JOB DESCRIPTION
| Job Title: | Nutrition, Gender and WASH Advisor |
| Company: | Self Help Africa |
| Location: | Kampala |
| Contract type: | Fixed term contract, full-time |
| Period | 12 Months |
| Reports to: | Head of Programmes and Business Development Coordinator |
| Organisation overview: | About Self Help Africa & United Purpose In 2021, Self Help Africa merged with United Purpose, an international organization that aims to alleviate hunger, poverty, social inequality, and the impact of climate change through community-led, market-based, and enterprise- focused approaches, so people have access to nutritious food, clean water, decent employment, and incomes while sustaining natural resources. Self Help Africa is an international development organisation that works through agriculture and Agri-enterprise development to end hunger and extreme poverty. The organisation has programmes in 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and implements projects in Brazil and Bangladesh. In early 2023 we launched a new five-year organisation strategy, which defines shared mission as the alleviation of hunger, poverty, social inequality, and the impact of climate change through community-led, market-based, and enterprise- focused approaches so that people can have access to nutritious food, clean water, decent employment, and incomes while sustaining natural resources. Our wider organisation also includes social enterprise subsidiaries Partner Africa, which provides ethical auditing and consultancy services, TruTrade, an innovative trading platform in East Africa, and CUMO, Malawi’s largest micro-finance provider. Our three core values are: ▪ Impact: We are accountable, ambitious, and committed to systemic change. ▪ Innovation: We are agile, creative, and enterprising in an ever-changing world. ▪ Community: We are inclusive, honest, and have integrity in our relationships. |
| Job Purpose: | Hunger and malnutrition remains a major issue worldwide and is of particular concern within the SHA (Self Help Africa) countries of operation. Nutrition in the past has been placed within the healthcare sector services, however, there is a recognition that the food and agriculture sector has a major role to play in ensuring improved food and nutrition security. Nutrition is a key theme across SHA’s programming: we aim to ensure that increased and diversified production translates to improved nutrition at household level so it is essential that all of our programmes have a strong nutrition focus. Equally, SHA recognises the importance of gender equity to ensure progress in reducing poverty. Working with smallholder farmers and recognising that women contribute to the bulk of labour on family farms, there is a need to ensure our programmes have a strong gender element to improve cohesion within the household with better resources and power sharing. Development goals cannot be achieved without explicit consideration being given to all, which includes: women, men, boys and girls and understanding their different needs and contributions. At the heart of everything we do is our belief that when people have their basic water and sanitation needs met, they have the opportunity to succeed. This position will be the resource person for Nutrition, Gender and WASH within the SHA Uganda programme. The role will involve working with the team throughout project cycle management – from supporting the development of concept notes to ensuring a strong nutrition and gender element, proposal development, programme delivery, supporting M&E and evaluation of projects or programmes. This role is key in the organisation’s drive to build technical excellence, improve programme quality across the organisation and lead in innovative development practice. Promoting nutrition sensitive agriculture will involve ensuring that all of SHA programmes and projects progressively integrate explicit nutrition objectives and indicators into project/programme design. It also ensures that gender is mainstreamed within all programmes. Advise, mentor, train and support programme or partner staff to effectively integrate nutrition sensitive agriculture and mainstream gender into programmes and projects including setting objectives and measuring results. The job holder will be required to support the Head of Programmes (HOP) and business Coordinator in the management of existing grant contracts and proposal development for new grants. He/she will support projects management and proposal development for the organisation. The duties and responsibilities as set out below are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of her / his level of skills and experience. |
| Key Responsibilities: | Technical Resource in regard to gender, nutrition and WASH: Support the Head of Programmes in planning and designing programmes; ensuring that nutrition, WASH and gender are specifically addressed with effective implementation strategies in line with SHA Uganda’s programme strategy Support SHA staff and partners in developing nutrition, WASH and gender components of projects/ programmes through establishing knowledge gaps and conducting capacity building or training and conducting project/programme monitoring visits Support the SHA programme team or technical staff/partner staff in the implementation of project interventions to ensure that the project/ programme interventions are gender transformative and wash and nutrition sensitive Support the development and implementation of waste management strategies that are sustainable and environmentally friendly. Promote best practices in solid waste management, including waste reduction, recycling, and safe disposal Develop and carry out reviews of SHA nutrition and gender policies/guidelines and strategies that provide strategic direction keeping abreast of resources already available in country or regionally/internationally Together with the SHA Monitoring and Evaluation Officer be responsible for designing, collecting, processing, analysing nutrition and gender data within SHA programmes Identify and support the development of tools for programme and partner staff, such as IEC material, to use for gender, nutrition and WASH throughout SHA programmes/projects Contribute and share knowledge, information, best practices and lessons learnt on gender, WASH and nutrition to ensure high quality programming throughout SHA programmes/projects for internal and external use Liaise regularly with the Nutrition, WASH and Social Inclusion Advisor sat head office for support and share learning with other SHA country programmes and head office Guide processes of identifying and participating in nutrition and/or gender research as required Strengthen strategic partnerships with civil society organizations and the private sector to influence nutrition, gender and WASH responsive policies and laws Keep updated on technical aspects of nutrition and gender with specific focus on vulnerable groups Support the inclusion of WASH to address needs across sectors nutrition, food security and gender. Oversees WASH implementation activities to ensure high quality, timely delivery of programme activities, for example, monitoring against log frames. Develop WASH learning needs assessment and capacity building plans, linking capacity building initiatives to wider opportunities identified via coordination and networks. Oversee development of technical training material that will support the implementation of interventions Programme Operational Management: Provide managerial, technical, administrative and programmatic support to the project managers and senior programme staff in the CO. Support the preparation of project periodic (weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual as appropriate) work plans and reports as required by SHA and donors and ensure that these are followed by project teams. Produce or review ToR for consultants for Nutrition, Gender and WASH activities Facilitate and assist the timely submission of regular reports (quarterly, semi-annual and annual) or special reports as deemed necessary Spend significant time on wash, gender and nutrition sites (field visit) to monitor activities and provide practical and technical guidance to the team Programme development: Assist and work with the CD in new programme development; drawing up plans, concept papers, proposals, and budgets for new projects and extensions of projects Design new initiatives and projects in the CO, as well as subsequent phases of existing projects; draft content for concept papers and proposals as required by SHA and donors. Leads the fundraising efforts for Nutrition, Gender and WASH sector, contribute to the development of high quality concept notes and proposals, and donors reports. Actively seek and identify new grants and contract opportunities based on CO strategy and government and/or donor plans. Encourage and ensure a healthy level of participation from sector and field staff in all programme development activities. Coordinate programme visits by donors, SHA HQ and other SHA international and local visitors. Represent SHA with donors, local and national governments, and other parties Work closely with programme support functions (finance, procurement, HR, transport, etc.) to ensure proper coordination exists for efficient programme implementation Organize and facilitate workshops/trainings to share information/learning Networking: This role will ensure SHA engagement in relevant networks to strengthen SHA’s visibility in nutrition and gender, remain current/up to date within this sector and where possible capitalise on relevant opportunities that arise in terms of funding, and dissemination of SHA work. Networking with relevant stakeholders will include the various ministries, UN agencies such as UNICEF and WHO and NGO’s involved in nutrition, gender and WASH sectors Learning and Innovation Facilitate learning, promote peer-learning between staff and partners, participate in relevant national networks and actively engage in organization level focal groups. Explore opportunities for positioning, innovation, upscaling and potential follow up. |
| Key Relationships: | Internal • Country Director • Head of Programmes and Business Development Coordinator • Other SHA in-country Technical Advisers • SHA Project/Programme Managers in Country • Partner Organisation Staff • Head Office Technical Advisers • Other SHA Country Nutrition, Gender and WASH Advisers External • Key Ministry Stakeholders (Ministry of Health, Gender and Agriculture as relevant) • UN agencies, in particular; UNICEF, WHO, FAO and UNFPA • Relevant National Food and Nutrition Organizations • Research institutions and Universities as relevant |
| Most Critical Proficiecies: | • Excellent communication skills • Ability to work as part of team across different cultures. • Ability to work with minimum supervision and take initiative • Ability to solve problems and take corrective action. |
| Knowledge, Experience and Other Requirements | Essential: • Minimum of bachelor’s degree in relevant fields, nutrition, Public Health • At least 5 years of experience in designing and implementing nutrition, gender, and WASH programs. • Strong technical knowledge of nutrition, gender equality, WASH, and waste management. • Extensive knowledge and experience of sector thinking on nutrition with a wide range of partners from civil society, public and private sectors • A good understanding of project cycle management approaches and tools including knowledge of M&E principles • Experience in facilitation of learning process and networking • Experience in data analysis, research and report writing • Excellent training and capacity-building skills • Excellent level of spoken and written English • Very good working knowledge of MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and general IT skills • Commitment to working with a value-based organisation • Self-motivated with good interpersonal and communication skills • Familiarity with relevant international guidelines and best practices. • Ability to work under pressure • Experience in team management and coordination • Willingness to travel in country and overseas to support nutrition, gender and WASH activities in other SHA country programmes Desirable: • Experience in gender and social inclusion in previous work environment • Demonstrated experience in integrating/mainstreaming gender in development and humanitarian projects focused on food, nutrition, and livelihoods sectors Ability to communicate effectively in more than one national language. |
All candidates offered a job with Self Help Africa will be expected to sign our Safeguarding Policies and Code of Conduct as an appendix to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents. Specific roles may require Police/DBS/ [relevant police authority] vetting.
Self Help Africa strives to be an equal opportunity employer.
