Gender Advisor-FNT/EOI/20 /2024.

1. About FEMNET .

The African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) is a pan-African, feminist and membership-based network with over 800 individual and institutional members across 50 African countries and in the diaspora. FEMNET envisions a society where African women and girls thrive in dignity and well-being, free from patriarchal and neoliberal oppression and injustices.

FEMENT was established in 1988 to facilitate and coordinate the sharing of strategies, experiences, and information among African women’s rights organizations and activists as a strategy for collective organizing and policy influencing through networking, communication, institutional strengthening, and advocacy at regional and international levels.

In 2020, FEMNET embarked on a bold 10-year strategy aimed at amplifying African women and girls’ voices, fostering feminist solidarity, dismantling systemic and structural power structures and sustaining an organization with a soul deeply committed to well-being. Over its 36-year herstory, FEMNET has positioned itself as a key convener, movement builder, and facilitator of dialogues on critical issues on championing women’s economic justice, transformational feminist leadership, sexual and reproductive health rights and sexual reproductive justice; ending all forms of violence and harmful or discriminatory practices against women and girls and fighting for climate justice and natural resource governance.

FEMNET is seeking to recruit a dynamic, passionate, African feminist to serve as Gender Advisor on a 1 year contract, to co-create, shape, lead, strengthen and deliver gender transformative Climate Justice work in African Activists for Climate Justice (AACJ) program. Reporting to the Policy and Programmes Manager, the Gender Advisor will be instrumental in shaping AACJ program design, implementation, and outcome. While this position is housed within FEMNET, the Gender Advisor, will supporting all AACJ consortium members and implementing partners across all 8 countries.

2.About the Gender Advisor Role.

In collaboration with four other partners, FEMNET has received a five-year Grant from the Dutch Government under the Power of voices partnership program, whose implementation kicked-off in 2021. The Grant supports the African Activists for Climate Justice (AACJ) Consortium, which brings together PACJA, Oxfam Novib, Natural Justice, African Youth Commission (AYC) and African Women Communications Network (FEMNET).

The AACJ consortium seeks to galvanise the voices of communities at the frontline of climate crisis to ensure their desires, people-centred solutions and fundamental rights are me. This will contribute to strengthening the African movement for climate justice while amplifying the voices of Africans in the global policy process. The Consortium works with women, youth, and indigenous and local communities – as well as other traditionally side-lined groups, such as people with disabilities - to strengthen movements, develop African narratives, strengthen human rights frameworks, and build communities’ adaptive-resilience capacities. FEMNET will champion the mobilization and engagement of African women and girls in the AACJ.

3.Duties and Responsibilities.

Main duties include:

1. Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI): The Gender Advisor will ensure the AACJ program is gender transformative program by.
   1. Developing a GESI strategy for the program in collaboration with all implementing partners.
   2. Lead development of GESI tools and guidelines to support implementing partners across the consortium.
   3. Provide technical expertise to support robust feminist, gender and Persons with Disability (PWDs) analysis in the climate justice programme.
   4. Ensure program design and practices create a conducive environment for equitable and meaningful participation of African women and girls in all their diversities.
   5. Ensure safeguarding procedures and protocols are adhere at all levels of program implementation.
   6. Plan, oversee and provide timely support on GESI specific activities and support other leads to mainstream GESI in their activities.
   7. Ensure interventions are evidence-based, meet quality standards (including on gender, feminist. PWDs principles, participation, and social accountability), and are consistent with established best practices and international and national standards, policies, and strategies
   8. Support in resource mobilisation by developing and of reviewing concepts and proposals.
2. Planning and Coordination in the Project Management Unity (PMU): The Gender advisor will be part of the PMU and she will.
   1. Provide technical expertise to support the development of gender transformative AACJ programming while ensuring the program embeds robust situational analyses on gender equality and social inclusion.
   2. Support and build strategic partnerships in-country, regionally and globally, to promote gender equality and social inclusion.
   3. Represent, where possible, the Consortium in technical communities of practice, and with external partners. This will include building relationships and networks with Governments, UN/AU agencies, the private sector, and civil society organizations working on climate change.
3. Movement Building: The Gender Advisor will:
   1. Strengthen solidarity across horizontal and vertical socioeconomic and geographical stratifications in the spirit of building an inclusive climate change movement.
   2. Coordinate and nurture a community of socially excluded Climate Justice activists.
   3. Strengthen the capacity of AACJ implementing partners on working with diverse group of actors.
   4. Work with women’s rights organizations, women with disability and socially excluded climate justice activists to enhance their knowledge and strengthen their engagement on Climate Justice movement.
   5. Design and lead solidarity actions across the broader AACJ movements.
4. Feminist Narrative: The AACJ Consortium believes that it is hugely unjust that people who have contributed the least to the changing climate are most affected by its impacts. The Climate Justice Gender Advisor will:
   1. Work with other feminists and communities to develop African feminist narrative on Climate Justice.
   2. In collaboration with others, develop knowledge products which centre African feminist narrative on climate justice.
   3. Work with the FEMNET communication team and disseminate African narratives.
   4. Work closely with policy leads to sharpen AACJ policy agenda using African feminist narrative.

Person Specification: This role offers a unique opportunity for seasoned African Feminists Climate Justice Gender expert and shape continental debate, policies, and spaces. A passionate activist with a genuine passion and commitment to work on Climate Change will have a platform on one of the largest and influential Pan-African feminist networks.

4.Required Skills, Expertise and Experience .

• Master’s Degree in a relevant field from a recognised university.
• Experience working at the African regional level and/or international levels including experience working with African Union Institutions/Organs and UN Bodies.
• Strong Information Technology (IT) & Information System (IS) skills, including Microsoft Office packages, ERPs etc.
• At least 5 years’ experience working on climate policies and spaces.
• Demonstrate commitment to Charter of African Feminist Principles.
• Demonstrate leadership skills and experience.
• Proven research, analytical skills and ability to apply them in inter-disciplinary contexts.
• Strong oral and written communication skills to a wide range of audiences
• Strong resource mobilisation skills.
• Proven interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with people in a multi-cultural, multi-interest, multi-ethnic environment.

Other attributes:

• Ability to communicate and work effectively in English. Competence in French will be added advantage.
• Ability to break down complex information into actionable points.
• Highly developed conceptual, analytical and innovative problem-solving ability.
• Willing to travel frequently within Africa and beyond.
• A high level of self-awareness, sound judgement, self-care, passion and flexibility.
• Ability to multi-task under limited supervision