An emerging Alliance of leading international and grassroots NGOs is seeking an experienced, issue‐focused and skilled executive who can quickly form and lead a small team to service and coordinate its global drive for a world without child marriage.
One in seven girls in the developing world is married before she is 15. The practice of child marriage puts the lives, rights and development of millions of girls around the world at risk. It damages girls' health and exposes them to significant risk of death or injury. It curtails girls' education and slows the fight against poverty. Child marriage also impedes the achievement of six of the eight Millennium Development Goals. Despite increased awareness of the scale at which child marriage is occurring and some cases of improvement, too little progress has been made on ending the practice.
Consensus is building among policymakers and activists that child marriage warrants more prominence on the global agenda and action on the ground. The emerging Alliance of activists and practitioners from around the globe will enhance, accelerate and strengthen efforts to reduce and ultimately end child marriage. With the support of the Coordinator and his/her team, the Alliance and its individual member organisations will:
* Raise awareness about child marriage as a critical policy issue by rallying open, inclusive and informed debate in local communities, among national players and on the international stage;
* Work to integrate the topic of child marriage fully into discussions on international development and poverty reduction;
* Build, support and drive forward a global campaign constituency - harnessing the complementary expertise, talents and resources of different Alliance members and other partners - to increase social and political support for an end to child marriage;
* Highlight innovative approaches that have helped reduce or end child marriage in local communities;
* Facilitate powerful learning networks and information‐sharing between organisations working to reduce child marriage and help to coordinate joint activities; and
* Enlist more grassroots, national and international change‐makers to work towards ending child marriage.
The Alliance will not be a bureaucratic set- ‐up; its members will function in an agile and minimally 'managed' way.
The ideal candidate for this new coordination role will have experience with taking an overlooked global or policy issue to higher visibility and results- ‐oriented action. S/he will have the instincts, sensitivity and know- ‐how to encourage diverse people and groups to coalesce around a cause and join forces for demonstrable change. The Coordinator will need to be equally at ease with marshalling the substance of global advocacy strategies and interacting with grassroots change- ‐makers on their community projects. S/he will be able to ensure that the work of the Alliance goes smoothly, often working behind the scenes, with the Alliance members and their lead spokespersons.
The Coordinator will report to a Management Committee representing the Alliance members. S/he will have start- ‐up funding raised by the Alliance members for early phases; as the work expands, the Coordinator will need to renew and mobilise new resource commitments to sustain and grow the effort.
Responsibilities of the Coordinator
* Develop and implement the Alliance's strategy and campaign plans in collaboration with the members. Liaise with Alliance members to coordinate advocacy efforts, provide support and advice, and identify strategic opportunities. Convene strategic meetings of Alliance members;
* Facilitate information- ‐sharing throughout the Alliance, look for potential synergies and value add, and help to coordinate linked activity;
* Communicate information about the Alliance to external actors (e.g. government officials, journalists, international organisations, donors, etc.);
* Where necessary and appropriate, represent the Alliance in meetings with external actors.
* Propose to the Alliance potential new members, partners and donors - and coordinate and facilitate their involvement;
* Recruit, supervise and provide day- ‐to- ‐day guidance to the Alliance's staff team, comprising an information/communications officer and a programme assistant. Extend the capacity of the Alliance through consultants, interns and networks of volunteers;
* Forge new alliances and create champions for ending child marriage across sectors (politics, business, grassroots activists, NGOs, etc.).
Job Requirements
* Demonstrated ability to develop and manage international policy initiatives and advocacy strategies; an understanding of gender policy issues desirable;
* Keen political antennae, agility across cultural environments and world views, and diplomatic finesse;
* Interpersonal skills and qualities that enable her/him to empower and inspire others to greater effort, commitment and action;
* Awareness of the importance of media messaging and media relations; prior experience with creative communications and new media a plus;
* Experience working with minimal supervision and delivering the utmost with a small staff team;
* A track record of successful partnership development; fundraising experience a plus;
* A keen eye for accuracy, detail and potential implementation obstacles and challenges;
* Highly effective administration skills including computing and budget management;
* Excellent written and spoken English; proficiency in another language, e.g. Arabic, French, Hindi or Spanish is highly desirable;
* A graduate degree in political science, gender studies, public policy, sociology, anthropology, international development or another relevant field.
It is envisioned that in the start‐up phase, the Coordinator will be based at the office of The Elders in London, United Kingdom, a co‐founder of the Alliance. A competitive salary and benefits package will be offered to the successful candidate. Qualified candidates should send their CV and a letter of motivation to Alliance.Jobs@theElders.org no later than 8 May 2011. We regret that due to the large number of applications we expect to receive, only short- ‐listed candidates will be contacted.
