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Africa/Asia/Latin America gender coordinators (three institutional consultancies total): Connecting the unconnected
“Meaningful community-centred connectivity” is a project under the Local Networks (LocNet) initiative, a collective effort led by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Rhizomatica in partnership with people and organisations in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It aims to directly support community networks and other community-centred connectivity initiatives, while contributing to an enabling ecosystem for their emergence and growth. It is part of a multi-year, multi-donor strategy envisaged to address the human capacity and sustainability challenges, along with the policy and regulatory obstacles, that limit the growth of community-based connectivity initiatives.
Main purpose of the position
The LocNet team invites host institutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America* that are already working with community networks to apply and nominate one candidate for the position of gender coordinator in the region of their scope.
The candidate selected for this position would lead a 9 ½-month regional-level coordination process around community networks and gender integration. The regional gender coordinators will be expected to co-design and lead a strategy for gender integration in each of the three regions where the project operates. The regional gender coordinators will be responsible for incorporating the recommendations of the gender evaluation by adapting the appropriate capacity-building and movement-building activities to their regional contexts. The gender regional coordinator will need to be anchored in the feminist politics of the region and have good knowledge of the ICT and alternative infrastructure ecosystem. The gender regional coordinator will work closely with the gender and community care lead to adapt and contextualise gender-relevant activities and strategies while working closely with local organisations and groups.
Start date: 6 March 2024. Please note that given the short timeline in this project, delaying this start date is not a possibility. The selected host institution will be notified by the first week of March 2024.
Deadline for applications: 9 February 2024
Reporting: The position will report to the gender and community care lead for the Local Networks initiative and work closely with other members of the project team.
Primary responsibilities
- Prepare and lead a regional gender strategy for the project.
- Coordinate gender activities for their respective regions.
- Assess and identify priorities for their regions and support local organisations in the gender integration of the work.
- Identify and participate in regional capacity-building and movement-building activities and events.
- Coordinate and report the results of face-to-face and virtual meetings of LocNet partner organisations in the region with respect to gender and community networks activities.
- Coordinate the development of the regional capacity-building programme aspects of SPACE in their region.
- Integrate the work in the broader gender communication plan for the collection of stories for impact visualisation.
- Participate in the project’s inception meeting in 2024 as well as in online and face-to-face meetings and events that are coordinated by the gender integration outcome area.
Secondary responsibilities
- Advocacy: Support the gender policy advocacy plans globally, and especially in their region.
- Fundraising and resource mobilisation: Assist the project team with the development of a multi-year strategy to continue the work of the project.
Qualifications, background and experience
The following qualifications, background and experience are expected from the individual candidate proposed by the host institution:
- Experience in gender-led projects or programmes rooted in the region.
- Experience working with community networks or similar projects (in “rural development”, “rural connectivity”, “access development”, “community radio”, etc.).
- Knowledge about policy advocacy processes and other mechanisms which enable community networks, small operators, or universal affordable access in one of the three regions.
- Ability to plan and think strategically, in particular to revise practices and suggest solutions to ensure efficiency of the implementation of the project.
- Ability to handle conflict and to approach communities with compassion.
- Capacity to work autonomously and in a team setting.
- Excellent writing, documentation, filing and communication skills.
- Good command of the English language and of local dialects and languages.
Not necessary but favoured:
- Technical experience in the deployment of community networks.
- Ability to communicate in Spanish or Portuguese would be an advantage.
Location
The applicant will work at a location within the region agreed with the host institution and preferably be from and living in the specific region where the institution is largely based. Institutions with experience in regional networks will be given preference.
Remuneration and duration of contract
The host institution in each of the three regions selected will receive USD 14,500. This fund should cover a minimum 0.5 full-time equivalent, 9 ½ month contract for the regional coordinator, who is expected to work from 6 March 2024 until 31 December 2024. While the 2024 contract would be for 9 ½ months, there is a possibility for further time extension should funding allow.
A contract between the successful host institution and APC will be drawn up containing the specific terms and the disbursement process.
How to apply
Interested institutions should submit an application with the following information in English:
- A cover letter or proposal from the interested institution stating how it intends to host the regional gender coordination of the project. It should state the name of the candidate who is nominated by the institution, the qualifications of the candidate and their interest in the position. This cover letter or proposal should also include: details on its organisational capacity, an organisational profile (including its legal registration, organigram and past experience in managing grants), how it will provide support to the regional coordinator, and a budget proposal outlining the way funds will be used.
- A CV of the candidate nominated for the position of regional gender coordinator. Institutions are encouraged to nominate women candidates.
- Three references for the candidate: names, relationship, contact details ; at least one of these should be from a community network project that the candidate has worked on.
- Completed due diligence form, available here.
Information to be highlighted about the candidate includes:
- Experience in working with different constituencies, including community networks.
- Experience in advocacy or capacity building and networking in topics of policy, gender or both.
- Experience in project coordination.
- Computer and internet skills.
- Where the candidate is based.
- Confirmation that the candidate is able and willing to travel frequently.
- Languages spoken and written.
- Why the candidate would like to be part of this project and is interested in this position.
- Why the candidate would like to work with the Local Network initiative.
- Other information that might be of importance to our assessment of the application.
In order to apply, kindly fill in the online application form by 9 February 2024, 23.00 UTC. Please note that only short-listed host institutions will be contacted.
Project details
This project aims to contribute to our vision of digital inclusion: Rural, remote and marginalised communities have the opportunities, capacities and resources to achieve and shape meaningful community-centred connectivity that contributes to the strengthening of local well-being, economies and cultures. It is part of a multi-year, multi-donor strategy envisaged to address the human capacity and sustainability challenges, along with the policy and regulatory obstacles, that limit the growth of community-centred connectivity initiatives.
The project will adopt human rights-based and gender equality approaches, with a special emphasis on women-led initiatives and integration of a gender perspective at all levels of project conceptualisation, planning and implementation. In addition, an ecosystem approach that integrates participation and ownership of project participants will be used to ensure sustainability beyond the life of the project.
About APC
APC is a global network of civil society organisations whose mission is to empower and support organisations, social movements and individuals in and through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to build strategic communities and initiatives for the purpose of making meaningful contributions to equitable human development, social justice, participatory political processes and environmental sustainability.
About Rhizomatica
Rhizomatica is a civil society organisation whose mission is to increase access to and participation in telecommunications by supporting communities to build and maintain self-governed and owned communication infrastructure. Rhizomatica's approach combines regulatory activism and reform, critical engagement with technology and the development of decentralised telecommunications infrastructure, and direct community involvement and participation.
* Host institutions can be non-state entities, particularly civil society organisations and non-profit organisations, who work closely with remote communities and practice a human rights-based approach. Regional entities with work around digital rights and rural connectivity will also be considered.