Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms - Human Rights Program Coordinator, Association for Women's Rights in Development

Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms - Human Rights Program Coordinator

Posted on: August 28, 2014
Application deadline: September 21, 2014
Posted by: The Association for Women's Rights in Development

OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM

The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) is an international feminist organization working to strengthen the voice, impact and influence of women's rights advocates, organizations and movements internationally.

Recognizing that religious fundamentalisms are gaining ground all over the world with particularly negative consequences for women's rights and gender equality, the Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms (CF) thematic area aims to contribute to greater strategic thinking, dialogue and advocacy on religious fundamentalisms by women's rights and other social justice organizations and movements. Launched in 2007, the CF initiative has three main areas of focus:

• Ensuring that women's rights activists and allies have access to high quality and strategic information on emerging trends, developments and analysis to better inform their responses to religious fundamentalisms
• Strengthening the capacity of women's rights activists, groups and allies to understand, analyse and develop more effective strategies to challenge religious fundamentalisms
• Opening up spaces for dialogue and strategizing on the issue of religious fundamentalisms that cut across generations, contexts, regions, issues and religious contexts

OVERVIEW OF THE POSITION

The Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms(CF) – Human Rights Program Coordinator is a full-time position reporting to the CF Manager, who will support the strategic objectives of CF with an emphasis in the area of knowledge building and communications. The CF Program Coordinator will be responsible for the following main functions:

• Knowledge-building and communications: Produces well written and timely analysis of CF issues, conducting research, writing updates, articles and statements, developing advocacy tools, producing newsletters and publications, updating the website, developing social media, expanding the online constituency of the initiative and developing online platforms to support the strategic objectives of CF to monitor the impact of religious fundamentalisms in the human rights system.
• Capacity building: Develops high quality capacity building materials and learning tools for the CF program. Identifies engagement opportunities for delivery, contributes to implementation, facilitation and follow up activities. Partnerships, collaborations and alliance-building: Participates in efforts to expand and deepen AWID's engagement and collaboration with actors from women's and other social movements working on issues of religious fundamentalism. Strengths collaborations and alliance-building through proactive formal and informal communications with external stakeholders and key allies. Supports advocacy action and initiatives for CF as needed.
• Convening dialogues and strategic conversations: Contributes to CF strategic convening's by developing presentations and supporting written materials. Represents the initiative in relevant dialogues and /or facilitates small working groups, consultations or caucuses as needed
• Organizational processes: Tracks the impact of the initiative by maintaining and updating the monitoring and evaluation processes for the team, and contributing to funder reports and internal reporting processes

Work Location of the Position:

• Work location is open
• AWID offices are located in Cape Town, Mexico City and Toronto but applicants may apply to work from home in other locations
• Applicants from the Global South are strongly encouraged to apply

RESPONSIBILITIES

Knowledge-building and communication

• Writes high quality analysis on critical issues and developments in CF issues for AWID's communications and other key platforms
• Drafts position statements, policy briefs, urgent actions and solidarity messages and letters
• Works with communications team to develop new mechanisms to ensure that CF communications are strengthened, including with the use of social media and other tools
• Enhances the quality of and regularly produces the CF newsletter and/or other communications on a regular basis
• Further develops a multi-lingual constituency (English, French, Spanish) for CF communications, and expands the subscribership by active outreach to activists working in this area
• Maintains an accurate and up to date database of CF contacts
• Contributes in advocacy actions to increase effectiveness in select international spaces, in collaboration with partner organizations
• Develops alternative media contacts for greater dissemination of CF analysis
• Collects, organizes and builds an online repository of materials and analysis which can be used to leverage efforts to challenge religious fundamentalisms in the international human rights system
• Contributes to writing, editing and synthesizing reports of impact and influence of religious fundamentalisms on international human rights system

Capacity-building

• Contributes to the development of the capacity building priorities to respond to the objectives of the CF program
• Adapts the CF research, knowledge and other strategic information to create accessible materials, presentations, advocacy tools, etc.
• Drafts material and coordinates the editing, design, translations and dissemination phases
• Identifies engagement opportunities for the face to face and virtual delivery of materials including those in collaboration with regional and international partners
• Participates in the facilitation and delivery of the materials as needed
• Implements follow-up activities, including evaluations for capacity building processes as appropriate.

Partnership, Collaboration & Alliance-Building

• Participates in efforts to expand and deepen AWID's engagement and collaboration with actors from women's and other social movements working on issues of religious fundamentalism through proactive formal and informal communications
• Maintains regular communication with allies and other actors relevant to AWID's advocacy objectives
• Strengthening collaborations and alliance-building through proactive formal and informal communications with external stakeholders and key allies
• Supports advocacy & action initiatives/work to advance advocacy on religious fundamentalisms and women's rights within international human rights system , as needed

Convening Dialogue and Strategic Conversation

• Supports' convening's of the initiative including with preparation of meeting-related documents, background reading, agenda, concept papers, presentations, post-meeting reports etc.
• Assists with preparation of presentations, representing initiatives in relevant dialogues etc…as needed

Organizational Processes

• Maintains and updates the monitoring and evaluation system/tools/documents for evaluation and helps draft information for reporting processes
• Ensures the timely and effective implementation of deliverables linked to individual work plan, including all activities, reports and evaluations
• Participates and contributes to CF team coordination and planning meetings
• Participates actively in organizational meeting venues (office and staff meetings) and committees

QUALIFICATIONS

4-6 Years Experience:

• Working for a non-profit organization in a related role:

• writing and editing a range of products related to women's rights and/or religious fundamentalisms
• analyzing key issues and themes related to religious fundamentalisms, women's rights and human rights (including sexual and reproductive rights, LGBTQI rights, minority rights etc.)
• using new media, social networking, cutting edge community tools and techniques, and social media management/monitoring and analytical tools
• developing and implementing a range of high quality capacity building tools and materials as well as coordinating and facilitating related activities preferably related to women's rights issues
• alliance-building, and building constituencies both face to face as well as virtually across different and diverse constituencies
• working in a multi-cultural team and/or one located in diverse locations
• working in or with organizations based in the Global South and/or Central and Eastern Europe

Other Knowledge:

• International human rights system and processes particularly in relationship to women's rights
• Complex issues as they relate to religious fundamentalisms, women's rights, human rights, economic justice and development issues in particular regions and on a global level
• Familiarity with regional and international women's rights organizations and networks working on women's rights, sexual and reproductive rights, LGBTQI rights, human rights, and religious fundamentalisms

Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in related field: social science, political science, international relations, development, gender studies, religious studies, human rights, etc.

Expertise & Skills:

• Excellent written communication and editing skills in English (e.g. articles, analytical pieces, report writing, position statements)
• Expansive knowledge & ability to implement latest ICT's and social media for raising awareness and effecting change, building online communities and information sharing
• Innovative, flexible, manages change
• Superior analytical and diagnostic information gathering abilities (specifically regarding analysis of information across a range of disciplines and ability to extract relevant information/themes or solve problems)
• Demonstrated capacity to establish focus (assist with the development of work plan), navigate complex relationships and work with multiple stakeholders in coalition and partnership
• Displays good judgment, sensitivity and attention in diverse forms of communications
• Superior knowledge of the MS Office Suite (Word, Excel PowerPoint), internet and email
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills
• Strategic & forward thinking abilities
• Strong time management, detail orientation and thoroughness of work
• Ability to prioritize, multi task, and manage stress
• Results-oriented, and takes initiative
• Problem solving and decision making abilities
• Strong project management experience: ability to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate a work plan with multiple projects, multiple deliverables and deadlines
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Ability to work remotely as part of a virtual team

Other Requirements:

• Able to travel internationally (at least 5-6 weeks per year)
• Committed to the principles and values of feminism and anti-oppression

Assets:

• Graduate degree in related field
• Bilingual, Trilingual or Quad Lingual (written and spoken) in English and French, Spanish, Arabic
• Courses or certificates in Women's/Feminist studies, Political Economy or Human Rights

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit in English a current CV, along with a cover letter (no more than two pages) that addresses how you meet the necessary qualifications to:

• Fax: +416 594 0330
• E-mail: jobs@awid.org (please include "CF – Human Rights Program Coordinator" in the subject line)

In addition please include a response to the following question (no more than 450 words):

Looking forward, what in your opinion will be key challenges in the area of women's rights, gender equality and religious fundamentalisms? What would you consider are the key opportunities to strengthen advocacy in the context of religious

The application closing date is Sunday, September 21^th, 2014.

We thank all those who apply, but only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. No phone calls please. AWID encourages, promotes and supports diversity in all aspects of its work.

To learn more about AWID and our programs, please visit our website at www.awid.org