End Harmful Practices, Programme Officer at Equality Now

Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Analysis of laws and policies on FGM and child marriage;
• Draft high-quality technical submissions for advocacy (e.g. on draft laws, policy statements, petitions etc.) and human rights treaty bodies and mechanisms (e.g. African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights);
• Development of effective legal and people-led advocacy strategies;
• Identification of potential cases of violations of girls’ rights through child marriage and FGM for strategic impact litigation with the goal of setting legal precedents in collaboration with partners;
• Support partners in advocacy using regional and international advocacy using regional and international human rights law and protocols;
• Communicate regularly with and engage new civil society partners predominantly from Africa to share information, seek their input and call for joint action to end FGM and child marriage;
• Develop Equality Now Action campaigns targeting governments and policymakers on the elimination of FGM and child marriage and actively move forward existing campaigns with a particular focus on Africa;
• Engage, including through correspondence and meetings, with relevant government officials and United Nations agencies on active campaigns on ending FGM and child marriage in Africa and globally and leverage the support of global and regional actors based in Africa for Equality Now’s global campaigns;
• Coordinate and work closely with all other teams as guided by the End Harmful Practices Programme Manager. Ensure clear and consistent communication and coordination with relevant Programme Officers and Managers particularly in relation to regional emerging trends or opportunities in relation to their programme goals;
• Assist in coordinating End Harmful Practices work, including quarterly reporting, regular team calls, updates for Staff and the Board of Directors etc.;
• Develop resource mobilization concept notes and proposals;
• Ensure the timely and effective implementation of project activities and accurate reports;
• Monitoring and evaluation of activities and generation of specific challenges or successes for exchange and learning;
• Represent Equality Now in coalitions and at conferences and meetings;
• In close collaboration with Equality Now’s media and communications team represent Equality Now to the media to raise public awareness of child marriage and FGM;
• Due to the collaborative nature of our work, the post holder will work with and support other teams, i.e. Legal Equality, End Sexual Violence and End Sex Trafficking, as required by their Manager.

Qualifications, Skills And Competencies

• Degree in gender studies/law/ human rights/international studies preferred;
• Knowledge of international and regional human rights framework and relevant UN and African human rights mechanisms/instruments;
• Experience in working on international human rights law with regional and international treaty monitoring bodies on issues of women’s and girls’ rights;
• Experience in training and facilitation;
• Skill and experience to effectively communicate and advocate for women’s rights;
• Fluency in English and French required;
• Experience working in or with civil society organizations;
• Experience in project management especially monitoring and evaluation;
• Ability to work effectively within a multi-cultural and remote team;
• Ability to work independently;
• Excellent analytical, conceptual, writing and editing skills and use of computer software; and;
• Willingness to travel relatively frequently.