COG and Donor Coordination Officer at DAI Kenya - Development Alternatives, Inc.

Project Background

The five-year (2023-2028) USAID Sustainable, Transformational, and Accessible Water Interventions (STAWI) Activity will work alongside county governments across nine counties to advance water security for social, economic, and environmental needs, helping to reverse historic neglect and enabling USAID and the Government of Kenya to achieve their ambitious objectives for inclusive economic growth while building resilience to the region’s unique shocks and stresses. At the end of five years, targeted county governments, water service providers (WSPs), and water users will have the information, incentives, and partnerships to identify and address barriers to a water-secure future among the most water-stressed and vulnerable communities in Kenya.

The activity is actively working toward four objectives:

• Objective 1: Improve governance of water resources and services
• Objective 2: Increase sustainability of water service delivery
• Objective 3: Improved management, efficiency, and equitable access to water used for productive purposes
• Objective 4: Improved collaboration and learning across stakeholders and strengthened capacity of county governments for learning and adaptation

Objectives of the assignment

STAWI will be working in a complex environment of humanitarian and development activities, with multiple government institutions and donors active in the counties. A central part of STAWI’s Collaboration and Learning objective will be to support Kenya’s Council of Governors (COG) to function as a more effective coordination platform among national institutions for resilience building, water resource management, rural water regulation, and infrastructure management.

The Council of Governors on the other hand is established under Section 19 of the Intergovernmental Relations Act (2012) with the mandate among others:

• Consult amongst County Governments;
• Share information on performance of the counties in execution of their functions among other functions with objective of learning and promotion of best practices and where necessary, initiating preventive or corrective action;
• Considering matter of common interest to County Governments; and
• Facilitate capacity building for Governors.

The Council works through Sectoral Committees, among them the ASAL and DRM Committee and Water and Natural Resources are heavily devolved to County Government. With Kenya’s ambition to achieve food security and bring stability in the ASAL counties, this requires a policy and legislative frameworks which gives the County Governments room to excise their Constitutional Mandate as well support close consultation and collaboration between the two levels of government. This will create harmonious working relationship by the two levels of government and well as room for private sector to thrive in the sector.

In addition, STAWI will support coordination among donor activities to ensure that learning and best practice are shared, and that the COG has the information it needs for decision-making. The COG and Donor Coordination Specialist will support the COP and the Learning and Adaptation Advisor to ensure that this coordination is timely, efficient, and responsive to the needs of the COG and STAWI.

In this regard the STAWI and the Council of Governors seeks to bring on board an expert to support the two committees on ASAL and DRM Committee as well as the Water, Environment and Natural Resources Committee to effectively discharge their mandates.

Tasks & Responsibilities

COG Donor Support - Provide technical Support in the implementation and coordination of all matters and activities of the committees including:

• Monitor, review and advise the two committees on sector policies, laws, regulations, strategies, standards and guidelines on matters related to the sectors.
• Organize and participate in meetings with stakeholders, development partners, private sector and civil society on matters of interest to County Governments.
• Participate in development of sector policies, laws, regulations, strategies, standards and guidelines on matters related to the sector.
• Initiate development of advisories to County Governments on the implementation of Devolved functions in the sectors.
• Initiate development of committee reports, policy briefs, speeches and policy papers.
• Follow up and prepare reports on the implementation and compliance on indicators related to SDGs, Gender and other international obligations, treaties and agreements in the committee.
• Follow up on County Governments’ participation in intergovernmental consultations and sector dialogues.
• Support in committee data collection and analysis to inform policy decisions.
• Support sensitization of County Governments on mainstreaming SDGs, Climate Action, Biodiversity, Gender and other international obligations, treaties and agreements.
• Identify relevant partners to support resource mobilization for the committees’ activities.
• Initiate and prepare for the committee peer learning initiatives in the sectors.
• Follow up on the implementation of intergovernmental resolutions relating to the committees.
• Participate in committees’ intergovernmental sector fora’s and policy discourse.

Donor Coordination

• Support the COP and Learning and Adaptation Advisor in the development and execution of coordination strategies and actions plans
• Conduct, or update, stock-taking of relevant donor activities in STAWI counties, developing and maintaining contact lists and activity overviews
• Establish and maintain appropriate levels of contact with the CoG Secretariat and the Water, Forestry and Mining and ASAL committees of the COG
• Establish and maintain contact with the Resilience Learning Activity as a way to coordinate with existing coordination platforms in the STAWI counties including the Partnership for Resilience and Economic Growth (PREG) and Southeastern Kenya (SEK) Coordination Mechanism.
• As directed, help to generate, edit, and share information such as lessons-learned and policy briefs with the Secretariat.
• Provide support for joint work-planning, data and knowledge-sharing with these other platforms and activities, including NAWIRI, RAPID Plus, and REACH, as requested by the Learning and Adaptation Advisor.
• As requested by USAID, support to donor coordination meetings and other Mission events.

Qualifications

• Must have a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, Natural resources Management, Environmental Studies, social sciences, Rural Development or related field. Master’s degree is highly preferred;
• Minimum of 6 years of professional experience and understanding in the food security, devolution, Natural Resources Management, Environmental Studies, Agriculture and social economic development, governance and markets in Kenya;
• Demonstrable experience in leading or supporting policy, analysis and advocacy work;
• Track record in conducting research, analytics and developing data collection systems in the agriculture sector in Kenya;
• Understanding of country and County government policies, frameworks and strategies related to food security and markets
• Understanding of the Northern and/or Southeastern context, where activities are being conducted is required (Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Samburu, Turkana, Wajir, Kitui, Makueni, and Taita Taveta)
• A record of working on assignments that have delivered high quality reports to USAID and or other donors is preferred.
• Strong written and oral English skills.