Myanmar: Community Engagement Expert

Title
Community Engagement Expert

Location
Myanmar

Department Name
Program Delivery

Pact Overview

Pact Overview:
At the heart of Pact is the promise of a better tomorrow. The promise of a healthy life. Of a decent livelihood. Of sustainable natural resources that benefit communities. Pact enables systemic solutions that allow those who are poor and marginalized to earn a dignified living, be healthy, and take part in the benefits that nature provides. Pact accomplishes this by strengthening local capacity, forging effective governance systems, and transforming markets into a force for development.

Department Overview:
Pact seeks a Community Engagement Expert (CEE) for the proposed USAID-funded Advancing Community Empowerment in Southeastern Myanmar (ACESM) program. ACESM is a five-year program (total award amount: $48 million) that seeks to empower vulnerable communities in Southeastern Myanmar by mitigating their vulnerabilities, encouraging robust community participation in decision making and strengthening mechanisms for more accountable local governance. In the program, vulnerable populations are defined as marginalized populations which are at-risk, under-served or traditionally excluded, due to conflict, extreme poverty, remoteness, or discrimination. Vulnerable populations also include disadvantaged groups which suffer from human rights restrictions, restricted freedom of movement, or other acute social exclusion. This includes, but is not limited to, conflict-affected populations in southeastern Myanmar (along the Thailand-Myanmar border) including IDPs, ethnic minorities, refugees, or populations that suffer from increased insecurity due to inter-communal conflict or violence and populations who unable to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from natural disasters.

ACESM aims to achieve this goal by:
•Meeting critical needs in health, education, livelihoods, water, sanitation and other basic
needs;
•Increasing the capacity of communities, civil society and local governments in
marginalized areas to constructively engage with each other and,
•Developing or strengthening community institutions capable of effective, participatory self-governance.

ACESM seeks to transition from previous development efforts in Myanmar that primarily focused on humanitarian relief, by instead focusing on strengthening the long-term institutional capacity, quality of service delivery and governance systems within communities.

Position Purpose:
The CEE is a senior technical position (key personnel), reporting to the Chief of Party (COP), responsible for ensuring the overall quality of the project’s community engagement and systems strengthening approaches and strategies. This position is contingent upon award of funds.

Key Responsibilities •Provide high-quality technical leadership, technical assistance and capacity building in governance, participation, and provision of services to communities, with a focus on vulnerable populations in southeastern Myanmar
•Work with project staff and local partners to develop and implement capacity building services for local civil society and government partners to improve their work and performance serving vulnerable populations, including promoting trust and reconciliation among previous competing groups
•Develop strategies to help communities reinvigorate or develop community governance institutions, such as Village Development Committees, that are responsive, transparent, and accountable to the communities they serve
•Develop strategies to promote participation of women, ethnic and religious minorities, and youth in community governance structures
•Develop strategies to promote and facilitate integration of community and government health and education services
•Act as project liaison, in coordination with the COP and DCOP, with key stakeholders, including
local authorities, civil society, local government officials, civic leaders, media, business people and international donors
•Support the project in developing/integrating evidence-based best practices
•Work with the project team to document and disseminate best practices and capture key lessons learned
•Perform other duties as assigned
Basic Requirements •Master's degree in a relevant field
•At least 10 years of experience in strengthening citizen participation at the local level, preferably with some experience in conflict or post-conflict settings
•Successful track record in advising local authorities, governments and civil society on citizen engagement and participation, including methodologies for supporting communities to engage with local government
•Proven ability to establish productive working relationships with a range of stakeholders, including local authorities, civil society, local government officials, civic leaders, media, business people and international donors
•Must have professional level English ability, both written and oral
Preferred Qualifications •Demonstrated international credibility as a thought leader on matters of community participation and institutions strengthening in conflict-affected areas, in southeast Asia or similar context (relevant experience in southeastern Myanmar highly sought after)
•Experience designing and/or providing technical oversight to long-term development programs engaging with conflict-affected populations in southeastern Myanmar (along the Thailand-Myanmar border)
that suffer from human rights restrictions, restricted freedom of movement or other acute social exclusion, including IDPs, ethnic minorities, refugees, or populations that suffer from increased insecurity due to inter-communal conflict or violence and populations who are unable to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from natural disasters
•At least seven years’ experience as senior staff in community capacity strengthening, participation and increased quality of service provision at the local level, as well as at least two of the following technical areas: health, education, WASH, livelihoods, or disaster risk reduction/mitigation.
•Strong strategic vision, professional reputation, ability to create synergies where applicable, interpersonal skills and written and oral presentation skills
•Myanmar nationals highly encouraged to apply

Pact is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.

To apply for this position, please click link: http://pactworld.force.com/careers/VanaHCM__Job_Detail?Id=a33f10000012iRq