Global development employers in Johannesburg

In international organizations, leadership, fundraising, advocacy and many of the decision-making roles tend to be based at headquarters. And headquarters offices tend to be based in Western countries, the primary donors to development activities worldwide. However, some development organizations are looking for ways to decentralize their decision-making process and get closer to their projects and beneficiaries by moving core functions — or even their entire HQ — to the global South. This is particularly the case on the continent of Africa. Africa is the region likely to see the most hiring in the year ahead, according to 76 percent of the global development recruiters that Devex surveyed to better understand hiring trends for 2017. Several cities across Africa are also emerging as hubs for employment in the global development sector with organizations and governmental agencies establishing regional offices in Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Dakar, Pretoria or Johannesburg. Oxfam is in the middle of relocating its international secretariat from the United Kingdom to Nairobi in order to be closer to the people it serves. Meanwhile, ActionAid International relocated its head office from London to Johannesburg over a decade ago. Founded in the U.K. in 1972, ActionAid International was the first global development organization to move its operations south when it relocated in 2004. While South Africa continues to face social problems and challenges to its own development, the relative peace it has enjoyed for over two decades since the end of apartheid has allowed several international development organizations to set up regional offices there. It is yet to be seen if more organizations will follow ActionAid and Oxfam in moving operations to the global south but Johannesburg remains a central location for international aid and advocacy groups working in Africa. Here is an overview of some of the international employers based in South Africa’s largest city. ActionAid ActionAid works with over 2,000 partner organizations across 45 countries to fight poverty and injustice. The organization focuses on inequality, women’s rights, food and land rights, democratic governance, education, emergencies and conflict, HIV/AIDS, and youth issues. The organization's head offices have now been based in Johannesburg for over a decade as part of their belief that the people whose lives their work affects should decide how their operations are run. ActionAid works in 21 countries across Africa and key themes of their work in the region are HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment, peacebuilding, famine relief and food relief, and education. Amnesty International Amnesty International is a global movement campaigning for internationally recognized human rights to be respected and protected. The organization focuses on investigating and exposing the facts in cases of human rights abuses, lobbying governments and powerful groups to respect international law, and mobilizing supporters around the world to campaign for change. The office in Johannesburg coordinates the organization’s work for human rights in eight countries in southern Africa: Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This regional office works closely with the international Amnesty movement, as well as local civil society organizations and partners. Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes and communities in areas that lack adequate and affordable housing. Through coaching and mentoring, the organization aims to provide leaders with the skills to be instrumental in their own community’s sustainable development while engaging and empowering all stakeholders. Habitat for Humanity South Africa was founded in 1996 and now has offices in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. The organization wants to help meet the demand for housing in a country where many urban populations still live in informal backyard dwellings. In South Africa, the organization has expanded its core focus from building individual houses to building communities, employing a people-public-private partnership model to achieve integrated and sustainable human settlements. Human Rights Watch This human rights organization has roughly 400 staff members around the globe, consisting of human rights professionals, country experts, lawyers, journalists and academics. Human Rights Watch aims to provide impartial reporting and advocate for changes in policy and practice to promote human rights and justice around the world. The organization addresses a wide range of human rights violations ranging from LGBT rights, refugees, free speech and women’s rights. With offices in Nairobi and Johannesburg, Human Rights Watch is currently present in over 30 countries across Africa, including countries where political corruption and election controversy have lead to violence and widespread human rights abuses. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) MSF is an international, independent humanitarian organization providing emergency medical assistance to populations in more than 70 countries worldwide. The organization has eight branch offices operating around the world, with Johannesburg hosting their only office in the African region. MSF does, however, have projects in over 30 locations across Africa, including several in the southern part of the continent in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. These projects focus primarily on HIV and tuberculosis, health care for mobile and migrant populations, and sexual and gender-based violence. ONE INTERNATIONAL ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organization working to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, and focusing on achieving justice and equality. The organization's work varies from running grassroots campaigns to lobbying governments to do more to fight AIDS and other preventable, treatable diseases. ONE has almost 8 million members worldwide who are involved in organizing, mobilizing, educating and advocating, but the organization’s work is funded largely by foundations, individual philanthropists and corporations. ONE has two teams based in the U.S., four teams in Europe, and one team based in South Africa — which are all dedicated to educating and lobbying governments to shape policy solutions that will save and improve lives. Open Society Foundations The Open Society Foundations has worked since 1979 to build tolerant societies with governments that are accountable and open to the participation of all people. The Open Society Foundations is a network of offices and foundations around the world that fund a range of programs, from independent journalism to global health. The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa was set up in 1997 and works to address problems in the region through projects and activities in 10 southern African countries. The focus of initiatives in this region includes increasing transparency and accountability in natural resource management, expanding early childhood education, establishing disability rights courses in universities, supporting independent journalism, and promoting the rights of indigenous peoples, LGBTI individuals and sex workers. The Open Society Foundations also has another office in South Africa, based in Cape Town. PATH PATH is a leader in global health innovation, focusing on saving lives and improving health among women and children. Their work spans five platforms: vaccines for children; drugs to treat diseases more effectively and at lower cost; diagnostics to detect and monitor diseases; devices; and system and service innovations to make sure the necessary tools are available to those who need them. While PATH’s headquarters are based in the U.S., the organization has nine country offices across Africa, including Johannesburg. PATH’s work in South Africa focuses on improving maternal health, enhancing infant and young child health, strengthening health systems, and preventing and treating HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. Population Services International PSI is a global health network of more than 50 local organizations committed to improving health in the developing world. PSI partners with local governments, ministries of health and local organizations to fulfil its mission to make it easier for people in the developing world to access affordable products and services for health care and family planning. PSI South Africa was set up in 2012 as PSI’s regional enterprise platform and coordination hub for condom social marketing and capacity building activities in southern Africa. PSI South Africa is transitioning from a multi-country, nonprofit project into a regional, commercial social enterprise operating in the field of sexual and reproductive health. World Vision World Vision focuses on the needs of children while working to support community-based and sustainable development and provide emergency relief to those afflicted by conflict or disaster. The organization works across 100 countries and has regional offices in East and West Africa and its head office for South Africa in Johannesburg. World Vision South Africa was established in 1967 and was among the first of the World Vision offices. It currently operates in six out of the nine provinces in the South Africa, reaching over 54,000 children through child sponsorship. Check out the Devex job board to find vacancies with global development employers hiring in South Africa. What did we miss? Please add any additional international organizations with a regional or headquarters office in Johannesburg in the comments below. Looking to make a career move? Visit our career center for expert advice on how to navigate your job search — all you need is a Devex Career Account to get started.