technical assistance and capacity strengthening to project staff and partners, including state and local partners. They will advise on preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV) through project activities.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties):

Gender Analysis and Strategy (35%)

• Ensure the use of participatory and collaborative problem-solving approaches to develop strategies and approaches for gender and youth integration and promotion of social inclusion for marginalized groups within program plans, Theory of Change (ToC) processes, monitoring and learning plans, and implementation guidance.
• Lead the collection, analysis and utilization of information from a wide variety of sources to inform the program’s gender, youth and social inclusion approaches.
• Manage the Gender Analysis, Youth Analysis, or similar gender/youth/ social inclusion analyses during the programs’ Refine period, and utilize the findings of these analyses to formulate an effective gender strategy, youth strategy and collaboration, learning and adapting (CLA) plan for the program.
• Train and mentor team members, partners and stakeholders on the development of the strategy in the context of program implementation plans.
• Contribute to other refine period studies, and related program strategies, to ensure gender integration.

Project Implementation (50%)

• Stay abreast of donor and host government gender, youth and social inclusion policies, programs and best practices, ensuring coherence and coordination with the same.
• Provide gender and youth-related related technical support on an ongoing basis to thematic team leaders, participating in thematic team planning processes and the implementation of program activities as required.
• Provide support on the implementation of the Social Behavior Change Strategy and SBC communications.
• Provide technical support (as needed) to project beneficiaries, community mobilization, social cohesion and capacity building related to conflict-sensitive and resolution approaches.
• Contribute to participatory and learning processes that build commitment and capacity among activity staff to ensure gender equity and youth empowerment.
• Track local social and conflict dynamics as feasible, gauging potential impacts on women, youth, and social inclusion and adjusting program approaches accordingly.
• Ensure the development and adaptation of gender equality and transformation as well as youth and social cohesion markers, benchmarks, and indicators across the program.
• Support the collection and analysis of gender, youth and social cohesion data.
• Lead the development of documentation related to the above, and contribute to program reporting.
• Support the project to map GBV referral pathways and conduct other mitigation tactics as appropriate to prevent and respond to GBV that may occur through project activities.
• Ensure that USAID’s Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy, USAID’s Youth in Development Policy, ADS 205, and other relevant gender, youth and inclusion principles, policies and regulations are applied consistently throughout the project.

Coordination & Capacity Building (15%)

• Foster commitment from and build the capacity of team members, partners, local stakeholders and communities to facilitate gender transformative outcomes and positive youth engagement; this includes developing and delivering formal training but also coaching and mentoring.
• Manage team members supporting gender and youth engagement as well as social inclusion at the field level.
• Represent gender and social inclusion aspects of the project to external stakeholders, such as the donor, governments, and partners; disseminate learnings and best practices; and participate in technical working groups.

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in a relevant field like sociology, anthropology, economic development.
• Seven years of technical expertise with gender and youth approaches in the context of food and nutrition security and resilience programming, with a demonstrated understanding of age, gender and other socio-cultural factors in the context of such programs, a demonstrated understanding of positive youth development, and a demonstrated understanding of gender transformative activities in the context of food security programming.
• Previous professional experience in the DRC, and deep knowledge of gender, youth and social dynamics in DRC.
• Previous gender and youth related training experience.
• Demonstrated capacity to lead the collection, analysis, and utilization of information in relation to gender, youth and other locally significant socio-cultural factors from a broad range of sources.
• Demonstrated experience leading the gender component for a large award, including conducting GESI analysis and developing a gender or GESI strategy for such an award.
• Demonstrated experience integrating GESI considerations into MEAL plans, work plans, and project activities.
• Strong management and interpersonal skills, mentoring and facilitation skills, and the ability to network and communicate with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure gender and youth integration and empowerment.
• Ability and willingness to travel frequently.
• Excellent written communication and presentation skills in English and French.
• Strong tool/curriculum development and participatory facilitation skills.

Preferred qualifications:

• At least 7 years of gender/youth related experience in the DRC.
• Familiarity with USG-funded Resilience and Food Security Activities and/or the Government of DRC.
• Familiarity with the complexities of the Great Lakes Region.
• Experience working in fragile contexts including those affected by conflict, natural resources.
• Fluency one or more languages spoken in DRC such as Swahili, Tshiluba or Lingala.

About Save the Children:

No matter your role when you join Save the Children, each and every day you will challenge yourself to devote your skills, talent and expertise to changing the world for kids. It’s an ambitious goal, and a meaningful one no matter how you see yourself professionally: an accountant, a writer, a data analyst, a teacher, a driver, a designer, or any one of the hundreds of dozens of roles we’re looking to fill every day.

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