DIAKONIA MULTI-COUNTRY DIRECTOR (KENYA AND UGANDA)

Diakonia is a Swedish non-profit organization for international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance. Diakonia supports over 350 partner organisations in 26 countries – in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Diakonia operates on feminist principles and a human rights-based approach. The basis for our work is people’s right and desire to improve and change the world. Our focus areas are human rights, democracy and gender equity.

Since the beginning of 2021 Diakonia is working with a new strategy, containing four movements that will lead to an interesting and exciting journey for the organization.

Diakonia’s work in Kenya has had a good tracking record in supporting governance and human rights work. Currently, the country office has several components in the areas of governance, human rights, climate change and youth economic empowerment work. The Governance work is related to supporting Public Finance Management related interventions with interventions targeting duty bearers and rights holders. The human rights work involves working with the institution of access to justice namely the police, the judiciary and the prisons among others. Our climate change adaptation work is based in Baringo County and our partners interact with the realities of conflict and marginalization in this region. We have a youth economic empowerment program that works with students in universities and colleges. The program is therefore dynamic in nature and there is ambition to grow the climate change and the youth economic empowerment work even as we continue to build on, support and expand Diakonia’s past work on human rights and governance.

Diakonia Uganda Country Office started operations in 2008. The current Country Strategy (2021 – 2025) focuses on the following interventions: 1) Women’s participation in democratic and socio-economic processes. This involves enhancing the participation of women and girls and the capabilities of citizens in the democratic sphere and the promotion of the participation and influence of women and girls in political and socio-economic decision-making processes. 2) Formal and informal duty bearers address gender-based violence. This involves duty bearers formulating and implementing relevant policies and laws and allocating resources to address gender-based violence and to empower grls and women. It involves men and boys being active participants in changing the negative masculinities, religious and cultural attitudes, rules, laws and practices that are violent, discriminatory and harmful. It also involves civil society organisations consistently addressing the cultural and religious structures and systems that are obstacles to gender equality. 3. Strengthening of civil society. This involves ensuring that civil society is resilient, inclusive and accountable and strategically champions feminism and human rights. The Rights holders for these interventions include girls (including child mothers and girls out of school), women who are oppressed and suffer violence and disempowerment, youth, human rights defenders and other vulnerable and marginalised groups. Geographic focus: The strategy focuses mainly on districts of Acholi, Karamoja, Rwenzururu region and West Nile. It also focuses on national advocacy work.

Role and responsibilities:

·Proven experience in strategy development and program management with civil society partner organizations, monitoring and evaluation, and budget management.

·Provide strategic leadership in the development and implementation of the Diakonia country program in Kenya, ensuring its alignment with Diakonia global policy, donor policies, and legal requirements in the country.

·Experience in managing multi-disciplinary teams and working in multi-cultural settings.

·Manage and provide leadership to the country office teams and Diakonia partners.

·Manage the country office budgets and reporting process and ensure the effective and ethical management of resources.

·Ensure good collaboration and coordination among Diakonia partners, civil society, government, and other key stakeholders.

·Ensure good public relations, maintain productive networking and collaborative initiatives with funding partners, authorities and other organizations, and represent the organization in relevant forums and meetings.

·Develop and implement strategies to identify and attract potential partners and funders.

Experience and qualifications:

·Advanced degree in Development Studies, Political Science, Social science, or related fields.

·Proven experience in strategy development and program management with civil society partner organizations, monitoring and evaluation, and budget management.

·A minimum of 7 years’ relevant experience in development organizations, preferably from different countries, of which at least 3 years in senior management with experience in finance and human resources.

·Experience in managing multi-disciplinary teams and working in multi-cultural settings.

·Excellent understanding of and relevant work experience from Diakonia’s focus areas, i.e., democracy, human rights, gender justice, as well as mainstreaming areas i.e., gender, conflict sensitivity and environment. social and economic justice, peace and conflict and humanitarian support.

·Strong background in climate change adaptation knowledge and programming experience including demonstrated awareness, fundraising, and networking strength in that area.

·Experience in resource mobilization from bilateral/multilateral donors.

·Excellent verbal and written command of English.

This is a plus:

·Experience in managing development programs funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and EU.

·Exposure to youth economic empowerment programming.