Citizen Engagement & Accountability Advisor

Career opportunity

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is the implementing agency of the Federal Republic of Germany for technical and international cooperation. It offers flexible, sustainable and effective solutions in political, economic and social change processes. Most of the work of GIZ is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). GIZ also operates on behalf of other German ministries as well as public and private bodies in Germany and abroad. These include the European Commission, the United Nations, the World Bank and governments of other countries.

The Programme “Enabling Access to Justice, Civil Society Participation and Transparency (EnACT)” is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and promotes dialogue and cooperation between Government institutions and civil society organisations (CSOs) on law and policy reform and implementation. The Programme aims at improving the Zambian population’s access to accountable institutions, to justice and to transparent government decision-making processes. The programme consists of four main outputs, (1) Legislative Framework and Civic Space (2) Accountability and Transparency (3) Legal Aid and (4) LegalTech.

In this context, GIZ is seeking a suitable candidate to fill the following position:

Citizen Engagement & Accountability Advisor – (Mansa based)

REF: GIZ_EnACT_CEAA

Main tasks and responsibilities

CSO Capacity Development

• Identify key partner organisations (CSOs as well as grassroots organisations, such as Parents Teachers Asociations etc) and areas where technical support is required
• Implement capacity development measures specifically targeting citizen engagement, sensitization on human and citizens’ rights as well as on public resource accountability
• Encourage cooperation and networking amongst different institutions wherever possible

Support to Citizen Engagement Processes

• Support CSOs in empowering citizens via context-sensitive, rights-based approaches
• Find approaches to strengthen vulnerable groups in addressing their needs, specifically in access to education, this includes a strong focus on empowering women and girls as well as people with disabilities and working with organisations of self-representation
• Support CSOs to document cases of in-transparent use of public resources and/or corruption in the sector of education in Luapula, grassroots organisations and citizens and use existing complaints mechanisms to bring these cases to the attention of the responsible authorities
• Organize dialogue formats with duty bearers and state institutions at, e.g. provincial level, in order to encourage collaborative approaches to find solutions which can improve service delivery in the education sector, especially for vulnerable groups

Policy Advice

• Document lessons from successful and unsuccessful engagements in order to use them for National policy-making
• Feed lessons into monitoring mechanisms on national anti-corruption strategies and policies, complaints systems etc.

Knowledge management

• Feed into internal knowledge management systems as well as the M&E system
• Participate in team events (also virtually) and share lessons from the ground with project management and colleagues
• Performs other duties and tasks at the request of management.

Required qualifications, competences, and experience

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Law, Project Management or a related discipline
• At least five years of professional experience in a comparable position,
• In-depth knowledge of rights-based approaches, especially with a focus on women’s rights as well as rights for people with disabilities
• Experience in working in the field of institutional strengthening, specifically in the non-profit sector
• Experience in assessing capacity needs as well as implementing a range of different capacity development measures with non-profit institutions
• A proven track-record in change management processes is an added advantage

Other knowledge and additional competences

Fluency in English, both written and oral is a requirement

Good working knowledge of multicultural and multidisciplinary environment

Computer literacy for financial management and accounting. Competency in excel is an asset

Proactive attitude and a team player with the ability to work with minimum supervision

Method of Application

The successful candidate will be expected to start employment with GIZ, on a fixed term contract. Interested candidates must send the CV and a cover letter electronically, quoting the reference: GIZ_EnACT_CEAA in the subject line to: jobzambia@giz.de by 17:00hrs on Friday, 19th May 2023. GIZ will only assess applications which meet the following criteria:

Cover letters must be sent using font type Arial, size 11. In the first paragraph, please outline your motivation for applying for the position. In the second paragraph, outline your experience in the position

CVs must be submitted in PDF not exceeding three (3) pages. Do not indicate your marital status, religion, Political affiliation or insert your photo.

Certificates, qualifications, etc. must not be attached to the application.

Traceable references of previous engagements must be provided.

Please note that only applicants selected for interview will be contacted. GIZ is committed to be an equal opportunities employer, therefore, women and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.