Senior Accountant

NILE BASIN DISCOURSE FORUM IN RWANDA-NBDF
Opposite Amahoro National Stadium, Kimironko Road, Remera
B.P. 7216 Kigali; Tél.: (250) 782792690/ 788476824
E-mail: coordinator@nbdfrwanda.org
Website: www.nbdfrwanda.org

“One Nile – One Family”
NILE BASIN DISCOURSE FORUM IN RWANDA (NBDF)

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR A SENIOR ACCOUNTANT.

Project Title: COMMUNITY BASED CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION
Date: 24th June 2013 
Status: Rev 1
Issued by: NBDF
Reference no.: NBDF/EU/2013
Funded by: EU
Time period: 2 years

1. Background
The Nile Basin Discourse Forum in Rwanda (NBDF) is a member of the Nile Basin Discourse; A regional network
of civil society organizations established to facilitate and support civil society engagement in Nile Basin
cooperation and development processes. Regional Engagement is spearheaded by the regional Secretariat
based in Uganda and through National Discourse Forums (NDFs). The NBDF Rwanda is one of the constituent
members. The Eastern Nile sub-region comprises Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan. The Nile Equatorial Lakes
Sub-region comprises Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, Southern Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

With funding from the European Union, Nile Basin Discourse Forum in Rwanda (NBDF) will implement a
Community Based Climate Change Adaptation (CBCCA) program in four districts (Bugesera, Gatsibo,Kirehe and
Nyagatare) of the Eastern Province, beginning July 2013.

The CBCCA Program will be implemented for two years (2) between 2013-2015.

Purpose
Rwanda is increasingly threatened by one of the major global challenges of our time: Climate Change.
Rwanda is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its dependence on rain–fed agriculture, high population
density and scarce land resources. Without the sustainable use of natural resources, and climate change
resilience programs, the twin goals of poverty reduction and sustainable development cannot be achieved; this
has been recognized by Rwanda national development plans and strategies.
Communities play a vital role in achieving these twin goals. However, the main challenge is that community
groups lack access to information, skills and the ability to participate in decision-making about how their
natural resources are managed.

The CBCCA Project will support the overarching objectives of the EU programme, targeting poverty reduction in
the context of sustainable development through Community Based Organizations and local authorities. It will
provide a mechanism of information sharing and capacity building for community members, where they
contribute to poverty reduction policies, techniques, take part in climate change resilience and adaptation at
the community level. The Project will empower local communities with the information needed to take better
decisions for themselves and advocate for change on a wider level.

Finally, through working with CBO actors and local authorities, the project will strengthen this vital partnership contributing to a more equitable, open and democratic society that seeks to manage sustainably its natural resources. This imperative has been emphatically supported by extensive scientific research.

2. Terms of Reference

General Objective:
To empower and build capacity for communities and non-state actors to adapt and mitigate climate change risks through appropriate climate change resilient activities for sustainable development.

Specific Objective:
1. Empowering community groups and their leaders to make better decisions about poverty reduction and environmental sustainability;
2. Capacity building of community based organizations to monitor and support sustainable poverty reduction, climate change impacts; and
3. Encouraging greater participation of women in climate change adaptation programs. With the above objectives, NBDF Rwanda wishes to recruit five (5) professionals to support the existing team in order to implement the EU funded CBCCA program in the Eastern Province.

i. Senior Accountant

Essential Qualifications, Experience, Skills and/or Knowledge
The senior accountant’s duty station will be in Kigali at Nile Basin Discourse Forum in Rwanda’s offices but with frequent travels to the field.

Duties/Responsibilities
• Reporting to the National Program Coordinator, the Senior Accountant will be responsible to:
• Ensure the financial transactions are properly authorized, recorded, have adequate supporting
documentation and can be easily extracted for the purpose of preparing the financial statements;
• Prepare Financial Reports;
• Maintenance of the general ledger and other accounting practices in accordance with international
Accounting standard;
• Maintain proper book keeping records with; statutory and the organization’s policies; charts of
accounts, and related accounting standard, principles and practices.
• Reconcile different ledgers with the general ledger;
• Maintain financial controls are in place to maintain properly and proper accountability of expenditures
• Maintain a suitable management information system for recording and reporting financial
transactions;
• Prepare and submit timely and reliable financial reports and any related reports that may be required from time to time by the different Donors and other stakeholders;
• Maintain and ensure the safe custody of accounting registers and value documents;
• Facilitates the annual financial Audits carried out by external audits , as well as any financial reviews
carried by internal auditors;
• Prepare monthly bank reconciliations and submit them for appropriate approval and manage petty cash adequately;
• Ability to work dynamically and in a multicultural atmosphere;
• Keeping special accounts (yearly registry of assets in the Coordinator’s Office and their amortization rates);
• Follow up on field transactions and accountabilities;
• Performing any other assigned duties by his/her superior.

Qualification
-Must be fluent in written and spoken English, added value of French and Kinyarwanda
-A0 in Accounting, Public Finance, Management specialising in Accounting with level II Professional
Qualification recognized by IFAC (ACCA, CPA) and experience with EU funded projects;
-Minimum of 3 years working experience as an Accountant in a relatively large organization;
-Experience working in a private organization or NGO;
-Demonstrated experience of the financial reports and budget variance analysis;
-Hands on experience with a multiple-user accounting package including data capturing and extraction of
management information and reports there from.
- A Rwandan by Nationality;

Interested candidates are requested to submit an application letter and a detailed Curriculum Vitae addressed to the Legal Representative of NBDF RWANDA to the National Headquarters of NBDF Rwanda located in Gasabo District, Opposite Amahoro National Stadium, on Kimironko Road (in front of former Remera Police Station) and to the official email of NBDF RWANDA (coordinator@nbdfrwanda.org ).

The application includes a motivation letter addressed to the Legal Representative of NBDF Rwanda, together with certified academic documents, three references and CVs.

Deadline for application: 08th July 2013
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews.

For more specific details regarding the position, contact National Program Coordinator; coordinator@nbdfrwanda.org or +250782792690. For more information on NBDF, please visit our website: www.nbdfrwanda.org or www.nilebasindiscourse.org