GESI Advisor

This position is contingent on securing funding

About Mercy Corps

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

Now, and for the future.

The Programme

Mercy Corps has been operating in Somalia since 2008 with dedicated skilled staff and programs funded by multitude of donors including the United Nations (UN), USAID, Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), ECHO and Private Foundations. Mercy Corps’ overall country goal is building a peaceful and prosperous Somalia where all people feel secure, are economically empowered, and are meaningfully engaged. Mercy Corps’ current portfolio in Somalia focuses on humanitarian response and resilience; inclusive economic growth; enhancing trust and accountability between communities and their government; and improving youth livelihood and education opportunities. Through the Peace and Governance Pillar- Mercy Corps works to increase participation, trust, and accountability between communities and their government. We strengthen the capacity of formal and informal government structures through context-specific training and promote local community participation, especially of minority groups, in all processes of governance. Mercy Corps works with youth to provide solutions to chronic poverty and unemployment, including vocational skills and training, creating links to employers, and supporting start-up businesses. We promote youth leadership to ensure they have a seat at the table in community-related decisions. We develop and manage savings groups, particularly for internally displaced youth and women. We also provide training in marketable skills and then place participants in apprenticeships to get on-the-job experience.

Mercy Corps is seeking a Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Adviser to provide technical leadership in the implementation of an anticipated two-year FCDO-funded Women to Women Security Phase 2 programme in Somalia**,** as part of FCDO’s Integrated Security Fund (ISF) Women, Peace, and Security component. The aim of the programme will be "to advance women’s meaningful participation in resolving security and safety issues impacting women and girls at community and local levels". The programme will include: dialogues and capacity building with local women and grassroots organisations to identify and respond to their security needs and priorities, dialogues between these participants and key security and government stakeholders, a micro-grant mechanism and capacity building training to recipient WROs and CSOs, and activities designed to engage men and boys at community level to both identify gendered security issues affecting them and to better understand the security and protection issues affecting women.

The Position

The GESI Adviser will provide technical leadership and direction in programme design, implementation, quality assurance and strategy development. The Adviser will provide technical leadership across all programme outcome areas and ensure best practices and gender sensitive approaches across all interventions. The Advisor will be responsible for the participatory design and implementation of a strategy to ensure the programme appropriately addresses the varied needs of women, men, girls, and boys, and that programme and partner staff are sensitive to gender, age, religion, ability, and other social markers.

Essential Responsibilities

TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP, STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT AND IMPACT

• Leads the technical design for the Women to Women Security programme, including leading GESI and conflict assessments during the inception period, based on participatory data collection and analysis, and co-creating recommendations with the programme team based on findings.
• Lead participatory processes to develop a Gender, Equality and Social Inclusion programme strategy to guide GESI integration and priorities across the life of the programme. These priorities will include but not be limited to participatory and inclusive dialogue processes, increasing women's confidence and advocacy skills, capacity building of women's rights organisations and responding to the gendered needs of men and boys.
• Support the programme team, including partners, on gender, equality and social inclusion integration including conducting capacity building and training.
• Provide technical support to implementing partners in the design and implementation of participatory and inclusive dialogues and delivery of micro-grant funded projects.
• Conduct regular community consultations to ensure programming remains gender, age, and socially sensitive and on-track.
• Represent the programme’s gender and social inclusion strategy, analysis, and research with external stakeholders including at workshops, conferences and annual learning events.
• Work with programme teams to ensure a do no harm approach to gender-focused and inclusive programing is implemented and that appropriate protections are in place for participants.
• Coach new and ongoing programme staff on gender and social inclusion engagement best practices
• Conduct frequent supervisory visits to the programme locations to monitor project implementation and ensure project quality and support staff to reflect and iterate based on ongoing feedback.

PROGRAMME QUALITY ASSURANCE

• Work with the MEL Lead for the effective design and integration of gender sensitive monitoring and evaluation systems (including SADD) and protection monitoring methodologies into all stages of the programme; ensure that output and impact data are captured, and data is used to optimise programme quality.
• Assist teams in using vulnerability frameworks and targeting that enable inclusiveness and help teams to identify individuals and households with specific needs.

REPRESENTATION AND COORDINATION

• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with all stakeholders working in GESI in the Somalia country team to enhance cooperation and coordination.
• Attend relevant GESI coordination meetings and/or represent Mercy Corps in other relevant forums and ensure that information is shared internally and with other sectors, as appropriate; contribute to thought leadership in this area of expertise.
• Identify and nurture strategic GESI partnerships with other organisations/institutions in the country, particularly the delivery partners for other ISF-funded projects to enable coordination and synergies across workstreams.
• Liaise with MC’s Regional GESI Advisor on agency-wide GESI policies and for cross-learning.

OTHER

• Support management to ensure that the Mercy Corps GESI Minimum Standards are implemented.
• Ensure the team complies with FCDO ISF GESI Requirements
• Ensure activities promote gender equality, conflict sensitivity, and environmental awareness by applying Do No Harm and Mercy Corps’ Gender Equality policy
• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership
• Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies
• Other assigned tasks, as necessary

SAFEGUARDING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work.
• Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members.
• Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options.

Supervisory Responsibility

N/A

Accountability

Reports Directly To: ProgrammeTeam Leader

Works Directly With: FCDO ISF Programme team, Director of Programs, Mercy Corps Somalia Country Director, consortium partner focal points. Coordinates with Mercy Corps’ HQ and Regional GESI team and the Technical Resources and Quality Unit.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills

• A university degree in International Development, Gender Studies, Social Works, Business Management or other related field. Master’s degree preferred.
• At least Seven years of experience in international development work, with a minimum of Five years directly in a GESI advisory position including extensive experience working on GESI and conflict/security/peacebuilding related issues in Somalia.
• A strong understanding of and experience implementing projects related to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. Experience supporting the delivery of the Somalia or UK WPS National Action Plan is desirable.
• Substantial background in GESI and development work including experience conducting training, analysis and programme integration and engaging in advocacy.
• Experience supporting the capacity building and development of women’s rights organisations and women-led organisations.
• Comprehensive knowledge of GESI norms and standards as well as holistic and practical methods towards implementing protection mainstreaming and integrated protection outcomes.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English. Somali fluency is strongly preferred.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate (verbally and written) and negotiate clearly and effectively. Tact, diplomacy and cultural awareness are essential.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office applications including Excel and Word

Success Factors

The individual must have strong writing skills and the ability to multitask, set priorities, pay attention to detail, and work under tight deadlines within complex team environments. The position holder must take an active role in building and maintaining external relationships as well as demonstrating the drive and initiative to contribute to internal team efforts. The individual must learn quickly how to provide technical data and support in the most efficient and effective form possible for each unique field team and environment. This position requires strong interpersonal and cross-cultural communication skills, and a level of emotional intelligence proficiency that quickly builds and maintains productive relationships across teams. Being aware and sensitive to international development issues and diverse cultures is critical.

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Mercy Corps Somalia field offices (Mogadishu, Kismayu and Hargeisa) and it requires up to some travel to Nairobi, Kenya and other countries if and when required for meetings and other functions. Accommodation is provided in group housing. The GESI advisor will support activities throughout Somalia. Mobility in Somalia is restricted and must first be cleared with the Security Advisor. This is an unaccompanied post and eligible for Hardship and R&R. Standard Somali workweek is Sunday – Thursday. Mercy Corps team members represent the agency both during and outside work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Ongoing Learning

In support of our belief that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities we serve, we empower all team members to dedicate 5% of their time to learning activities that further their personal and/or professional growth and development

Team Efficiency and Effectiveness

Achieving our mission starts with how we build our team and collaborate. By bringing together individuals with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, we strengthen our ability to solve complex challenges and drive innovation. We foster a culture of trust and respect, where every team member is valued for their contributions, empowered to reach their full potential, and motivated to do their best work. We recognize that building a strong and effective team is an ongoing process, and we remain committed to learning, improving, and growing together.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out different backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact.

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline (integrityhotline@mercycorps.org).