Community Development Officer

VSF-Belgium is a recognized developmental International NGO founded in 1995 working with disadvantaged communities to increase their standards of living, improve food security and livelihood sustainability through improved animal health and animal production.

In East Africa, our programmes focus on community based animal health services, capacity building of local institutions and governments, conflict mitigation and sustainable natural resource management

Position Title: Community Development Officer

Duty Station: Rumbek, Lakes State, South Sudan

Duration: 1 year, (renewable)

Deadline for Application: 23/09/2011

Availability: Immediately

Role

1. Take a lead in building asset-based community development (ABCD) and Village Community Based (VICOBA) approaches from the initial stages of a 4-year food security recovery programme.
2. Build on existing and emerging locally effective institutions and facilitate formation and positive action of Pastoralist Field Schools, Village Banking systems, community animal health care networks, village land-use planning with ABCD at the apex
3. Stimulate community action and ensure community-Government partnerships (State and County levels) and private-public partnerships in food security strategies and implementation.
4. Support VSF-Belgium team in the process of ‘new programme’ establishment and consolidation

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Design and implement a four-year ABCD strategy with VSF-B, Government and target communities for the Lakes State programme
• Ensure that key socio-cultural and institutional benchmarks from the initial baseline survey are integrated into the programme strategy documents and frameworks and are consistently used in tracking and reporting
• Support the creation and action of local partnerships to build sustainability, ownership, relevance and optimum impact (CBOs, groups, livestock associations etc)
• Facilitate and equip VSF-Belgium, Government and local partners and institution members with tools to analyse and address food security vulnerability in the agro-pastoral, pastoral and periurban communities of Rumbek North and Rumbek Central Counties
• Act as the Pastoralist Field School and Village Banking focal point for the Lakes Programme with further link to the Country and regional focal points.
• Assume full responsibility for assembling and documentation of case studies on a six-monthly basis and package as lesson-learning
• Create sustainable strategic linkages aimed at enabling local residents and groups to mobilize resources
• Take a lead in inter-community peace/reconciliation initiatives
• Participate in project monitoring and evaluation.

Essential or Minimum Requirements

Education

• Degree in social science, range resource management, community development or related discipline.
  

Knowledge and experience

• Minimum 3years experience in participatory and ABCD methodologies
• Minimum 3 years experience in the field working with livestock-reliant communities preferably in South Sudan in the capacity of a community mobiliser / trainer / facilitator.
• Experience or demonstrated ability working with women groups or sensitive to the needs, priorities and rights of women and the disadvantaged.
• Experience in dealing with local partners and building capacity in governance, gender sensitivity, project cycle management
• Experience and understanding of community mobilization in relation to food security, peacebuilding and empowerment processes
• Working Knowledge on participatory methodologies of empowerment of communities in livestock and natural resource conservation and utilization
• Experience of working in a conflict prone area

Skills

• Participatory, assessment, analytical, planning skills, capacity building, challenge conventional methodologies
• Strong interpersonal, writing and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines, work under pressure in response to changing needs.
• Fluency in written and spoken English, fluency in local S Sudan languages an advantage

Attitudes

• Team player and flexible
• Happy to live away from large towns and possibly in areas which may experience insecurity
• Identify him/herself with the mission, vision and values of VSF-B
• Sensitive towards the poor, pastoralists and women
• Display of intercultural sensitivity and respect in dealing with others
• Affinity for NGO work in general
• Willingness to travel on short notice and frequent visits to the field, and the Regional Office Nairobi)

Please send your application (reference “’Community Development Officer- FRSP”), CV and 3 references (one must be your current employer), by e-mail to recruitment@vsfb.or.ke on or before 23rd September 2011.

This vacancy is open to Kenyan male and female candidates.

Qualified Internal candidates will be given preference.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted.

For more information: www.vsf-belgium.org