The Organisation
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation 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 it’s 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 support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.
We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.
The Opportunity
Plan International seeks an outstanding Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Expert [Position ****Contingent upon the pending and full ToR being published by the donor and *Contingent upon successful securing of the funding by Plan International*] to provide overall technical support (in thematic area of Comprehensive Sexuality Education) to the design and implementation of the anticipated UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s (FCDO) funded programme in Sierra Leone which will aim to improve access to education, learning, and sexual and reproductive health information for over 800,000 adolescent girls and children with disability in Sierra Leone. The programme will be delivered over 5 years (TBC). Further details including budget and geographical scope are yet to be confirmed.
Responsibilities
Technical delivery
Lead the quality planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the programme’s CSE interventions across the consortium
Provide technical support to Government of Sierra Leone staff working with the consortium in the implementation of the programme’s CSE related activities
Support and contribute to the writing of the inception report to the donor and other regular reports to be produced throughout the programme
Support the development of costed annual workplans, as needed.
Ensure that Plan Internationals global policies for Child Protection (CPP), Safeguarding, and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded across CSE project interventions
Ensure documentation of case studies, best practices and lessons learned.
Support M&E colleagues in formulating indicators to measure the effectiveness of CSE interventions and in the development of the M&E Framework
Based on M&E findings, support the process of adapting programming to ensure that CSE interventions are most effective/ relevant to context are applied across the programme
External representation and relationship building:
Represent Plan International Sierra Leone at project management committee meetings, consortium and government partner meetings at district, regional and national levels on behalf of the consortium, as needed
Build strong relationships with national, regional and district level Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health (and other relevant line ministries) officials responsible for addressing gender inequalities in education and CSE related matters. Coordinate regularly to ensure close alignment and complementarity of Government activities with those CSE interventions of the programme
Work with relevant Government representatives to ensure project CSE interventions are focused on sustainability post project implementation
Engage with key national, regional, and community stakeholders, including government representatives, donor, civil society, and academic institutions as needed
Present to various audiences on the technical CSE aspects of the programme design and implementation and support the process of dissemination of learning.
Support and capacity building to delivery teams:
Provide hands-on support to the Plan Sierra Leone project delivery team, as well as across consortium partners where needed.
Promote mutual understanding and the sharing of ideas, information and experience on CSE issues among team members
Carry out capacity gap assessments and analysis with Plan International UK for Plan Sierra Leone project staff and coordinate training sessions based on gaps identified by the project.
GENERAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) 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.
Ensure staff understand Plan International’s commitment to driving a feminist agenda within the organisation, and the ambition for gender equality and gender transformative leadership is embedded in our value- based leadership framework.
The Person
In order to succeed in the challenging and varied role, you will have extensive experience in the following areas:
Applied technical knowledge in thematic area of CSE, including knowledge of related attitudes, behaviours, and social norms in Sierra Leone
Knowledge of various strategies and interventions to support/ promote CSE is essential
Strong passion and commitment to championing CSE and to challenging harmful gender and social norms and behaviours
Significant experience implementing or advising large-scale, consortium-led, multi-year interventions to support CSE in challenging contexts, ideally in Sierra Leone.
Strong understanding of the contextual challenges faced by communities in Sierra Leone as well as solid working experience in the country
Preferably, experience working/ advising FCDO-funded contracts with results-based delivery on projects
Strong relationships with CSE sector specialists and relevant government offices in Sierra Leone would be an advantage
Experience working with/ through partners, including building technical capacity of implementing partner organisations and government staff
Experience of liaising with and supporting governments to deliver CSE strategies at different levels
Experience working and collaborating with diverse sets of stakeholders, such as local NGOs, government officials, donor representatives, local and international staff
Experience in contributing to development of robust M&E and Learning frameworks for CSE interventions; Experience in supporting the design of both qualitative and quantitative M&E tools
Familiarity with girl-cantered, participatory approaches to data collection
Strong public presentation skills and ability to represent the programme to a variety of audiences ranging from government representatives, donor, academic institutions, civil society, community representatives, and other as required.
Strong communication skills, including advanced report writing skills
Education and language
Degree in a relevant field, for example, Gender Studies, Gender and Education, Gender and Development, Public Health, Development Studies, or Sociology
Fluency in English - both spoken and written
Knowledge of languages spoken in Sierra Leone would be an advantage
Type of Role: Fixed term contract (number of years TBC). Contract will be renewable on annual basis depending on performance, funding etc.; Unaccompanied position
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone. Travel to programme field locations required (frequency TBC)
Salary: Competitive salary available
Reports to: Project Team Leader; Plan Sierra Leone Country Director (TBC)
Closing Date: 21st Dec 2021
How to apply:
Qualified candidates should send their CV and cover letter to programmeresourcing@plan-uk.org. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis and only short-listed candidates will be contacted.**
Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.
Please note that only applications and CVs written in English will be accepted.
A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Child Protection Policy.
As an international child centred community development organisation, Plan International is fully committed to promoting the realisation of children's rights including their right to protection from violence and abuse. That means we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with.
Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. We must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.
Plan International operates an equal opportunities policy and actively encourages diversity, welcoming applications from all areas of the international community.