Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage is recruiting a Head of Africa Engagement to lead both our Africa Team and the development and implementation of Girls Not Brides’ strategy in Africa. The person will play a critical role in managing collaboration with our National Partnerships, Members, Coalitions and relevant African institutions to spearhead the end Child Marriage agenda across Africa.
They will contribute to the secretariat’s broader strategic, programmatic and communications work with the African regional perspective (e.g. advocacy, communications, learning, member engagement, operations, etc.), as required. They will also be a member of Girls Not Brides’ Advisory Management Team, contributing to the wider management and technical development of the organisation.
The successful candidate will line manage the Africa Team, including consultants.
Reporting directly to the Director of Learning and Impact, the successful candidate must have the right to work in Kenya.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIESLead the development and implementation of Girls Not Brides’ strategy in Africa
Develop and implement strategies for Girls Not Brides’ policy and advocacy work in Africa, in line with the Partnership’s global strategy.
Provide technical and strategic assistance to Girls Not Brides members, National Partnerships, other CSO groups, UN agencies and governments working to end child marriage in selected African countries, as necessary and appropriate.
Represent Girls Not Brides in selected regional and international working groups and networks and at appropriate regional meetings and events.
Develop and coordinate the Girls Not Brides Africa Advisory group to inform strategic thinking and research around ending child marriage in Africa.
Monitor major policy developments related to child marriage in Africa at the regional and international levels.
Help identify and translate global opportunities for influence or support to members in Africa.
Lead Girls Not Brides engagement at the national level and with the African Union and regional economic blocs
Develop and implement advocacy strategies and initiatives to maintain child marriage on the agenda of selected regional institutions, initiatives and processes with particular emphasis on the African Union and Regional Economic Commissions in East and Southern Africa.
Represent Girls Not Brides in the Technical Working Group of the AU campaign to end child marriage.
Support the domestication of the SADC Model Law including development of a community of practice to encourage member states to translate SADC commitments into tangible action at national level.
Develop and implement advocacy, communications and capacity building projects in East, West and Central Africa that focus on ending child marriage, including managing donor relations.
Work to develop Girls Not Brides’ presence, visibility and credibility in Africa
Strengthen Girls Not Brides’ membership and engagement with civil society organisations in Africa.
Encourage and facilitate information-sharing and joint activities between African members, with particular reference on linking the regional and global to national engagements.
Assist and guide African member organisations in the strategic development of their work to ending child marriage.
Strengthen strategic partnerships with key stakeholders, sub-regional, regional and international actors and development partners working in Africa.
Increase visibility and understanding of Girls Not Brides’ work across Africa.
Contribute to the broader Girls Not Brides strategic, programmatic and communications work with the Africa regional perspective.
Contribute to Girls Not Brides strategic planning processes.
Inform the global activities of Girls Not Brides with knowledge of the regional context and the perspective of Africa-based members.
Inform the global activities of Girls Not Brides with thematic expertise in areas such as gender, advocacy, humanitarian, social protection and SRHR.
Speak on behalf of Girls Not Brides in the media, as required.
When necessary, supervise consultants supporting the secretariat’s regional work.
Through regular meetings with team heads and representatives from regional teams, provide updates from Africa and strategic direction for greater integration of the Africa region.
Provide input into relevant funding applications and reporting to donors, as needed.
Manage the Africa Team
Manage the work of the Africa Team members.
Participate in the Advisory Management Team of the Girls Not Brides secretariat and serve as a bridge between management and the Africa Team, ensuring information flows both ways.
Lead the monitoring and evaluation of the activities implemented by the Africa Team.
Ensure alignment of the Africa Team with Girls Not Brides’ systems and processes.
Manage the Africa Team Budget.
Wider responsibilities of Girls Not Brides team members
Commit to the mission and vision of Girls Not Brides, putting these at the forefront of all planning, work and actions.
Uphold the core values of Girls Not Brides in all areas of work and interactions with colleagues, members, partners and other stakeholders.
Comply with Girls Not Brides policies and processes, with a particular note for safeguarding, the code of conduct and data protection.
Ensure that internal databases and monitoring information are kept fully up-to-date.
Commit to ongoing personal development and learning.
Fulfil any other reasonable requests for the advancement of Girls Not Brides
PERSON SPECIFICATIONEssential experience
Significant professional experience in a similar senior-level role in the not-for-profit sector, an international/intergovernmental organisation or a social enterprise.
Extensive senior-level experience in a field such as public policy, development studies, international relations, human rights or gender issues plus extensive relevant professional training.
Experience of mobilising and promoting national level change and advocacy.
Experience of developing country strategies.
Experience of successfully managing teams, including geographically dispersed staff.
Essential skills and knowledge
Confident networker and influencer with the ability to represent Girls Not Brides at high-level events.
Advanced ability to work across disciplines, building successful relationships with partners, academics, policy-makers, programme implementers and advocates.
A sound understanding of the policy and advocacy dynamics around gender and/or youth/child rights in an international context, including an understanding of some of the key players in these fields.
Excellent written and spoken English language skills.
Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to work with a diverse range of actors from different cultural contexts.
Highly skilled people manager who can effectively line-manage, support and promote staff development.
Ability to deal with competing demands, multiple priorities, time constraints and unanticipated events.
Essential values and attributes
Strong commitment to the mission and values of Girls Not Brides and our vision in relation to addressing child marriage and the empowerment of girls and women.
Proactive and able to confidently take initiative and make appropriate decisions.
Willingness to work flexibly and regularly travel internationally, as necessary.
Desirable
Post-graduate qualification in an area such as public policy, development studies, international relations, human rights or gender issues.
Proficiency in key languages of Girls Not Brides, such as Arabic, French, Portuguese or Spanish.
Girls Not Brides was initiated in September 2011 by The Elders, a group of independent global leaders working together to promote peace and human rights. Girls Not Brides was created as part of their efforts to bring more attention to the harmful practices that hold girls and women back, and to encourage and empower others to work collaboratively to end child marriage. Girls Not Brides became an independent charity in 2013.
Our vision is a world without child marriage where girls and women enjoy equal status with boys and men, and are able to achieve their full potential in all aspects of their lives. Our vision challenges deeply embedded social norms that harm the lives of girls, women and their communities.
Girls Not Brides is the only global organisation uniquely focused on creating and sustaining a worldwide movement to end child marriage, and ensuring that this movement leads to tangible change for the girls at risk or affected by the practice. We are a network of over 1,400 civil society organisations in over 100 countries working in partnership to end child marriage.
Our member organisations are diverse. They vary in size, location and the type of work they do. They include programme implementers and service providers working directly in their communities, and groups focused on research and advocacy to concentrate global, regional and national attention on the problem. They include small community groups and large international non-governmental organisations.
In some countries, our member organisations have come together to form coalitions to end child marriage. They use collective engagement to consolidate their work and catalyse national action.
The secretariat rallies support to end child marriage and supports member organisations by:
· Nurturing relationships and promoting change with multilateral institutions, media outlets, potential donors, UN bodies and academic institutions.
· Convening member organisations and other key partners (such as UN agencies, donors, governments and academics) to address important questions, such as how to measure progress towards ending child marriage.
· Supporting the development of a shared understanding of promising approaches to end child marriage.
· Building relationships with organisations and alliances working in different sectors to ensure that child marriage is integrated into their work.
· Sharing global and regional policy developments with member organisations and spearheading collective advocacy to include child marriage in development and human rights frameworks.
· Increasing visibility and understanding of the impact of child marriage, and amplifying local and global efforts driven by member organisations to end the practice.
· Ensuring member organisations are equipped with the necessary tools and information to strengthen their work.
· Facilitating collective action by member organisations at the global, regional and national levels.
Our impactWhen Girls Not Brides was launched, the issue of child marriage was almost invisible for many, especially in global fora. A few determined organisations were working on the issue, but there was little scope for them to learn from one another, share resources or work together to increase their impact. Since then, we have made significant progress. Highlights include:
· The inclusion of a target to end child marriage in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.
· Increased understanding of the range of approaches needed to address child marriage, and the role of different sectors, thanks to our Theory of Change.
· Work with intergovernmental bodies like the African Union, South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation, the Commonwealth, and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophone.
· Increased work in Latin America and the Caribbean, with seven governments in the region committing to addressing child marriage.
· The development of national action plans to end child marriage in over 40 countries.
· The launch of the Girls First Fund, a multi-donor initiative to support community-based organisations working to end child marriage around the world. It initiated VOW: To End Child Marriage, an innovative fundraising initiative.
