The Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL), as part of the KP REACH Consortium is implementing a 3-year regional programme in eight countries in Southern Africa – Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, CAL seeks to appoint an experienced Programme Officer – to be based at its regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The ideal candidate must be self-motivated, energetic and highly organised with a deep and holistic understanding of the multi-layered issues facing organisations working on HIV/AIDS and Key Populations.
This is a full time position – initial 12-month contract, with a potential to extend for up to two years. Applicants must have a South African identity document or a valid work/critical skills permit.
About the Coalition of African Lesbians
The Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) was established in 2003. The Coalition is committed to raising consciousness amongst and strengthening activism and leadership of lesbian and bisexual women and transdiverse people. CAL believe in the power of collective action. CAL view themselves as a part of social movements, including the women’s movement, the sexual and reproductive rights movement, the broader lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex movement and the economic justice movement.
CAL works to transform Africa into a place where all lesbian and bisexual women and transdiverse people enjoy the full range of human rights, secure in the knowledge that we are recognized as full citizens, with rich and diverse cultures, and a significant and respected presence in all spheres of life, including social, political and economic and through personal and organizational growth.
CAL is an activist organization engaging in direct action to demonstrate our resistance and rage against those who oppress us; CAL mobilises its communities and others to take action against patriarchy, homophobia and other forms of oppression; lobby those in power to make decisions that advance our rights; constantly develop our own analysis and thinking based on our personal and lived experiences and realities and learning from others. In this process CALs produces and creates knowledge; and through media and consciousness raising work engage in influencing the ideas, beliefs and understanding of broader society about justice for LBT people.
The ideology of CAL is one that is rooted in an analysis of patriarchy and intersecting bases of oppression including race, class, gender, geography, HIV status, age, gender expression, sexual orientation and other factors. A such, the issue that connects different parts of their work and with different movements is that of the demand and shaping of autonomy over our bodies and lives as people on the margins, including lesbian women and women who have sex with women, women who are sex workers, young women, women living with HIV and those working on and seeking abortion services, all criminalised, stigmatised and marginalised based on sexuality and gender and related factors. ( www.cal.org.za )
Job purpose
The role involves establishing and strengthening human rights monitoring and response systems in eight countries for regional data analysis and documentation to increase availability of evidence of human rights violations against KPs in order to strongly support advocacy to address the current drivers of negative beliefs and attitudes against Key Populations.
Duties
Reporting to the KP REACH Regional Programme Coordinator, the KP REACH Programme Officer will be responsible for:
Exploring and seeking possible partnerships with organizations in countries, in the region and internationally.
Leading or supporting in solving problems, addressing crises and dealing with conflict in relationships between team members.
Supporting in the movement building process of CAL in countries and in the sub-region.
Acting as a resource person to KP team, relevant and appropriate organizations and institutions on matters relating to the region.
Developing, sharing and ensuring cross learning of the knowledge and expertise on contexts, realities, movements and organizing in countries and the region.
Supporting the effective and efficient implementation of KP REACH programme with members, partners and supporters in countries and in the region.
Creating and maintaining linkages with resources people and teams to help guide the work in the region as relevant and appropriate.
Setting up, maintaining and updating a professional and easily accessible and understandable hard copy and electronic organizational development and programme related record keeping system as agreed.
Preparing for and participating actively in meetings, reviews and evaluations to improve quality of work and delivery.
Formal Requirements
Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, Social Sciences, Human Rights or Law from a reputable tertiary education institution
Minimum of five years of working experience and track record of programme management work
Knowledge and experience of working on advocacy and human rights
Experience in providing human rights training
Experience in primary research (interviewing), preferably on human rights violations
Understanding of the human rights international and national legal system
Experience in national and international advocacy
Experience in writing research and/or advocacy documents
Experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis
Experience in managing computerized information management systems.
Personal attributes and knowledge
Demonstrates integrity by modelling the Coalition of African Lesbians values
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the Coalition of African Lesbians values
Knowledge and understanding of issues of human rights, social justice, with a passion for community development, understanding and concern for issues affecting KPs
Displays strong cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
Experience of managing and delivering training and capacity strengthening of staff of differing skills and abilities;
Highly organised, efficient, methodical and ability to work under pressure;
Ability to work alone, take initiative, and manage diverse teams with a transparent, accountable and consultative style
Ability to plan, prioritise and deliver tasks on time
Participate effectively in a team
To apply
Submit a CV (max 3 pages), a motivation letter (max 2 pages) to the Office Administrator: surprise@cal.org.za
Do not send copies of certificates.
Qualified and experienced persons from the Key Populations mentioned are strongly encouraged to apply.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Closing date: 14th March 2016 at 10.00 AM (GMT+2).
Start date: 4th April 2016.