Overseas Volunteer Opportunity: Kenya

Co-operative Development Advisor (Environment Social and Governance)

Contribute. Discover. Grow. Volunteer with CDF Canada.

Eligibility criteria:   Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada

Location:   Nairobi, Kilifi, Machakos, Kericho, Kakamega, Homabay

Start Date:   Exact timing will be negotiated with the successful candidate.

Duration:   3-6 months, in-country and online support

Language Requirement:   English (Mandatory)

Reporting to:   Country Program Officer

The Project – VOICE for Women and Girls

The VOICE for Women and Girls project is a seven-year initiative (2020 – 2027) aimed at strengthening the performance of developing country partner (DCP) organizations to advance gender equality and economic empowerment of 50,000 women and men from marginalised communities, in particular young women (target: 60% women and girls), in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and Malawi with a focus on action areas of the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP), namely:

• Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls, and
• Growth that Works for Everyone.

The Project responds to the needs identified by women and men of cooperatives and the entire members in the countries of operation and is designed to increase the capacities of individual producers and primary co-operatives to support more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth. Supporting institutions, including apex co-operatives, co-operative colleges, and government/regulatory institutions will also be engaged to increase the capacity and prioritization of vulnerable groups.

The Partner you will work with

The African Confederation of Co-operative Savings and Credit Association (ACCOSCA) is a Pan-African confederation of national associations of savings and credit cooperatives societies. Having been established in Kenya by Co-operative leaders from across the continent in 1968, ACCOSCA has worked with various stakeholders in promoting the usage of the Co-operative Business model in a manner that would organically contribute towards the stimulating economic growth and development of a Country. Since its revitalization program at the Malawi General assembly in 2007, ACCOSCA has been leading the continent toward promoting financial inclusion in the local communities.

Currently, ACCOSCA has developed programs aimed at empowering and promoting cooperatives in Africa and is collaborating with various government bodies, development agencies and research institution in her service delivery to promote financial inclusion in Africa. Overall ACCOSCA aims at: Promoting the establishment of an institutional framework for mobilizing personal saving and credit cooperatives, Capacity Building, Technical Assistance, Information exchange, and Research on topical issues and addressing them amicably.

What you will do – Activities and deliverables

The Environment Social and Governance (ESG) advisor will be reporting directly to the Country Program Officer, who is coordinating all project activities at the country level. He/She is also expected to work hand in hand with the local partner ACCOSCA, the BOD and management of SACCOs and Cooperatives on regular basis. The ESG advisor is expected to host meetings and sessions with the Partner, the BOD, and the branch managers of the credit unions to interact and collaborate to get project goals accomplished.

The ESG advisor will be working with SACCOs and Cooperatives to support them to identify any new challenges and opportunities for leaders to create sustainable, inclusive growth by implementing ESG strategies that increase financial, societal, and environmental impact as well as ensure long-term competitiveness.

Objectives

The Volunteer is expected to work with SACCOs and multipurpose cooperatives and build the capacity of management, BOD of co-ops to provide innovative services that responds to the need of their members and primary co-operatives to support more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient growth. The capacity building initiatives will also target cooperative supporting institutions at community and Sub- County level as well as government/regulatory institutions to increase their capacity to be able to prioritize vulnerable groups to provide the needed support.

Deliverables

As the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Advisor, your mandate will be to lead activities and processes designed to leverage project partner and BOD of SACCOs and Cooperatives’ capacity to support capacity building for all employees, executives, and the board; establish an operating model to deliver on ESG goals, which includes talent needed and infrastructure for tracking and reporting progress.

Co-op support

• Ideating and testing different systems for gathering ESG insights and impact on the marginalized and Co-operative movement.
• Supporting stakeholder engagement, ESG policy development, and improvements to the ACCOSCAs ESG library to optimize relevance and usefulness to reach the SACCOs and the marginalized groups.
• Assist ACCOSCA in developing ESG resources including training materials and templates for SACCOs.
• Researching ESG and climate regulations and providing recommendations around implementation and disclosure in the Co-operative movement.
• Support the identification of new community ideas and the development of concept notes and SIF proposals.
• Self-reflective and aligned with CDF and partner’s values.
• Other duties as assigned.

Project Management

• Document all program related information and share with the country Program officer.
• Stay in constant communication with the CPO, partner’s focal person and the co-op managers to obtain the needed information regarding the co-ops.
• Prepare and submit weekly deliverables to the program officer and discuss what you require to complete those tasks.
• Complete monthly reports and timesheets and submit to the volunteer coordinator.
• Develop and share case studies, success stories with communications advisor for social media content that communicates the project’s activities, outputs and/or outcomes. 

Training and development of training materials

• Will be required to provide technical support in the preparation of session plans on the environment, social and governance for coop and women thematic area as captured on the capacity building plan or use available learning material to provide training for the co-ops.
• Develop training assessment tool, use the tool to collect information about the training and use the information to revise the session plans.
• Ensure that only the most current session plans are appropriately stored in a format that is easy to retrieve and use.

Your qualifications

Education:

• Degree with a focus on social enterprise, sustainable finance, international development and/or any other related courses from a recognized institution.

Experience:

• Experience and expertise in ESG investing, impact investing, or sustainable finance.
• Strong understanding of ESG policies, procedures, metrics, standards, and Scope 1, 2, and 3 calculations across sectors
• Strong ability to take initiative with research and analysis and produce valuable results in conditions of uncertainty.
• Experience working in cooperative sector.
• A sense of proportionality in determining practical approaches to requirements with a focus on substantive value add and beneficiaries.
• Ability to work with a diverse team and stakeholders and experience managing internal teams toward a common objective.
• Ability to train and facilitate capacity building sessions at the community levels.
• Ability to work with the marginalized, be flexible to travel to and work with the rural SACCOs remain cool-headed when there are unexpected challenges and withstand the tests of a rapidly changing environment with resilience and resolve.

Support package

This is a voluntary assignment. CDF Canada supports volunteers through the provision of a comprehensive package designed to cover a modest and healthy lifestyle, while allowing for effectiveness in the placement:

• Monthly allowance.
• Return-trip international and/or domestic airfare.
• Visa-related costs (if needed).
• International health insurance.
• Vaccination and health-related costs (if needed).
• Interpreter and/or translator (if needed and depending on the position and duration of the assignment).
• Pre-departure support and orientation.
• Support and orientation during the assignment.
• Debriefing upon completion of the assignment.

E-volunteering

Depending on the nature of the placement, volunteers are encouraged to provide e-volunteering support to our local partners before or after their placement.

Engaging Canadians

CDF Canada provides technical and logistical support to young and experienced professionals through volunteer assignments to apply and acquire new skills and knowledge in international co-operative development. We ask each volunteer, regardless of the duration of their mandate, to share their experience during and/or at the end of their assignment either in the country of assignment or in Canada. The experience can be shared by providing stories of human interest and photographs that can be used for social media outreach; Participate in events/conferences or other public engagement activities to share their experience to motivate others.

Application Process

Please submit a cover letter and CV/resume, by applying directly on our recruitment webpage. You must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Successful candidates will be required to obtain a police-check from their local police or RCMP detachment. All applicants are thanked for their interest in CDF Canada; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.