Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada

Ethiopia - Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) Advisor

3-6 months (In-country support)

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Overseas Volunteer Opportunity: Ethiopia

Volunteer Mandate Title: Women Economic Empowerment Advisor

Location: Addis Ababa, with travel Abaya Woreda (District).

Start Date: As soon as possible.

Duration: Three months to Six months

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

The 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

Implemented by the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF) of Canada, the VOICE project in Ethiopia is working closely with government counterparts and different nongovernmental organizations. Ethio-Wetlands and Natural Resources Association (EWNRA) is the major Development Country Partner (DCP) of the project. The organization envisions being a leading home-grown NGO contributing to sustainable development in Ethiopia. Whilst it exists to contribute to poverty reduction, resilience building and creation of productive ecosystems. In all its efforts, EWNRA gives great values to equity, equality, honesty, integrity, transparency, accountability, inclusiveness, and sustainability. Moreover, EWNRA is devoted to do better for humanity and the environment, and its motto is sustainable development.

What you will do – Activities and deliverables

Recent review of the Co-op Assessment revealed that most of the targeted coops has skill gaps on women economic empowerment, inclusive development, and income generation that require intensive capacity building. This volunteer role is expected to address these issues by providing extensive in-person trainings for coop members, particularly women leaders and groups, major relevant stakeholders at different levels. The recommended approach of reaching the targets is through TOT training for selected members from coops, DCP staff (EWNRA), and country VOICE team and cascading the training to the cooperative members and other stakeholders at cooperative and community levels. VOICE for women and girls project in Ethiopia is operating women-focused activities in three districts of two regions targeting 30 coops. If you are passionate about helping organizations to increase the capacity of cooperatives and stakeholders in inclusive women economic empowerment, and income generation–this could be the role for you. The selected N-S Volunteer will take the leading role of providing TOT and beneficiary training with support from the CDF Ethiopia VOICE for Women and Girls project country office team and EWNRA staff.

Objectives

The Volunteer is expected to work with credit unions 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 district level as well as government/regulatory institutions to increase their capacity to be able to prioritize vulnerable groups to provide the needed support. The VOICE project will benefit from the gender equality and social inclusion expertise to develop tailor-made trainings targeting specific needs of vulnerable and marginalized populations.

Specific Objectives

Shift toward sustainability: Transition the project from community engagement targets to long-term sustainability through advisory support for cooperatives.

Consolidate GMF Approach: Facilitate the shift of the Gender Model Family approach from establishment to consolidation and replication.

Reinforce Skill Application: Provide coaching to cooperatives to ensure high-quality application of women’s economic empowerment skills and community ownership.

Foster Social Acceptance: Reinforce social acceptance of equitable gender norms and household practices through dialogue and community events.

Address Gender Gaps: Assess and address inclusive gaps in cooperative governance to foster an enabling environment for women.

Deliverables

Refresher Training Modules: Facilitate second-level GMF refresher sessions and follow-up support for peer mentors.

Community Stakeholder Database Update: Update the database to reflect new partnerships and ensure continued responsiveness to evolving cooperative needs.

Awareness Strategy: Design cooperative-level dialogue sessions and community events (including local radio content) to reach 400 cooperative members.

Coaching & Advisory Log: Document targeted advisory support provided to cooperatives to reinforce WEE skills and ownership.

Conduct one day interactive workshop for 20 individuals from partner, stakeholders and Coop supporting institutions on National gender policy on women (year 1993).

Deliver Training on land right access for 20 Women coop Members in Abaya Woreda.

review and update the community stakeholder list based on cooperatives needs and new partnerships established in FY6

Monitoring community gender dialogue session to assess the impact on gender norms.

Development of Stakeholders databases

Key Deliverables

Prepare Stakeholder Database

WEE Advisory Coaching Toolkit

Community Dialogue & Awareness Report

Your qualifications

Education:

Minimum of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in International Development and /or Social Sciences (focus on Gender, Youth, and cooperative development), Entrepreneurship and leadership.

Experience:

At least Two years of experience and knowledge of gender mainstreaming and integration with proven experience in cooperative development.

Good understanding of Ethiopian cooperative development proclamation (Proclamation No. 985/2016).

Knowledge and experience in the development gender mainstreaming, women and girls’ empowerment, and cooperative development.

Well experienced on training material preparation and providing TOT training.

Proven track record on development of women tailor-made initiatives of economic empowerment and working with micro, small and medium-term enterprises.

Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills to engage varied stakeholders.

Experience working with cooperatives, farmer-based organizations or groups.

Demonstrated ability to consult with high level and range of stakeholders.

Strong oral and written communication skills in the English language.

Should be a proactive self-starter with the ability to work independently; need strong ability to set priorities, solve problems, and be resourceful under pressure.

Strong interest to communicate with various stakeholders and partners virtually.

A good understanding of the cooperative dynamics and issues related to cooperative business in Ethiopia will be an added advantage.

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:

Return international and domestic airfare.

Ground transportation.

Accommodation.

Meal and incidental allowance.

Visa-related costs (if needed).

Travel insurance.

Vaccination-related costs (if needed).

Dedicated interpreter/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 or CDF Canada before or after their placement. Volunteers also have the option of requesting support from an e-volunteer to help them with their work while they are in placement.

Engaging Canadians

CDF Canada provides technical and logistical support to young and experienced professional through volunteer assignments to apply and gain new skills and knowledge in international co-operative development. We ask each volunteer, regardless of placement duration, to share her/his experience during and/or upon completion of their assignment either in the country of assignment and in Canada. Experience may be shared through providing human interest stories and photographs that can be used for social media outreach; participating in organized talks at universities or other public engagement activities to share and tell their experiences to motivate others.

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