Regional Facilitator for Anglophone Africa

The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) is a global coalition of over 150 organizations dedicated to advancing the forest, land, and resource rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, Afro-descendant Peoples, and in particular the women within these groups. RRI’s members capitalize on each other’s strengths, expertise, and geographic reach to achieve solutions more effectively and efficiently. RRI leverages the power of its global coalition to amplify the voices of local peoples and proactively engage governments, multilateral institutions, and private sector actors to adopt institutional and market reforms that support the realization of rights.

Regional Facilitator for Anglophone Africa

The Facilitator will work closely with the Africa Program Director, the Africa Program Associates, and others within RRI to facilitate the planning process, monitoring and technical assistance to implementation of all RRI strategies, donor reporting, and communications. 

The Facilitator will work independently and will not represent any one RRI Partner or Collaborator during annual work planning or implementation of activities. The Facilitator will perform her/his duties according to an established work plan for 2024, which could be adjusted according to RRI´s strategic priorities and will support the RRI planning cycles.

Key responsibilities include:

• Support Partners and Collaborators (P&C) to develop their strategies, activities, and budgets both for the Africa Program and Strategic Response Mechanisms (SRMs).
• Provide technical support to P&C for the implementation of the planned activities, ensuring that plans respond to expected outcomes, promoting communication and coordination among organizations under the guidance of the Africa Program Director.
• Support the Africa Program Associates in the monitoring of strategies implementation, informing the Secretariat of any unforeseen difficulties to comply with planned strategy.
• Encourage synergies and cross-regional learning among RRI P&C and resource people.
• Maintain regular communication with and among P&C and other members of the Coalition in Africa to generate discussions and analysis around the political landscape in Africa.
• Identify challenges and opportunities for RRI strategy implementation in Africa, particularly related to the Network of African Land Institutions for Community Rights (ALIN), and a regional theory of change/strategy.
• Highlight key successes and learning during project implementation and work with the Africa Program Associates to write blog posts and other communication materials.
• Assist in coordination & implementation of ongoing 2024 projects and efforts for the preparation of 2025 strategies.

Responsibilities and Duties:

1. Technical Assistance to Partners and Collaborators (P&C)

• Facilitate the development of concept notes and budgets with P&C that match the annual work plan, particularly for new collaborators and coalitions.
• Identify, recommend and support P&C to develop Strategic Response Mechanism (SRM) proposals that meet the criteria. Support SRM proposals´ timely processing.
• Contribute to linking the P&C to government, research and civil society actors relevant to the effective achievement of their strategic outcomes/activities.
• Hold meetings with local Partners, Collaborators, and allies to enhance collaboration and synergies, provide updates on country strategy implementation to identify and assess opportunities to expand impact in target countries.
• Provide inputs from P&Cs for RRI monitoring and donor reporting and ensure that reports follow RRI criteria to be submitted in a timely manner.
• Monitor planned implementation at country and regional levels.
• Work under the direction of the Africa Program Director to facilitate communication and resolve issues with P&C and other members of the Coalition.
• Review Collaborators’ narrative progress reports to see if the program is successfully meeting its goals or identify areas of improvement.

2. Strengthen the Synergies among Partners and Collaborators in country and regional platforms and channel global RRI communications to the Region

• Arrange and participate in meetings with government and CSOs, at request of P&C or RRI, to discuss issues related to forest land tenure and rights, keeping P&C and RRI informed of the meetings, both before and after such key meetings.
• Enhance communication among P&C in the region and RRI-related advocacy, including the Network of African Land Institutions for Community Rights (ALIN) and other community networks, contributing to promote RRI global and country/regional strategies, and relevant publications and tools, news, and data.
• Provide opportunities for cross-learning among country P&C in the region on forest land tenure reform, climate change and enterprise development and other global RRI themes.
• In preparation for the country planning meetings, identify potential issues to address and the organizations of key informants to contribute to RRI’s country and regional strategy.

3. Regional Analysis and Documentation

• As requested, the Facilitator will provide his/her technical expertise to support regional analysis on issues related to forest tenure, rights, and community forestry in target region as well as new political, social and economic regional and global trends that effect or represent opportunities for RRI strategy in the target country.
• Document and share important cases related to forest tenure models, forest-based enterprise development, realizing rights and benefit enhancement and sharing by communities through tenure reform
• Provide updated reports on the socio-political, and economic context of the target region monthly.

Minimum Requirements

• Candidates must be based in either Kenya or Liberia and be a resident of and/or have a permit to legally work in one of these countries.
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in program facilitation, project management, or regional coordination in Africa.
• Knowledge of forest land tenure, community rights, and climate change issues in Africa.
• Professional-level proficiency in English required.
• Ability to travel within the region to meet with partners and collaborators, and occasionally to global meetings.
• Ability to communicate regularly with the RRI office based in Washington, DC, including occasionally in the evenings to accommodate the time difference.
• Ability to work independently and meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to facilitate discussions and coordinate among multiple stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Degree in social sciences, international development, environmental studies, or related field.
• Experience working with diverse stakeholders including NGOs, government agencies, and international donors.
• Proficiency in other languages used locally or regionally would be an asset.
• Technical proficiency in monitoring and evaluation, with experience in reporting to donors.
• Strong analytical skills to identify challenges and opportunities within the regional political landscape.

Key Contract Terms

This will be a six-month contract, with the option for renewal or transfer to an employment agreement at the end of the contract term. The consultant will be paid an hourly/daily fee for all activities undertaken against the scope of work, plus reimbursement of any approved expenses/materials. It is estimated that a contractor would need to plan for ~15 days equivalent work per month.

Applications will be accepted immediately and interviews conducted on a rolling basis.