Gender, Safeguarding and Inclusion Officer 39 views

About the Project 

Shayashone (SYS) PLC in partnership with the Ministry of Education of the FDRE (MoE), Mastercard Foundation, Arizona State University (ASU) is implementing a project titled ‘Strengthening Higher Education System through Utilization of Digital Technology.’ The project aims to enhance the quality, accessibility, and affordability of higher education by launching a digital Learning Management System across public universities in Ethiopia.

The project has four key components:

1. Building appropriate infrastructure (resource centers) integrated with the more extensive ICT system of the 50 public universities.
2. Adopting and rolling a digital learning and education platform ASU (OpenEdx) developed.
3. Building capacities of 100 system administrators, 35,000 instructors, and 800,000 students in management, content development, and utilization of the learning management system.
4. Supporting institutionalization and scale-up of e-learning for higher education and beyond by designing appropriate national policies and strategies.

The ultimate target of the project is to enhance/equip young graduates with the skills needed for employment and entrepreneurship in an equitable and cost-effective manner.

Short description of the position

The Gender, Safeguarding and Inclusion Officer will be responsible for ensuring that the e-learning for Strengthening Higher Education project is designed and implemented in a gender-responsive, inclusive, and safe manner. The officer will lead the integration of gender inclusion, and safeguarding considerations across all project components and activities. The officer will lead the integration of gender and social inclusion, and robust safeguarding measures across the project. Key duties include conducting analyses, developing tailored strategies, implementing accessibility features, establishing safeguarding procedures, and building capacity of the project team and stakeholders. The officer will work closely with the project management, universities, and the Ministry of Education to advance the rights, participation and empowerment of marginalized groups within this digital education initiative.

Role and responsibilities 

Gender and inclusion 

• Conduct analysis and assessments to identify barriers hindering the participation of female university leaders, instructors, students, and administrative personnel in the e-SHE initiative, and explore opportunities to increase their involvement.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive gender inclusion strategy, including specific goals, targets, and action plans, and support the e-SHE team to integrate these targets into each thematic area and cascade them to the universities.
• Devise and implement various strategies and awareness programs to facilitate the participation of female instructors and students in the e-SHE initiatives, and follow up on the implementation and results.
• Develop gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track progress and measure the project’s impact on gender inclusion, and monitor and evaluate the initiatives’ progress.
• Collect, analyze, and report on gender-disaggregated data to the team and the Mastercard Foundation to inform decision-making and ensure accountability.
• Facilitate learning and knowledge-sharing on effective gender-responsive approaches and good practices.
• Collaborate with stakeholders, including the Mastercard Foundation, universities and the Ministry of Education gender offices, to promote gender inclusion in digital education.

Safeguarding:

• Review the existing e-SHE safeguarding policies and procedures against the Mastercard Foundation safeguarding requirements and/or international standards and local law.
•  lead the safeguarding policies and procedures implementation to prevent and respond to all forms of abuse, exploitation, and harm, including sexual, physical and  emotional.
• Ensure that all e-SHE staff, instructors, participants and any other representatives of the organization are aware of the safeguarding policies and procedures, and are trained on how to recognize, report, and respond to safeguarding concerns.
• Establish and maintain effective reporting and referral mechanisms for safeguarding issues, ensuring confidentiality and the protection of survivors.
• Continuously monitor the safeguarding risks associated with the e-SHE program implementation, describe the identified risks, measure (rate) the likelihood and impact severity of the risks, determine the risk mitigation mechanisms, lead the implementation of the risk mitigation strategies, measure the results, and revise the portfolio of risk mitigation strategies.
• Ensure the organization’s self-assessment is conducted, an annual implementation plan is designed, and periodical report is prepared in and timely submitted.
• Actively and effectively participated in safeguarding community of practices organized by Mastercard Foundation for the exchange of learning and sharing practices.
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the safeguarding measures, document learnings and make recommendations for improvement.

Inclusion and accessibility 

• Ensure that the project’s activities, systems, and platforms are designed and implemented in an inclusive and accessible manner that intentionally benefit marginalized groups, including women, people with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, displaced persons, and others.
• Identify and address system and platform barriers to participation and inclusion for marginalized groups and inform the project team and technical partners (Arizona state University)
• Form youth representative groups (youth advisory groups) in all universities and facilitate their meaningful involvement and engagement in the project planning, execution, and monitoring.

Capacity Building and Awareness Raising

• In partnership the Mastercard Foundation team develop and deliver training programs on gender, inclusion, and safeguarding for e-SHE staff, instructors, and participants.
• Raise awareness and promote a culture of respect, diversity, and zero tolerance for discrimination and abuse within the e-SHE initiative.
• Provide technical support and guidance to the e-SHE team on integrating gender, inclusion, and safeguarding considerations into all aspects of the initiative.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

• Develop gender-responsive and inclusive monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track progress and measure the project’s impact on gender equality and social inclusion.
• Collect, analyze, and report on disaggregated data (by gender, age, disability, and other relevant characteristics) to the project and the Mastercard Foundation, inform decision-making and ensure accountability.
• Facilitate learning and knowledge-sharing on effective inclusive and gender-responsive approaches and good practices.

Competencies

Technical competencies

• Demonstrated expertise in conducting gender and intersectional analyses, developing gender-responsive and inclusive strategies, and implementing inclusive approaches
• Proficiency in data collection, analysis, and reporting, with experience in monitoring and evaluation
• Solid understanding of safeguarding policies, procedures, and legal requirements, particularly for preventing and responding to abuse, exploitation, and harm, including sexual, physical, emotional, and financial.
• Thorough familiarity with inclusion concepts, models, and inclusive design approaches to ensure accessibility and meaningful participation of marginalized groups
• Solid understanding of the Ethiopian higher education landscape and gender, inclusion and safeguarding dynamics

Benefit and compensation

• Highly attractive with possible career development opportunities

Duty station: Addis Ababa

Duration: One Year with a possible extension of up to two years

Reports to: Project Manager