Overseas Volunteer Opportunity: Ghana

Technical Advisor – Credit Union - Ghana

Contribute. Discover. Grow. Volunteer with CDF Canada.

Eligibility criteria:   Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada

Location:   Salaga, Bimbilla, Kpandai, Kpalbe, Wulensi

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

SEND Ghana has previously implemented the ACCESS and Fostering project and in some initiatives including 4R-NSP in partnership with CDF with funding from GAC. SEND Ghana focuses on research and advocacy to increase good governance practices of accountability, transparency, equity and participation in pro-poor policies and social services as well as empowers resource poor women and men to expand their small enterprises to improve income and farmers to increase food and nutrition security.

What you will do – Activities and deliverables

Most of the coop's groups have limited understanding of financial literacy. This is a challenge for both men and women in the coop. Most of the groups do not have any organized tools for keeping records of the group's financial activities let alone track how the coops have mobilized and disbursed their fund. Most of the group members do not have information on how to track their business operations and assess whether their business is progressing or declining.

his volunteer role is expected to develop training materials on financial literacy. The project is at the point of developing materials, training activities and having training sessions to provide capacity building for the various structures within the coop to improve their financial knowledge. The training will target the BOD, coop managers, the CDfs (Cooperative Development Facilitators), members of the coop, there will also be focused on the relevant stakeholder institutions in the districts to support them to have the capacity to support the coops.

The coop members lack information on financial literacy. The credit unions also have little challenge in financing the process of properly diversifying the various streams of funding and developing financial products that meet the needs of the coop members. The coops also don’t have any materials designed in financial literacy training that will enable the members of the coops to receive any training in financial literacy. The desire for an inclusive training that will enable the coop members to understand how to manage their resources has the benefit of making them improve their livelihood and ultimately attaining economic empowerment.

The VOICE for women and girls project is working with 4 credit union co-ops with 13 branches in 5 districts of the Northern and Savannah regions of Ghana. The project interest is to improve women access and control over productive resources to ensure an economic growth the work for all. The aim is to have a gender strategy that will enable the men and women in the co-ops to collaborate for women in general to improve on their economic circumstances.

Objectives

Your role is to support the primary groups in the credit unions to improve their knowledge in financial literacy. You are also to support the credit union coops to improve their knowledge on contemporary credit union financial management techniques. develop training session plans and materials for the co-op famer on financial literacy training. You will train the coop managers and stakeholder institutions supporting coop development on innovative strategies that enable the coop groups especially women to have control over their finances and improve their livelihoods. The advisor will develop the capacity of coop managers to continue to provide financial literacy training and information for the members of the coops to ensure members continue growth.

Deliverables

The desired Financial Literacy Advisor volunteer is expected to carry out the following key duties and responsibilities.

Co-op support

• Review existing materials on financial literacy and develop a contextualized material on country specific financial literacy needs
• Develop training, coaching materials to be used to support all forms of financial literacy training
• Train the CDfs, and coop managers on financial literacy and support them to downstream training and establish VSLA at the coop level
• Support coop groups to learn about forms of savings and the value of money
• Teach financial education materials to individuals and groups in alignment with financial coaching standards
• Work with the coop managers and CDfs to collect the needed data, analyze and use the information to review the financial literacy training from time to time with the assistance of the country program officer

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 times sheets and submit to the volunteer coordinator.
• Collect and compile relevant data requires by the project and also assist with the field data collection whenever its required

Your qualifications

Education:

• A degree in finance, entrepreneurship, or business management must have supported groups with financial literacy training.
• Experience working within co-op sector on the areas of focus could be used to compensate for formal education in the fields listed above. 

Experience:

• Ability to break down simple technical information to their simplest form for audience who are less technical to understand and use
• Experience in VSLA training and understanding on financial literacy training for groups in Africa context and famer-based groups
• Experience working with groups with low level of literacy (reading, writing, and speaking and understanding English) population in rural communities
• Excellent capacity to analyze, develop recommendations and capture lessons learned
• Ability to travel to and live in remote locations where services are minimal 
• Ability to work autonomously, must be able to work alone as well as with the local partner or with the BOD of the credit Union, be flexible and analytical
• Knowledge in community participation methodologies and adult learning methodologies in facilitating with understanding group learning/training sessions or focus groups. 
• Demonstrated ability and interest in communicating and interacting effectively with people of a different culture. 
• Ability to transform complex concepts and information into plain simple language reports
• Demonstrated experience working internationally, including rural and remote contexts.

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.