Regional Advocacy and Peacebuilding Coordinator

Location: Global with a willingness to work within countries covered by the SCAN Region (Rwanda and Burundi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi, DRC, Nigeria).

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a worldwide ministry of Anabaptist churches. MCC is a global, nonprofit organization that strives to share God’s love and compassion for all through relief, development, and peace. In all our programs we are committed to relationships with our local partners and churches. As an Anabaptist organization, we strive to live in right relationship with all.

Job Summary:

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced individual to fill the role of Regional Advocacy and Peace Coordinator for Southern Central Africa and Nigeria. The selected candidate will play a crucial role in advancing advocacy and peacebuilding initiatives within the unique context of the SCAN region, focusing on clean energy minerals, climate change, responsible mining, and peacebuilding efforts in the SCAN Region.

Responsibilities:

1. Advocacy and Peacebuilding:

• Frame peacebuilding issues in the region and coordinate advocacy efforts at the regional level, addressing unique challenges and opportunities.
• Collaborate with the Peacebuilding and Advocacy Coordinator for East Africa and Sahel (EAS) and the MCC Advocacy offices in Canada and the US to share information and insights.
• Conduct research and analysis on key issues, particularly in mineral energy, climate change, responsible mining, and peacebuilding in the Great Lakes to identify and assess peacebuilding needs and opportunities in the region.
• Stay up to date on current trends and issues in peacebuilding and climate conflict.

1. Advocacy Strategy and Implementation:

• Develop and implement advocacy strategies based on research findings, in collaboration with partners, MCC Country offices and MCC Advocacy offices in the US and Canada.
• Coordinate advocacy efforts within the region, bridging the gap between international and local/regional interests.
• Develop cross-learning and exchange with stakeholders, including MCC partners, government officials, and peacebuilding institutes and facilitate information sharing among them.
• Facilitate information sharing among stakeholders, including MCC partners, government officials, and peacebuilding institutes.
• Coordinate MCC’s regional advocacy on strategic priorities, ensuring alignment with regional and system wide interests and needs.
• Engage with governments, NGOs, and other entities to advocate for positive policy changes, as per MCC’s strategic priorities, in coordination with advocacy offices when advocacy is directed towards Canadian or US government.

3. Peace Institutes and Collaboration:

• Collaborate and support peacebuilding institutes and networks in the region, including Africa Peace Institute (API), Mennonite Africa Peace Network (MAPN), Great Lakes Peace Institute (GLPI), and others, providing resources as needed and attending various institute meetings.
• Contribute to local peacebuilding institute initiatives by providing technical support, exploring new opportunities for direct implementation, and partnering with local high learning institutions.
• Support Area Directors on rolling out and evaluating the Peacebuilding Strategic Goals Operationalizing (PSGO).

1. Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation & Capacity-Building:

• Strengthen peace programming into existing projects and explore multi-sector/integrated peacebuilding approaches.
• Support partners with peacebuilding situation assessments and evaluations.
• Conduct training sessions, workshops, and seminars on conflict resolution, nonviolent communication, and peace-building techniques for partners and MCC staff.
• Collaborate with the PLDR peacebuilding coordinator to ensure a common strategy for resourcing MCC programs on peacebuilding project development.
• In collaboration with PLDR, develop trainings aligned with MCC’s project planning, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting system.
• Support country programs in identifying and mitigating safeguarding risks in peacebuilding programming.
• Support Area Directors on rolling out and evaluating the Peacebuilding Strategic Goals Operationalizing (PSGO).

1. Catalyzing Innovative Approaches to Peacebuilding:

• Develop and coordinate innovative approaches to peacebuilding in collaboration with partners, MCC Country offices, PLDR and the MCC Advocacy offices in Canada and the US.
• Foster and encourage a culture of creativity and experimentation in peacebuilding initiatives among partners and within MCC.
• Identify and leverage cutting-edge methodologies and technologies for enhanced impact.

1. Networking, Partnerships, and Advocacy:

• Establish and maintain robust relationships with local, regional, and international peace-building organizations.
• Serve as a connector between country-level project coordinators, facilitating the sharing of best practices and learnings in the region and across the MCC system.
• Collaborate with government agencies, NGOs, and MCC advocacy offices in DC, Ottawa, and the UN to advance peace-building objectives particularly in the area of clean energy minerals, climate change, responsible mining, and peacebuilding efforts in the SCAN Region.
• Represent MCC SCAN region at peacebuilding conferences and forums.

1. Requirements:

• Strong proficiency in both English and French, language skills, or ability to work in an environment where interpretation is needed.
• Proven experience in advocacy and peacebuilding. At least five years of experience in the advocacy and peacebuilding field is desirable. An understanding of the advocacy and peacebuilding issues and priorities in the countries covered by the SCAN region is an added advantage. – Excellent research and analytical skills.
• Strong organizational and project management abilities, to coordinate and collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders to achieve quality results and services, and implement, and evaluate peacebuilding and advocacy programs.
• Practical experience in organization development, civil society engagement, communication, lobbying, policy advocacy and peacebuilding engaging civil society, private sector/market, and governments/states on sustainable energy and climate change-related issues.
• Familiarity with mineral energy, climate change, responsible mining, and peacebuilding issues.
• Commitment to decolonizing advocacy and amplifying the voices of affected communities.
• Strong interpersonal, networking, and cross-cultural communication skills. This includes communicating at grassroot level and at high level meetings and conferences. Strong communication and interpersonal skills. This includes communicating at grassroot level and at high level meetings and conferences.
• Willingness to travel as needed throughout the SCAN Region.
• Integrity and strong identification with MCC core values.
• Perform any other similar duties as assigned by the supervisor.

1. Educational qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in peace and conflict studies, international relations, sociology, or a related field. A master’s or a PHD degree is preferred.
• Demonstrated experience with PMER for peacebuilding. Highly comfortable working with logical frameworks, tools, and strategies for assessing peacebuilding impact, and communicating about PMER nontechnically with a diversity of stakeholders.
• Strong knowledge of conflict dynamics and peace-building principles and practices, including nonviolent communication techniques.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, multicultural environment.
• Demonstrated commitment to promoting peace, social justice, and human rights.