Peacebuilding Coordinator for the INGO Forum Cordaid DRC At Cordaid

Cordaid works to end poverty and exclusion. We do this in the world’s most fragile and conflict-affected areas. We engage communities to rebuild trust and resilience and increase people’s self-reliance. Where poverty, conflict, and exclusion divide societies, we connect people and communities. Cordaid is one of the leading Civil Society Organizations in the Netherlands, working in fragile contexts on Health, Resilience, Private Sector Development, Humanitarian Aid and Security & Justice, Economic empowerment and Food & Nutrition Security. Cordaid has over 1400 staff, working at Global Office in the Netherlands and in offices across the most fragile countries in the world. Within Cordaid we work on the basis of respect, accountability, sustainability and diversity & inclusion.

For the Cordaid Country office in the Democratic Republic of Congo**,** Cordaid is looking for a Peacebuilding Coordinator for the INGO Forum

Introduction

The DRC INGO Forum gathers 118 INGO member implementing emergency and development aid projects for the benefit of Congolese population. The Forum is supported by a Secretariat which gathers a Team of six people, providing expert support and advice to its members. More specifically, the role of the Forum is to:

• Support to INGOs members and advocacy for solving common issues;
• Improve communication between INGOs and other stakeholders (government, UNOCHA, UN, etc.);
• Strengthen the voices of INGOs in the humanitarian architecture and the development community in DRC;
• Act as a focal point for INGOs and for external stakeholders;
• Ensure a national cohesion of INGOs (linking Kinshasa and the other Provinces).

Cordaid is currently the host of the INGO forum.

Position and responsibility

Coordination & synergies

• Ensure the updating of the mapping of peacebuilding actors initiatives in the DRC. Create synergy by connecting the relevant people in the appropriate frameworks.
• Create, facilitate and energize a working and discussion group with peacebuilding actors. Animate the dedicated Skype group.
• Develop and implement, in partnership with the INGOs involved in the working group, a strategy and a clear action plan regarding the Forum’s support to these actors.
• Organize and facilitate the sharing of information and experience between peace actors, and with operational actors in other sectors. Develop gateways to integrate the Nexus approach and work on its three Pillars.
• Keep a lookout for funding opportunities, share these opportunities and support partnership and consortia initiatives of INGO members.
• In close coordination and collaboration with the other members of the Forum Secretariat team, work with external stakeholders (ministries and state agencies, donors, diplomatic representations, civil society actors and United Nations agencies) for the accomplishment of these tasks. Consequently contribute to the creation of an external network and create bridges between INGO members of other sectors of intervention and institutions specialized in peace.
• Work closely with the other members of the DRC INGO Forum Secretariat team to fully integrate the issue of peacebuilding with the other activities of the Forum.
• Understand the challenges of peacebuilding in the DRC in order to increase interactions with the INGO Forum’s members, by making them aware of the importance of peacebuilding and the possibilities it offers.

Advocacy & representation

• Develop, with INGO members and the Forum’s Advocacy Expert, an advocacy strategy relating to peacebuilding issues, which should ensure links and synergies with other intervention sectors, whether emergency or development.
• Identify advocacy opportunities and support member INGOs in the implementation of joint advocacy, in collaboration with the Forum’s Advocacy Expert;
• Facilitate the coordination of advocacy between humanitarian, development and peace actors.
• In coordination with the Forum Advocacy Expert, facilitate the development of advocacy tools and initiatives on related issues identified as priority by INGO members.

Research & intellectual production

• Develop knowledge and technical expertise within the Forum (by developing technical notes on key peacebuilding topics in the DRC such as the PDDRC-S, the MONUSCO transition, the political dynamics at work, etc.)
• Improve in-depth and specific knowledge of key issues in order to better support the mediation and peace activities of specialized INGOs
• Monitor on training opportunities for INGOs and their partners as needed.
• Foster knowledge by writing notes, articles, studies, or by producing surveys during field missions, in order to improve the in-depth understanding of conflict dynamics, and of peacebuilding concerns in certain essential areas of humanitarian and development responses.
• Ensure linkages with other themes and sectors within the Forum, and in particular with the Nexus and Development Aid Coordinator, as well as with the Deputy Director of the Secretariat on emergency aid in Eastern DRC.

General

• Comply with Cordaid’s (Code of Conduct, Conflict of Interest, Anti-corruption; Whistle blower Policy) Policies;
• Ensure the optimal implementation of these Policies in all aspects of her/his work.
• Be available / flexible to perform any other ad hoc task deemed useful by her/ his direct superior or representative.

General objective of the posting

We are looking for a Peacebuilding Coordinator who will be responsible for supporting the INGO members of the Forum engaged in the peacebuilding sector.

• The Peacebuilding Coordinator will work under the responsibility of the Deputy Director of the DRC INGO Forum Secretariat and in close collaboration with the other members of the Secretariat team.
• He/she will work in close collaboration with INGO members of the Peacebuilding Working Group within the INGO Forum, as well as with all INGO Heads of Mission interested in the issue of Peace in the DRC, but also with partners. external parties interacting within the framework of the Forum’s activities (Monusco, authorities, United Nations agencies, diplomatic missions, donors, national NGOs, etc.)
• He/she will be based in Goma with missions in other areas of the country, such as South Kivu, Ituri, Tanganyika, Kasai and Kinshasa for the execution of his/her tasks.

Specific objectives

Under the hierarchical responsibility of the Deputy Director of the DRC INGO Forum Secretariat and in close collaboration with INGOs members of the Peacebuilding Working Group of Forum:

• The Peacebuilding Coordinator will be in charge of facilitating and coordinating activities related to the Peacebuilding sector within the Forum, whether on coordination, intellectual production, technical expertise or dedicated advocacy.
• She/he will ensure that these activities do not operate in silos but are well coordinated with the members of the Forum and with the other activities of the secretariat. She/he facilitates and encourages collaboration and coordination between Peacebuilding actors.
• He/she participates in the dynamics of the triple nexus by working on emergency humanitarian aid and development aid, with the ultimate objective of operationalizing the “Nexus” approach between the three pillars of the Nexus that are humanitarian, development and peace.
• He/she participates in advocacy related to Peacebuilding, whether by supporting INGO members’ initiatives or in addition to existing or cross-cutting initiatives that involve a Peacebuilding component.
• He/she participates in improving the understanding of the Peacebuilding dynamics at work in the DRC, but also with regards to ongoing conflicts and related events. He/she fosters knowledge amongst the INGO community on these aspects, through contextual notes, briefings or research papers.

Qualifications

Education and professional experience

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in social sciences, political science, development aid, international cooperation, international law, and/or any other sector related to the position.
• 5 years of experience in the field of peacebuilding, with experience in Africa and in an NGO or in an international organization.
• Demonstrated knowledge of civilian protection issues and the functioning of United Nations integrated missions. Knowledge of the humanitarian sector and the principles of intervention of international NGOs.
• Proven experience in advocacy in an African country
• Research experience in an African country would be an asset
• Experience in coordination of different stakeholders would also be an asset
• Demonstrated knowledge of the context of the DRC, in particular the East of the Country, particularly in the approach to conflicts and the dynamics of peace and stabilization in the region.
• Proven experience of working with multidisciplinary and multicultural teams and ability to build the capacity of other team members.

Personal skills

• Interpersonal skills and ability to create networks. Sensitivity to the existence of other actors in the sector in order to connect the issues between them.
• Necessary extrovert personality: dynamism, proactivity, openness to the outside in order to create links and contacts, collective.
• Judgment skills, maturity and ability to work in a team and in difficult and unstable conditions.
• Ability to express ideas and concepts orally and in writing in a clear and concise manner. Excellent writing skills required. Ability to write and communicate in French (mandatory). Fluency in English is a great asset.
• Mastery of the pack Office
• Organizational capacity, multi-file management
• Punctuality, respect of deadlines
• Essential dynamism and flexibility.
• Be of good character
• Be proactive and results and solution-oriented.

Specifics of station

Duty station is Goma, DRC. This is an accompanied posting.

Contract information

The contract period is until 31 May 2023 starting as soon as possible, with the intention to extend for a longer period. We offer a competitive, fair and comprehensive salary and benefits package that is justifiable to our donors. A Cordaid contract which includes R&R, a comprehensive insurance cover, social security and pension contribution, a holiday allowance, 13th month, hardship allowance and cost of living allowance (if applicable).