Junior EU Aid Volunteer / Project Development

Junior EU Aid Volunteer / Project Development

ACTED:

Since 1993, as an international non-governmental organization, ACTED has been committed to immediate humanitarian relief to support those in urgent need and protect people’s dignity, while co-creating longer term opportunities for sustainable growth and fulfilling people’s potential.

ACTED endeavours to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience; promote inclusive and sustainable growth; co-construct effective governance and support the building of civil society worldwide by investing in people and their potential.

We go the last mile: ACTED’s mission is to save lives and support people in meeting their needs in hard to reach areas. With a team of 4,600 national staff 400 international staff, ACTED is active in 37 countries and implements more than 500 projects a year reaching over 11 million beneficiaries.

The EU Aid Volunteers initiative provides opportunities to European citizens and long-term residents, from a wide range of backgrounds and with a diversity of skills and professional experience, to get involved in humanitarian aid projects, support the provision of needs based humanitarian aid in third countries and engage in volunteering opportunities, through deployment.

Philippines’ context:

The Philippines is composed of 7,107 islands with three major ones: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The country records a yearly population growth rate of 2%, with 26.3% of the population living below the poverty line. Located along the typhoon belt in the Pacific, the Philippines is hit by an average of 20 increasingly severe and frequent typhoons every year; hence the country is ranked 4th on the Climate Risk Index.

Even though the Philippines is one of the most dynamic markets in the Asian region with sound economic fundamentals and a young highly-skilled workforce, income disparities are becoming a critical issue. Increasing inequalities emphasise pre-existing societal challenges and are identified as a major driver of environmental degradation. The poorest are struggling to survive with insufficient and inadequate resources. On top of this, the Mindanao region is affected by internal conflicts aside from natural disasters leading to regular movements of population and exacerbating the poverty level.

ACTED has been working in the Philippines since 2012, in the immediate aftermath of Typhoon Pablo supporting affected households in Davao Oriental Province of Mindanao. ACTED has been supporting typhoons-affected communities and meting their basic needs, by providing food, water, shelter and other essential noon food relief items.

Since then, supporting a rapid transition to early recovery and rehabilitation towards long-term development, ACTED’s interventions focused on food security, disaster risk management, water, sanitation and hygiene, sustainable livelihoods and shelter. ACTED teams also provide much needed support to populations that have to suffer from internal conflicts on the island of Mindanao where ISIL-affiliated groups are operating.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1.Fundraising

1.1 Context Analysis

• Contribute to the analysis of the country’s socio-economic situation, (donor) trends, needs and gaps;
• Compile the who does what and where (3W) analysis.

1.2 External relations

• Regularly update a directory of donors, international and local NGOs, other partners and stakeholders;
• Contribute to the reporting to national and local authorities as required by ACTED registration/legal status in country;
• When requested, represent ACTED in key clusters and working group meetings.

1.3 Fundraising and proposal development

• Support in the identification funding opportunities;
• Contribute to the identification of potential relevant international and/or local partners (private sector partners, national and international NGOs, think tanks, academia, etc.) to be included in proposals;
• Contribute to the development of fundraising documents (be it expression of Interests/ Concept Notes/ Proposals) in line with ACTED country strategy and donor requirements and in close collaboration with AMEU, project managers, technical coordinators and FLATS teams as directed by the PDM / Country Director and with ACTED HQ GMU (Grant Management Unit) and finance;
• Integrate learning from previous interventions (e.g. lessons learnt and best practices) into new proposals.

1.4.Contracting

• Contribute to addressing in a timely manner all comments by donors on proposals in liaison with relevant staff in country and ACTED HQ GMU and finance;
• Read thoroughly all contracts before signature, seeking ACTED HQ GMU and finance advice when required.

2.Grant Management 

2.1 Contract follow-up

• Ensure that contractual obligations (including visibility requirements) and reporting deadlines are known and met by Programme, AMEU and FLATS team;
• When any issue is identified in meeting deliverables in the given timeframe and budget, inform relevant staff in country and seek ACTED HQ Program Department advice on potential solutions that would meet donor rules.

2.2. Reporting

• Participate in and take minutes of kick-off and close out meetings for each project
• Write quality narrative reports, reflecting the progress and status of projects in a transparent, timely and professional manner, in liaison with ACTED HQ GMU and finance, which will contribute ultimately to steady cash inflow;
• Work in close relation with AMEU to incorporate AME data (incl. data on input, process, output, outcome and impact indicators, lessons learnt and best practices) in reports and review M&E reports from AMEU;
• Liaise with FLATS teams when preparing reports, especially with finance to ensure greater coherence between financial and narrative reports by crosschecking the matching of data in the narrative and financial reports;
• Contribute to the monthly update of the Reporting Follow Up (RFU) and ensure smooth and regular communication with ACTED HQ GMU.
• Ensure ad hoc requests from donors are addressed in liaison with the CD, programme and support teams;

2.3 Partner Follow-up

• Liaise with partners when required to develop relevant grant agreements in close coordination with ACTED HQ GMU and finance;
• Ensure partners report to ACTED in a timely and qualitative manner as per the requirements of the grant agreement.

3.Management and Internal Coordination

3.1. Internal Coordination and Communication

• Facilitate interdepartmental communication and information sharing from the Base, to the Area, Capital, and even up to the regional and HQ offices by taking minutes of the various ACTED coordination meetings
• Ensure these meeting minutes are sent monthly to HQ;
• Keep ACTED HQ GMU and finance updated on latest developments, opportunities and challenges so that GMU can best advice on the way forward.

3.2. Filing

• File properly contractual project documents both in hard and soft copies;
• Update regularly the Resource Centre at the office with appropriate and relevant external and internal resources.

4.External Communication

• Contribute to ACTED external communication strategy by feeding regularly ACTED HQ Communication Department with informal updates on projects, a flash news, pictures, articles on projects progress and/or specific events for ACTED communication tools, including, but not limited to, ACTED Newsletter, websites and ACTED Annual Report;
• Ensure the update and design of in country communication and visibility tools and publications, their dissemination and availability to ACTED teams, as well as the capitalization of media and pictures of the mission.

5.EUAV Communications

• During the deployment period, the volunteers will have to realize communications activities in order to raise awareness of the EUAV imitative, share volunteer experiences and opportunities, encourage spirit of volunteerism and positive activism and create European connections.
• The EU Aid Volunteer will have to follow his/her communications plan, built with the Communications department during the induction session.

• Demonstrating leadership
• Volunteering mind-set
• Autonomy
• Accountability

Specific competences

• Understanding the humanitarian context of the EU Aid Volunteers initiative and applying humanitarian principles
• Managing projects in humanitarian contexts

Technical competences

• Project Development

Interview process:

Candidates will be shortlisted and invited to take part in a Skype or face-to-face interview (depending on location). Two-interview process with relevant stakeholders from HR and Program departments and staff based in the field.

Please note that the final stage of the recruitment process for this position will be a mandatory ten day training. The training will take place from 25th September – 9th October in Belgium. Candidates who are shortlisted will need to be available to attend the mandatory training. In preparation for this the selected candidates will be required to undertake 30 hours of e-learning prior to attending the face-to-face training. Costs for travel and accommodation to attend this stage in the recruitment process will be provided. The final selection will then take place after successful completion of the online and face-to-face training.

Apply today!

Send your application by mail (jobs@acted.org) with your:

• Europass resume
• Application form
• Cover letter
• Self-assessment questionnaire

under Ref: EU AV PDI/PHI