Gender and/or Inclusive Education Specialist Advisor / Consultant At SoCha LLC

Company Profile

SoCha (a portmanteau of Social and Change) is an independent Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) company that provides tailored solutions to social challenges. We are a US-registered, veteran-owned small business with staff support offices in Nairobi, Bangkok and Mauritius. SoCha currently supports multiple foreign aid interventions across Asia and Africa.

Context

SoCha, LLC is responding to an impact evaluation of the Girls’ Learning and Empowerment Project commissioned by the World Bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The evaluation will take place in Kasai Province.

We are looking for a highly qualified specialist in inclusive education and gender to support an impact evaluation of a girls’ education project in the DRC.

The specialist will need to have a solid understanding of local cultural dynamics and an ability to navigate a gender-sensitive context in the DRC. He/she will also need to have proven experience in:

• The implementation of educational initiatives within local communities, promoting trust and support for inclusive policies.
• Managing resistance to inclusion policies and constructive collaboration with different stakeholders.
• The development and implementation of gender training for local staff and data collectors.

Missions and responsibilities

Working under the supervision of the Head of Mission, the Gender and Inclusive Education Specialist will carry out the following tasks:

• Contribute to the design and implementation of impact evaluation methodologies, ensuring a focus on gender and inclusive education.
• Develop and refine survey instruments focused on girls’ empowerment and education.
• Lead and facilitate focus groups, workshops and interviews with key beneficiaries and stakeholders, including students, teachers, parents and community members.
• Manage and supervise data collection teams, ensuring quality control, adherence to ethical standards and timely completion of field activities.
• Oversee data entry, validation and initial analysis, contributing to the interpretation of results and policy recommendations.
• Prepare clear and concise reports and presentations to disseminate results to various audiences, including policy makers, donors and local stakeholders.
• Provide technical information on gender inequalities in education and recommend strategies to remove barriers to girls’ empowerment and learning.
• Work closely with project partners, local authorities and community organisations to ensure context-appropriate assessment methods.
• Conduct a gender analysis to assess the impact of educational interventions on girls and identify areas for improvement in current programs.
• Develop gender-sensitive training materials and capacity building sessions for data collectors and field staff.
• Ensure and monitor that gender considerations are integrated into all stages of the evaluation, from design to implementation and reporting.
• Promote gender-responsive policies and interventions based on the assessment findings.

Qualifications and experience required

• University degree (BAC+3) in psychology, social work, gender studies, public health or a similar field.
• Have a good knowledge of the issue of M/F inequalities.
• 5 years of experience in survey design and development, particularly on girl-focused topics, is an asset.
• Experience in developing interview questionnaires.
• Experience in facilitating focus groups and workshops.
• Experience in managing teams of investigators, data entry and analysis.
• Ability to write clearly and present conclusions and communicate data to different audiences.
• Fluency in French and local languages ​​(e.g. Tshiluba) is highly desirable.
• Experience in the context of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Place

Kasai, DRC