Yamba Malawi
Job Advert: Field Facilitator – Child Focused Poverty Graduation Programs, Yamba Malawi
Position: FIELD FACILITATOR (8 positions)
Location: T/A Nankumba, Mangochi, Malawi
Reports to: Program Officer
Language(s): English, Chichewa, other local languages beneficial
THE ORGANISATION
Yamba Malawi transforms children’s lives by empowering communities to break the cycle of poverty. We acknowledge that strained resources, poor safety nets, and limited ca regiver capacity lead to poor childhood development outcomes, particularly during children’s first five years, and have lifelong effects. Limited financial literacy and insufficient access to formal financial services hinder community and caregivers’ efforts to invest in their children’s futures. And lack of economic opportunity creates a cycle of extreme poverty that increases childhood vulnerability and has lifelong effects on children’s growth, development, and happiness.
Yamba Malawi’s signature Childhoods and Livelihoods program uses a holistic 3-pronged approach to addressing these complex and interrelated sets of challenges: 1. improving nurturing care and support for children through the strengthening of community safety nets and services, and increasing caregiver knowledge and skills in best practices for childhood wellbeing and early childhood development (ECD), 2. increasing access to financial knowledge and services, including training, savings and credit, and budgeting to improve the use of income on children’s existing and future needs, and 3. improving economic resilience through diverse income generating activities that provide increased income to meet children’s basic needs.
Working at the household and community level, the Program includes a planned, time-bound sequence of activities that pairs the transfer of business assets with training, savings promotion, short-term income stabilisation, and critical ECD and childhood wellbeing coaching that enables caregivers to plan beyond immediate needs and build foundations to improve their children’s futures.
Position Description
We are seeking highly motivated and enthusiastic Field Facilitators for implementing Yamba Malawi’s child-focused ultra-poor graduation program in Traditional Authority Nankumba, Mangochi District.
Responsibilities:
Program Activity planning and implementation
- Ensure participation of partners, community members and stakeholders in the process of project planning and implementation of the proposed activities.
- Participate in the selection of program participants
- Support in developing program activity plans and schedules while ensuring alignment with program design, facilitates activities and reports to the Program Officer.
- Directly implement activities (together with local partners) and train program participants in child focused poverty graduation related activities which include business development and entrepreneurship (including agribusiness), OVC (with special focus on ECD), natural resource, gender, health, nutrition, water and sanitation related issues according to needs
- Facilitate community awareness and sensitization meetings
- Build the capacity of teachers in ECD services
- Support program elements that aim at strengthening family and community care:
- Implement program elements that aim at empowering communities to take the responsibility of supporting volunteers through community initiatives.
- Ensure that all project interventions are carried out with full participation of the community and other stakeholders and as outlined in the project/agreement and in accordance with the organizations programming principles
- Provide mentoring and coaching support to households through visits and helping them set their semi-annual, and annual goals and targets
- Coordinate cash and asset inputs provided to program participants in collaboration with the Program Officer and key community structures.
- Facilitate preparatory and post activities related to asset and cash transfers for the targeted households, and follows up and monitors positive utilization of the cash
- Support development of viable business plans for households to mentor them as business champions and support them to new opportunities for markets.
- Facilitate vulnerable households and communities’ linkage to financial services and resources, including training, access to savings and credit, and budgeting to improve the use of income on children’s existing and future needs.
- Promote microfinance/savings through establishment of Village Savings and Loans Associations.
Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)
- Conduct scheduled field visits with partners, program participants and other stakeholders to follow up and provide support as needed.
- Accurately collect data using both paper-based and/or digital data collection gadgets, and enter the project data and information into the appropriate data repositories
- Comply to Research data handling expectations
- Submit quality narrative program activities on weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis
- Ensure timely reconciliation and reporting of program activity funds to ensure accuracy ad transparency.
- Ensure staff, partners, program participants and other stakeholders in compliance with Child Safeguarding Policy.
- Facilitate and participate in program review and learning meetings
- Develop and submit case studies/change stories monthly
Stakeholder and Community Engagement
- Establish and maintain partnerships at community level
- Participate in identifying community and household needs,
- Represent Yamba Malawi in the project location and relevant forums i.e. ADC, VDC meetings and have regular consultations with local partners, stakeholders and key program participants in the assigned community.
Minimum Qualifications, Relevant Experience, Professional/Technical Knowledge/Skill and Competencies
- A minimum of an Advanced Diploma in Community Development, Social Work, Project Management or equivalent
- Two (2) years’ Proven experience in working in a busy or similar environment as a Field Officer/Field Facilitator or similar position in a busy NGO.
- A valid motorcycle license.
- Good command of English and Chichewa (both reading and speaking).
- Friendly, respectful and ability to easily establish rapport with strangers
- Ability to work independently as well as collaborate in a team environment.
- Ability to teach in an engaging way to a large group with limited literacy and numeracy.
- Ability to diagnose the diverse ways in which individual households are struggling or lagging behind and tailoring advice appropriately.
- Familiarity with technology (tablets, survey software) is required.
- Excellent organizational and time management skills as well as attention to detail.
Method Of Application
Applications from qualified candidates, including a CV and a cover letter that justifies the relevance of the candidate’s background and experience to the position should be sent to [email protected] no later than March 22nd, 2024. Please include “Field Facilitator” in the subject line.