Salama Hub Program Officer At American Friends Service Committee

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and respect for human life to fundamentally transform societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide of all faiths and backgrounds to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.

Job Description

Job Title: Salama Hub Program Officer

Supervisor: Salama Hub Program Coordinator

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Duration: 2 Years

Application deadline: July 31st, 2024

Program Description: The Salama Hub Program is the American Friends Service Committee, AFSC, Advocacy and Policy Program for the Horn of Africa. The goal of this program is to ensure that African civil societies and Faith-Based Organizations interact efficiently with institutional stakeholders in Africa and beyond in protection of human rights, peace, andstability in the Horn of Africa region. AFSC has nurtured and sustained strategic partnerships with Brot fur die Welt, BfdW, and the All Africa Conference of Churches, AACC, and currently in a second phase of a Joint Project with AACC on research and advocacy for policy influencing through collaboration with CSOs and FBOs. Evidence-based Advocacy isundertaken on the African continent through engagement with policymakers in the African Union and Regional Economic Communities, Europe, and the United States of America.

To strengthen collaborative work across programs, AFSC South Sudan and the Salama Hub Programs have jointly developed a project on Trauma Healing and Transitional Justice to strengthen social cohesion for conflict-affected communities including migrants. Through this joint project, community members with trauma symptoms will be accompanied for healing, and the legacies of the past conflicts within the communities will be addressed for sustainable peace and community stability. This joint project will give an opportunity for CSO Peacebuilders to be trained during early interventions in in South Sudan and Ethiopia so that they can champion trauma healing and reconciliation in the communities.

Summary of Responsibilities: The Salama Hub Program seeks to hire an experienced and dedicated Program Officer with a background in peacebuilding, trauma healing, transitional justice, and right-based approaches to join our team. Under the direct supervision of the Salama hub Program Coordinator, the Program Officer will play a key role in coordinating and supporting the South Sudan and Salama Hub Joint Project focused on promoting peace and healing in communities affected by conflict and trauma. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of peacebuilding principles, trauma healing methodologies, and project management practices, as well as a passion for making a positive impact in the lives of individuals and communities.

Duties and responsibilities:

• Collaborate with project managers and stakeholders to design, plan, and implement peacebuilding and trauma-healing projects.
• Coordinate and monitor project activities, ensuring adherence to project goals, timelines, and budgets.
• Facilitate community engagement and participation in project activities, fostering a sense of ownership and sustainability.
• Work closely with local partners, organizations, and stakeholders to build strong and collaborative relationships.
• Contribute to the development of project proposals, reports, and other project-related documents.
• Integrate trauma-informed approaches and best practices into project activities and interventions.
• Support the monitoring and evaluation of project impact and outcomes, utilizing participatory and inclusive approaches.
• Provide technical support and guidance to project team members, volunteers, and community partners.
• Develop resources, relationships, and processes for increasing the capacity of partner organizations to be innovative and creative in peace building initiatives.  Identify and provide support to planning innovative and creative initiatives by Salama Hub partners, including proposal development for grants seeking.
• Articulate AFSC’s values and principles including its commitment to peace and nonviolent approaches to social justice and peacebuilding among partner organizations.
• Provide support to efforts towards spaces and learning circles for peace builders’ interactions through organizational exchange visits, representations, and networking.
• Support research, developing policy briefs, writing of briefs, case studies, program knowledge management and other relevant materials reflecting on best practices and lesson learnt for periodic publications and presentations to local and international audiences.
• Support continuous monitoring and evaluation from a results-based perspective. This may include and not limited to review of data collection tools or strategies, recommend intervention strategies and activities from the findings of the current and earlier assessments as well as informed by global and regional trends to ensure ongoing program responsiveness and relevance.
• Produce program reports, craft flyers and brochures, consolidate data, draft PowerPoint presentations and prepare reports for publications: Review narrative and financial reports of grants from partners. Assist in developing strategy for external communication and engaging with media.
• Carry out regular field visits to the partner sites to monitor implementation progress and offer mentorship and accompaniment to partners.
• Support capacity building of CSOs and FBOs in mainstream trauma healing into peacebuilding initiatives.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education:

• Degree in a relevant field such as political science, Project management, psychology, social work, Sociology, development studies, international Affairs, peace/ conflict studies, or related field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 4 years of experience in relevant work in an NGO environment.

Other Required Skills & Abilities:

• Must have good communication skills including fluency in spoken and written English.
• Strong Writing, presentation, and interpersonal skills
• Experience in project coordination, relationship building, and remote partnership
• Ability to develop collegial and professional relationships with various stakeholder groups, especially religious and traumatized communities.
• Excellent leadership, facilitation, communication, and peace program development skills.
• The ideal candidate will be highly organized in their work and passionate about trauma healing initiatives that have the power to enhance peaceful coexistence.
• Ability to take own initiative and work both independently and as a team.
• A desire to grow the program and individually through the work.
• Ability to meet deadlines.
• Capacity to work in a multicultural environment
• Commitment to Quaker values and testimonies. Understanding of and compatibility with the principles and philosophy of the American Friends Service Committee including nonviolence and the belief in the intrinsic worth of every individual.
• Understanding of and commitment to the principles, concerns, and considerations of AFSC regarding issues of race, class, nationality, religion, age, gender and sexual orientation, and disabilities.

Assignment: This position will be offered on an initial two (2) year contract with the possibility of renewal depending on funding and performance. The American Friends Service Committee is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified persons are encouraged to apply regardless of their religious affiliation, race, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability. AFSC’s Central Office and some of its offices in the U.S are unionized workplaces. This position is not represented under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The American Friends Service Committee is a smoke-free workplace.