Community Development Facilitator Job – Plan International

Job Title:  Community Development Facilitator (Fresher Jobs)

Organisation: Plan International

Duty Station: Kamuli, Uganda

Reports to: Programme Area Coordinator

About US:

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And its girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children. We have been building powerful partnerships for children for more than 80 years, and are now active in more than 75 countries.

Job Summary:  The Community Development Facilitator is the organisation’s front-line community development staff responsible for the effective facilitation of Child-Centred Community Development and building meaningful relationships among the multiple stakeholders in the community development process

The CDF is expected to contribute to the development of Project Plans, aiming to optimise beneficial impact for vulnerable children and youth, especially girls in their target area.  The job holder plays a critical role in liaising with Community leadership to influence change, inspiring community ownership of their own projects and coordinating with project managers to optimise the benefit received by community members.

Also Read: Loan Officer Job – Prime Commercial Services Limited

The role leads the implementation of strategies and projects through which the organisation will achieve her purpose, s/he oversees the achievement of results and adaptively manages interventions to ensure that PIU’s impact targets are achieved in the target area

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Project Planning & Initiation: Participate in the design, planning and initiation of new projects in the designated community, ensuring that PlU’s interventions benefit the most marginalised in communities, particularly vulnerable children and youth (especially girls):

• Participate in situational analysis, for instance by conducting social mapping, wealth ranking and gender to identify and include the most marginalised and vulnerable segments of communities. In addition:
• Establish an inventory of civil society/ community groups and organisations in the area
• Carry periodic mapping and profiling of NGOs/CBOs operating in the parish/sub county
• Identify and build relationships with community leaders, CSOs and especially children, youth and other marginalised segments of the community; facilitating them to identify their own problems and development priorities
• Facilitate partner communities under the Parish Development Committees (PDC) structure to plan and submit proposals for Community Managed Projects (CMPs); develop and document benchmarks for the CMPs
• In coordination with Technical Specialists and the MERL team, apply programmatic operational guidelines as appropriate in project design and implementation
• Prepare and design projects and budgets in accordance with Plan International guidelines and complete project outline modifications as needed and submit to Programme Area Coordinator (PAC)

Sponsorship Management Provide leadership and direct supervision of community-managed sponsorship operations:

• Coordinate and facilitate a team of community volunteers to produce sponsorship communications in a timely manner and review sponsorship communications for quality and submit to the Program Area Coordinator (PAC).
• Coordinate caseload management with the community mobilisers and the PAC
• Visit each sponsored child at least once a year and complete a home visit report
• Facilitate a highly participatory process in the production of Area Updates and Area Overviews
• Ensure all sponsor visits are well managed; Act as the first point of contact for unannounced visits in the areas of operation
• Ensure all sponsorship key performance indicators (KPIs) are achieved every quarter
• Ensure that Plan International’s Child Protection Policy and principles are adhered to at all times by all Plan International Uganda Staff and associates

Communicating for Influence: Actively participate in the development and implementation of an innovative influencing & communication plan for the PA; ensure that plans will result in key sponsorship stakeholders being influenced effectively:

• Maintain cordial working relations with local authorities (sub-county, parish and village) and ensure they are adequately consulted/informed of Plan International Uganda’s operations and investments; implement relevant influencing interventions that drive change in line with PIU’s Influencing Communications Plan
• Equip civil society and community groups with the skills and confidence to effectively engage with local government and hold them accountable for performance and results
• Facilitate groups/communities to identify and prepare for engaging in advocacy and lobbying with the state on issues they have prioritised
• Promote effective communication and dissemination of Plan International values in the community

Ensuring Impactful Implementation   

• Contribute to regular reflection, learning and action to ensure continuous improvement in Plan International Uganda’s operations and document and share lessons learned on Programmes and Projects in liaison with the M&E coordinator
• Support the development and implementation of a Community Based Monitoring and Documentation System (CBM & D)
• Together with the PDCs and communities, ensure timely accountability of project funds as per CMP guidelines.
• Ensure that budgets and grants are managed effectively and efficiently and there is value for money as per donor requirements
• Lead community members in periodic reviews and reflections, seeking to optimise the beneficial impact of PIU’s activities on the most marginalised in communities; escalate suggestions for action to the PAC
• Prepare all required reports and donor accountabilities on time and to standard:
• Prepare monthly project progress reports and post them in SAP (the corporate finance and programme management system)
• Monitor and document all projects and write Project Completion Reports (PCRs) within one month of project completion

Empowerment & Sustainability: In liaison with the respective technical specialists and the PAM, carry out capacity building of communities; aiming to ensure that the benefits of PIU’s intervention will continue after the project is over:

• Build the capacity of parish development structures/committees to manage their own inclusive planning process and have a Community Development Plan (CDP) as well as ownership of the programmes and projects.
• Strengthen the capacity of civil society, community, youth and children groups to manage their own development process and projects.
• Facilitate capacity-building of Community Stakeholders and CSOs:
• Support stakeholder groups to identify their training needs
• Work with PIU Project Managers, Technical Advisors and other resource persons to design training or other capacity-building interventions
• Organise, coordinate and personally facilitate the planned interventions
• Support stakeholder groups to mobilise their own resources to contribute to the effort
• Promote teamwork within community mobilisers and stakeholders in the sub-county
• Facilitate community leadership development, gender equality and the promotion of the rights of the child.

Safeguarding, Gender Equality & Inclusion

• Ensure that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant must hold a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science, Development Studies or any other related technical field
• At least two years of experience in facilitating the implementation and monitoring of community managed projects and familiarity with children’s issues in particular
• Previous experience in use of participatory approaches to programming; well conversant with PRA (appraisal tool) skills and application
• Knowledge and application of rights-based approach to programming; experience in child-centred community development
• Knowledge of basic laws and policies related to children – UNCRC, Children’s Act, Local Government decentralization policy
• Experience in the design, implementation, and monitoring of community development projects
• Experienced in networking with NGOs, local government partners, and local community-based organizations

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested Ugandan applicants should apply online at the link below.

Click Here

Deadline: 3^rd February 2023