Senior Policy, Advocacy and Research Officer – Strategic Initiative for women in the Horn of Africa

Position: Senior Policy, Advocacy and Research Officer

Employer: Strategic Initiative for women in the Horn of Africa

Location: Kampala, Uganda with flexibility of traveling into different locations within the region

Duration: An annual full-time contract and Initial three months’ probation

Reporting to: Regional Director/SIHA Programme Manager

Position Background

The Strategic Initiative for women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) is seeking a Senior Policy, Advocacy and Research Officer. The staff assuming this role is expected to play a key role in undertaking high quality research and contributing to advocacy and knowledge building across SIHA. She, he or they, will work to coordinate research partnerships and research  projects, developing & implementing advocacy strategies, advising the SIHA Regional Director and programme team and other members of SIHA team and preparing policy submissions & initiatives. This is done in the context of developing and promoting SIHA’s strategic agenda as a strong voice for the feminist and women rights movement in the Greater Horn of Africa.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop a research policy, and advocacy agenda in line with the strategic and operational  plan and work with relevant colleagues across the Network to achieve SIHA’s strategic objectives
• Review SIHA research papers, reports, journals and improve the quality of SIHA publications
• Support SIHA to improve its quantitative data gathering methods and improve staff’s capacity in documentation and information gathering
• Measure impact and review progress with advocacy strategies and plans and ensure ongoing development of these in response to changes in the external environment
• Review and support SIHA research and advocacy, lead and contribute to developing  and coordinating advocacy content and information.
• Coordinate with SIHA Communication Officer and support SIHA team in fulfilling their role as advocates by developing tools to help the teams resonate with issues occurring in their countries in a systematic and structural way
• Represent SIHA on relevant advocacy and gender equality working groups and forums at the regional and international levels as required
• Identify and plan advocacy activities aimed at governments and government-related bodies, at the national, regional and international levels
• Prepare position papers, reports and submissions as relevant, for implementation of SIHA Policy, research and advocacy
• Work closely with the Communications Officer to achieve SIHA policy, research and advocacy priorities through public communications
• Work with the Communications Officer to raise SIHA profile and positioning opportunities through empirical research
• Identify and respond to new and emerging opportunities to influence law and policy
• Prepare policy papers, briefings and position papers to inform SIHA members and partners. These are to be shared to SIHA platforms as well
• Develop, participate and coordinate research projects where relevant
• Support the SIHA communication team to develop communication strategies and translate the concerns of women and girls across the region into specific campaigns, policy and advocacy
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with key regional and international
• Participate in relevant network and advocacy coalitions on behalf of SIHA
• Develop and represent SIHA at meetings and conferences as requested

Required skills

• Relevant qualifications and experience (experience in politics, legal rights, and public policy). At least 4 years’ experience in civil society
• Good understanding of the women movements and social justice and human rights movements dynamics
• Knowledge and experience of political processes and government
• High-level written and verbal communication skills relevant to the role such as experience in writing policy documents, government submissions and media
• Demonstrated advocacy, relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills
• High level organizational and administrative skills and ability to prioritize workload and work under pressure as well as meet deadlines
• Demonstrated computer literacy skills and proficiency using the Microsoft Office and other relevant software

Desirable

• Experience in human rights gender equality, civil society and activism in closed  societies and societies in transitions.
• Understanding of the role and potentials of national, /feminist organizations that are led  by African women.
• Experience in planning and executing advocacy strategies
• Able to strategically utilize social media platforms

TO APPLY

Interested candidates are asked to provide their current CV and Cover Letter, expressing their motivation and relevant experience/expertise, to SIHA’s Human Resources Department humanresourcesiha@gmail.com, and hala@sihanet.org by September 30^th.

Please enter “Application Materials: SIHA Senior Policy, Advocacy and Research Officer” in the subject line. SIHA may, because of the immediate need of the recruitment, contact shortlisted candidates before 30^th September 2021. Due to the anticipated volume of applications, please note that SIHA will contact only shortlisted candidates. We thank you for your interest in joining SIHA.

SIHA PROFILE

SIHA is a feminist, movement-building network that works to promote the rights of women and girls across the Horn of Africa and beyond. Through all of its activities, SIHA is  committed to promoting gender equality, justice and respecting human diversity.

It is therefore expected that the values of SIHA will be considered and upheld during the term of employment. The values SIHA works to uphold include a woman’s right to self- determination over her life and body; respect for religious diversity; respect for gender  diversity, including the rights of the LGBTQ+ community; respect for religion and beliefs regardless of your personal belief and commitment to ending discrimination in all its forms.

We are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect. The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) is a coalition of civil society organizations from Sudan, South, Uganda, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Somaliland. SIHA was founded in 1995 by a collection of women’s groups with the view of strengthening the capacities of women organizations in the Horn of Africa countries. SIHA advocates for social change and gender equality for men and women in the Horn region and  works specifically on: gender equality, women rights activism, women economic empowerment, eliminating violence against women and girls, promoting human rights, peace building and conflict transformation, enhancing women’s leadership and political participation and the production and dissemination of knowledge.

More information about SIHA is available at www.sihanet.org.

Our Values:

Equality, Solidarity, Ethical, Diligence, Transparency, Humility, Resilience, Critical-thinking, disciplined, Courageous, Integral, Empathy, Collectiveness, determination, Rationality, Diversity, Innovation, Democracy, learning, Self-critical

SIHA encourages potential competent women candidates with strong relevant experience to apply for this position.