Vacancy Announcement
Closing date: 18 March 2008
Job Title: Coordinator
Job Location: Addis Abeba, Ethiopia
Contract Length: Six months
Start Date: 15 April 2008

Background:

The idea of establishing an entity that would coordinate the engagement of CSOs with the African Union (AU) was initiated at a training workshop organized in November 2007 entitled Understanding the African Union and Seizing Opportunities for Change. The workshop was organized by two international and two Ethiopian organizations: Afroflag Youth Vision, Oxfam GB, the African Centre for Humanitarian Action (ACHA) and African Rally for Peace and Development. The objective of the workshop was to lay the groundwork for Ethiopian CSO understanding of the AU and its functions as a means of encouraging greater engagement between the two. As a result of the workshop, a task force was established with the mandate of coordinating and facilitating the activities of participating CSOs and to encourage that of others around the continent in their engagement with the AU. The task force has since become the Center for Citizens’ Participation in the AU (CCP-AU).

The organizations that comprise the CCP-AU are as follows:

- Action Aid-Ethiopia
- The African Centre for Humanitarian Action (ACHA)
- African Rally for Peace and Development (ARPD)
- Afroflag Youth Vision (AYV)
- Christian Relief and Development Association (CRDA
- Organization for Social Justice in Ethiopia (OSJE)
- Oxfam GB

The objectives of the centre are to:

- Enhance Ethiopian CSO engagement in the activities of the AU;
- Scale up meaningful involvement of Ethiopian CSOs within a continental framework;
- Promote succeeding bi-annual CSO continental conferences in the lead-up to the AU summit; and
- Communicate CSO viewpoints on various protocols, treaties and charters of the African Union.

Description of the position: The CCP-AU Coordinator will undertake the following activities:

1. Institutional

a. Legal registration of the Centre
b. Develop a communications strategy
i. A website
ii.A media strategy
iii.Branding
iv.etc

c. Establish national chapters/nodes for the centre as a means of making it a continental body
d. Identify institutional funding for CCP-AU

2. Programme Initiation

a. Outreach
i. AU
ii.CSOs
iii.Other relevant partners
b. Standardization of a CCP-AU CSO-AU engagement training manual
c. Plan a CSO training in Cairo, Egypt in April 2008
d. Plan the third biannual CSO continental conference: Cairo, Egypt in June 2008
i.Scope of conference
ii.Speakers and attendees
iii.Financing
iv.Logistics

e. Engage in the AU-EU joint strategy CSO consultations
f. Establish and operationalise the AU-CSO InfoCenter

Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in the social sciences.
- Four years professional experience.
- At least two years pan-African work experience.
- Experience with advocacy and coordination.
- Knowledgeable about the AU and African CSO movements.
- Connected to continental CSO experts.
- Able to plan and facilitate trainings.
- Adept at written and oral communication.
- Self-starter.
- Fluent in French and English.

Desirable:
- Masters degree in the social sciences or 4-6 years equivalent experience.
- National of one of the AU’s member states.
- Proficiency in Amharic.

Vacancies Contact:
Please send a letter of motivation and resume to: [email][email protected] . Only complete applications will be accepted. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. No other acknowledgements will be sent. Qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply.