Senior Project Officer II – Gender, Safeguarding and youth inclusiveness

Term of Employment:     One year with a possibility of extension

Duty Station(s):                  Oromia based at Addis Ababa

Required Number:             One

Application Deadline:       December 12, 2024

Job Description

BACKGROUND

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI), formerly known as the Agricultural Transformation Agency  (ATA), is a strategy and delivery-oriented government institute created to help accelerate the growth and transformation of Ethiopia’s agriculture sector, which is a key contributor to the country’s GDP, exports, and workforce. The ATI’s work is centred on improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers (SHFs) across the country for improved income, inclusiveness, resilience, and sustainability.

The ATI works to transform the agriculture sector in Ethiopia by conducting policy and analytical studies, providing technical implementation support and capacity building, coordinating.

platforms to better integrate partners and projects and designing and directly leading several innovative/pilot interventions.

The Institute joins forces with various stakeholders, including policymakers, researchers, farmers, and development partners, to support the implementation of agricultural development programs and initiatives. In addition, the ATI collaborates with national and international partners to facilitate knowledge exchange and learning opportunities. The Institute plays a crucial role in generating and disseminating information to support evidence-based decision-making in Ethiopia’s agricultural sector.

 Our Culture

We have an exceptional team of highly competent employees with a proven track record of success in managing complex activities and achieving transformational results.  Our culture is one where talented, dedicated, and adaptable individuals are committed to doing their best and exhibit great teamwork to achieve excellent results.

At ATI, we provide an exceptional platform for people who want to achieve their highest potential and make a meaningful contribution in changing the country’s agricultural sector. We offer rewarding work in a young, fast-paced growing organization with passionate, committed, motivated colleagues and excellent career development and training. We recognize our most valuable assets are our staff and are committed to providing our employees with the tools, training, and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals.

Program and position summary.

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) has designed a program called “Agriculture-focused Dignified Employment for Youth in Ethiopia” (ADEY) to address unemployment challenges of youths, especially young women, including those with disabilities, and increase their participation in the labor market, particularly in the agriculture sector. ATI has mainstreamed youth employment, gender equality, climate-smart, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture in all its programs and projects with the primary objectives of increased access to sustainable and inclusive job opportunities for youth, inclusivity, and the sustainable use of natural resources while building resilience capacities to shocks at all levels.

ATI, among others, currently works with more than 3 million smallholder farmers (540,300 are women and youths) engaged in the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) and digital agriculture programs designed to improve smallholder farmers’ production and productivity while supporting other actors along the value chain.

Taking ATI’s reputable experience, ADEY program is designed to create inclusive and dignified work opportunities in ACC regions and Somali for over six hundred thousand youths. The program will focus on several workstreams such as agriculture and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to strengthen access to agricultural input and output markets and finance; improve the competitiveness of youth-owned MSMEs through capacity-building activities; enhance the skills and mindsets of young women and men through technical and business skill development, and create an enabling environment for work opportunities through policy interventions.

Similar to ACC, ADEY will operate along commodity value chains, largely using ACC infrastructures and complement the different ACC outcomes in general and outcome four (engagement of women and youth including those with disabilities) in particular.

The Gender, Safeguarding and Youth Inclusiveness Senior Project Officer at the regional ATI office will be responsible to ensure that gender, disability and youth issues are consistently and thoughtfully mainstreamed in the ADEY program implementation. She/he will ensure integration and coordination of ADEY activities with other ATI programs and projects at the regional and woreda levels. The position holder will directly report to the ADEY Regional Program Manager and to the Women and Social Affairs in a matrix. She/he will closely work with all ADEY and ACC program staff in the region. Besides, he/she will closely work with the Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, Women and Social Affairs, Labor and Skills and partners implementing ADEY program on the directions given from the program management.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES and RESPONSIBILITIES

Coordination 

• Coordinate and support the regional team to ensure gender, disability, and youth inclusion are consistently and thoughtfully mainstreamed to ensure achievement of the regional program targets.
• Liaise and coordinate with relevant regional stakeholders including Government, NGOs, CSOs, Private Sector, and Implementing Partners to obtain critical inputs, mobilize young women to participate in ADEY, and create institutional collaboration to promote gender, disability and youth inclusive interventions.
• Work with the regional team to establish of gender and disability-inclusive youth advisory groups in ADEY implementation woredas to gain insights from the youth perspective and amplify their voices.
• Mobilize and work with formal and informal women’s associations, organizations of persons with disabilities, and organizations working with refugees and IDPs, etc., to help identify target participants and implement gender, disability and youth-responsive interventions in ADEY.
• Provide technical supports to non-gender project team members of ADEY and ensure the team uses gender and disability lenses to implement their day-to-day activities.
• Ensure the gender inclusive interventions are implemented per the project document and ATI gender policy and guidelines.
• Collaborate with internal departments (such as HR, legal/compliance, communication) and external stakeholders including relevant government agencies, and community organizations to implement standard safeguarding practices and create safe environment for program participants.

Design And Implementation

• Identify, plan and implement of feasible interventions based on the expected projects’ outputs, KPIs, and workstreams that contribute to the overall objective of the program.
• Support the regional and woreda-level partners in the implementation of youth and gender-responsive, and disability inclusive activities.
• Conduct youth and gender analysis, and integrate findings and lessons obtained into ongoing programming.
• Develop or review gender and safeguarding policies, and establish clear and accessible reporting and response mechanisms for any concerns and incidents that may occur.
• Support the regional partners, youth enterprises and service providers to become gender, disability and youth responsive in their business practices and actions.
• Provide technical supports and guidance to women enterprises to manage their business operations effectively and efficiently.
• Facilitate linkages of women enterprises with private sectors and markets to develop business partnership and enhance their products and services.
• Facilitate inclusion of persons (youths) with disabilities in enterprise development activities, and linkages with private sectors and market opportunities.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

• Conduct monitoring and evaluation on impacts of the gender, disability and youth-inclusive interventions.
• Gather and analysis feedback from youth advisory groups and integrate their voice into regular program planning and implementation.
• Collect and analyze data, and produce quality reports on gender, youth and disability inclusion targets.
• Provide backstopping and advise to implementing partners and youth enterprises on implementation to ensure implementation of gender, disability and youth-responsive interventions.
• Implement safeguarding activities and conduct risk assessments to identify potential risks and mitigation measures.
• Document and share lessons learned, best practices, and success stories related to gender, safeguarding and youth responsive program interventions.
• Ensure that women from different categories including those with disabilities are participated in the program implementation.

Training 

• Coordinate and provide tailor-made training on gender, safeguarding and youth inclusiveness for youth enterprises and regional partners.
• Support the regional program staff and implementing partners in organizing gender-specific knowledge and experience sharing.
• In collaboration with the other team at the regional level, facilitate and conduct training of trainers for youth beneficiaries on mindset change, business and technical skills.

Others 

• Prepare quality reports (quarterly, semi-annual and annual) and provide feedback to the beneficiaries and regional partners on progress performance and lessons learned.
• Represent the program in regional meetings and other events and provide feedback and integrate lessons learnt into the program implementation.
• Undertake any other related works as assigned by the program manager.

Required Qualification, Competencies, and Experience (Person Specification)

• Minimum of a master’s or bachelor’s degree in gender studies, sociology, psychology, anthropology, socioeconomics, agricultural economics, agricultural extension, rural development and other related fields.
• Minimum of 10 years’ relevant experience for Bachler’s and 8 years for master’s in designing and implementing gender, safeguarding, and youth-inclusive initiatives in the agriculture sector.
• A very good knowledge of gender equality, and women and youth empowerment in the agriculture sector.
• Proven experience in design, implementation, and evaluation of women and youth empowerment projects or programs.
• Demonstrated technical and analytical skills to produce quality reports, training modules implementation guidelines.
• Demonstrated experience and ability to provide adult training.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, and ability to develop stakeholder collaboration and partnerships.
• Ability to stay composed and positive in difficult moments, and handle tense situations.
• Ability to complete multiple assignments and produce quality results under tight schedules.
• Good experiences in dissemination and institutionalization of best practices and lessons with implementing partners.
• Ability to work with multidisciplinary teams and develop collegial relationships.
• Experience in youth employment in agriculture (crop, natural resource or livestock value chains) and MSME’s development.
• Willingness to undertake frequent field visits.
• Strong communication skills (written, verbal, composing, presentation, etc.).
• Proficiency in verbal and written English and Amharic. Yet, knowledge of the respective regional language is mandatory.

 

HOW TO APPLY

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

We invite all candidates meeting the required qualifications to submit (i) a cover letter and (ii) a CV (maximum 5 pages) to: https://apply.ata.gov.et

It is mandatory to mention the position title under the subject line of your cover letter.

Please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.