Gender and Youth Coordinator

About Fairtrade Africa

Fairtrade Africa (FTA) is the umbrella network organisation representing Fairtrade certified producers and workers in Africa. It has four (4) regional networks – Eastern & Central Africa; Southern Africa; Western Africa; and the Middle East and North Africa. Established in 2005, FTA aims to effectively represent producers and workers within the International Fairtrade system and provide services to them that contribute to the improvement of their livelihoods.

Purpose of the Position

The Gender and Youth Coordinator at Fairtrade Africa (FTA) shall be responsible to contribute to gender equality, youth and women’s empowerment through promoting women and youth’s active participation in the operations of Fairtrade certified producer organizations in Africa, and the Middle East.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Build and strengthen capacities on gender and youth
• Facilitate knowledge building and mainstreaming of youth and gender aspects among FTA staff members and its producer members.
• Develop tools and approaches towards strengthening FTA’s capacity to support its producer members on promoting gender equality as well as youth and women’s empowerment through Fairtrade and other social, political and economic activities. Effective Management of the gender and youth portfolio with a focus on quality control and learning
• Work with the regions to administer and deliver programs for women and youth, by using existing guidelines such as the Fairtrade Gender Strategy, Women School of Leadership (WSOL) modules, Gender Mainstreaming, Fairtrade Africa Premium Alumni Association, and FTA Continental Youth Association; in a way that translates FTA’s priorities into interventions.
• Effectively apply Results-Based Management tools, establish management targets, monitor achievement of results and coordinate implementation.
• Complete youth and gender assessments in each region with a focus on selected value chains, constant monitoring and analysis of the environment, timely readjustment of portfolio interventions.
• Provide regular reports on activities, outputs and outcomes to different audiences.
• Work closely with the Fundraising unit to enable the successful design of youth-related and gender-related projects and programmes for which external funding is required.
• Proactively feed into unit planning and manage relevant budget lines in line with financial management procedures and requirements Mainstream gender and youth into Fairtrade Africa’s approach to development
• Work closely with FTA regional networks as well as with systemwide Fairtrade units such as Workers Rights, Social Compliance, FLOCERT, etc. in order to assimilate youth and gender components into policies, standards, advocacy, producer support, certification/auditing practices, communications, marketing and business engagement. Advice on possible areas for support or adjustments in existing operations.
• Conduct outreach to recruit youth for FTA’s youth program.
• Identify good (best) practices and disseminate findings through guidelines and/or manuals especially among member Producer Organizations.
• Lead in organizing relevant events, attend seminars or conferences as required.
• Perform other duties and tasks, consistent with the skills and expertise as needed. Create and Manage Strategic Partnerships
• Map and develop partnerships with local/global partners that have context-specific expertise on gender equality as well as youth and women’s empowerment (in line with FTA partnership approach).
• Coordinate partnerships, ensuring efficient and transparent communication and exchange with partners.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Knowledge/ Professional Skills
• A good level of professional experience in youth and/ or gender-responsive programming, and in applying gender and youth matters concretely to sector operations, plans, policies and business processes
• Proven experience leading action learning processes, developing training tools, and delivering training
• Knowledge of, and interest, in the Fairtrade system and social justice issues
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office tools (including Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, PowerPoint) and social media for work.

• Proficiency in French language is a bonus

  Personal Qualities

• Grounded and organized yet flexible and open to the changing demands of the job

• Excellent in communication skills and well-developed interpersonal skills.

• Highly developed social skills and ability to listen as well as communicate in different environments ranging from rural producers to officials representing government institutions

• Display of cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability

Education required

• University degree in gender/women’s studies, international development, social science or relevant study field