Summary of function:
The overall responsibility of the ACT Advocacy Officer is to support and facilitate the member organisations and forums of ACT Alliance in order to enhance advocacy for human dignity, community resilience and sustainability, including the areas of climate justice, fighting inequalities and human rights, with particular focus on coordinated national, regional and global advocacy.
Specific duties and responsibilities
Carry out targeted lobby and advocacy work on key topics of transformation development and environmental sustainability, including climate change negotiations under the UNFCCC and other international and multilateral processes and platforms
Train and mobilise ACT members and constituency through campaigns and public awareness in favour of justice. Priority themes are climate justice aspects, i.e. adaptation – including risk management, loss and damage, climate finance and low carbon development
Promote capacity building, shared learning, partnerships and best practice on transformational change and sustainability programmes among ACT forums, including low carbon development, adaptation and resilience partnerships across the alliance
Develop and strengthen national and regional ACT forums capable of delivering high-quality work together, emphasising the relational elements of trust and confidence, partnership, ownership, leadership, transparency and accountability
Enable the alliance by engaging members through a defined membership strategy, encouraging joint programming, joint partnerships, joint advocacy, capacity building and sharing of resources
Promote and speak out for human rights in national, regional and international arenas. We prioritise activities that advance equality and inclusiveness, particularly for women and girls, so that all people can realise their full potential and enjoy their rights protected by international law, customs and norms
Support the key structure of the alliance, such as advisory groups and communities of practice, in strategy development, coordination and actual implementation of advocacy. This includes support to the ecumenical family.
Liaise with the ACT communications team and support media campaigns, communication with members and forums and information sharing in support of and in the context of the implementation of ACT Alliance advocacy strategy.
Competences and behaviours
Committed to the values of the ACT Alliance and takes pride in delivering on agreed priorities according to the highest standards individually and as part of a global team
Proactively finds innovative and creative solutions, is efficient and reliable, adapts to change and uncertainty, is decisive and acts with integrity
Builds effective internal and external relationships, involves others when solving problems and treats others with consideration and respect in an alliance where faith is a key ingredient of people’s lives
Passion for building and developing core skills for the role and contributes knowledge outside of immediate own role
Effectively motivates, influences and develops others, drives high performance, inspires people to follow them and acts as a role model
Key working relationships
Liaises with ACT members, ACT forums, ACT-EU, Communities of Practice, and Advisory Groups through regional staff or directly
Collaborates with ecumenical partners, in particular the regional ecumenical organisations
Liaises with the UN, member states, regional intergovernmental organisations, civil society and other relevant partners to the programmes of ACT Alliance
Works effectively with the ACT regional teams in Bangkok, Nairobi, Amman and San Salvador, and other ACT secretariat staff based in Geneva and New York on issues relevant to the programme
Liaises with external stakeholders including donors
Reports to the ACT Global Advocacy and Policy Coordinator
Technical skills and experience
Relevant academic degree in political science, development, communications, international relations, theology or any other relevant field, with a minimum of seven to ten years of relevant work experience.
In-depth knowledge of key development and humanitarian policy issues, civil society, advocacy, campaigns and human rights.
Highly developed interpersonal and communications skills, including influencing, negotiating, presentation and facilitation, and development of policy and political briefs.
Ability to manage and lead in networked working environment
Ability to turn strategies into plans and actions
Good understanding of the role and added value of churches and faith-based organisations
Excellent knowledge of the English language. Knowledge of French or Spanish is an asset
About ACT Alliance
ACT Alliance is a coalition of more than 140 churches and faith-based organisations (FBO’s) working together in over 100 countries to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalised people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality. ACT Alliance is supported by 25,000 staff from member organisations and mobilises about $1.5 billion for its work each year in three targeted areas: humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy. ACT Alliance is deeply rooted in the communities it serves. It has earned the trust and respect of local people long before large international interventions scale up, and remains steadfast in its grassroots commitments for many years after world attention has shifted elsewhere.
For more details about the general work of ACT, please click on this link: http://www.actalliance.org/
HOW TO APPLY:
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV and a cover letter, in English and by email only, to recruitment@actalliance.org by Friday 17th February 2017. Please put “Advocacy Officer” in the subject line. Please note that the candidates must be Kenyan citizens or in the possession of a valid Kenyan work permit. The initial contract will be for 1 year with a possibility of extension.