1. About Shamil
The Shamil technical assistance facility is a core component of the United Kingdom’s five-year programme Strengthening Societal and Economic Resilience in Jordan (SSERJ). The goal of the SSERJ programme is to support the Government of Jordan (GoJ) to build an inclusive and sustainable social protection system, protecting people from shocks and strengthening trust between the population and government, in line with the UK’s strong commitment to universal social protection. SSERJ consists of the following components:
- Technical assistance to strengthen the social protection system (known as the Shamil project);
- Financial assistance to pilot new social assistance and/or social insurance schemes;
- Financial assistance for vulnerable refugees and research to promote refugee economic inclusion and self-reliance; and,
- Technical assistance for monitoring, evaluation and lesson learning.
Shamil is the technical assistance component of SSERJ and is a four-year project that runs from 2023-2027. It aims to support the government of Jordan to build a comprehensive social protection system that ensures access for everyone, across the lifecycle. The project will promote greater gender equality, women's empowerment, and the inclusion of persons with disabilities and other at-risk groups within the national social protection system and more broadly across society.
Shamil supports the Government of Jordan across all aspects of social protection, including analysis of the challenges Jordan faces that can be addressed by social protection; policy development; evidence generation; and strengthening the design and effectiveness of social protection schemes. Shamil supports three areas of social protection: social security, social services and labour market access for women and persons with disabilities.
The Government of Jordan will be supported in its development of a more modern, progressive and comprehensive social protection system if it has the backing of civil society. Therefore, Shamil will provide support to civil society to build its understanding on a more inclusive and comprehensive social protection system across the areas of social security, social services and labour market access. This position will play a key role in taking forward Shamil’s engagement with civil society, in support of progressive change in government policy.
Shamil is being implemented by Development Pathways, in partnership with Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and MMIS Management Consultants.
2. About ARDD
Founded in 2008 in Amman, ARDD is a women-led national civil society organisation registered under the Ministry of Social Development. ARDD seeks to foster a new Nahda (Arab renaissance) project by putting disenfranchised people at the centre of development and reform efforts to achieve a balanced and equitable social, economic and political order. ARDD supports individuals and communities — including refugees and migrants — in acquiring and enjoying their social, political and economic rights, through legal aid and psychosocial support services, media and grassroots mobilisation, education and research and advocacy to raise stakeholders’ awareness locally, regionally and internationally about the challenges those vulnerable persons face in Jordan and the Arab Region. ARDD has a capable and passionate team, with about 100 members and ten branches across Jordan in Amman, Zarqa, Irbid, Mafraq, Karak, Al-Zaatari Refugee Camp and Al-Azraq Refugee Camp.
3. Purpose of the position
The purpose of the role is to take forward the Shamil programme’s efforts in building the capacity of civil society to engage in policy dialogue on social protection that promotes the development of a modern, comprehensive national social protection system under the auspices of ARDD.
4. Key Responsibilities:
The CSO specialist will:
- Lead in the design of training courses, conferences, seminars, workshops which will include activities such as, but not limited to:
- Drafting concept note for sessions, with guidance from Shamil TL
- Designing sessions and trainings based on Shamil policy scoping
- Identifying external consultants and facilitators when necessary
- Drafting participant lists
- Working alongside the Shamil Engagement Manager to plan and implement sessions
- Creating a final report including recommendations for next steps.
- Lead the delivery of capacity development activities and social protection advocacy opportunities for civil society, including, but not limited to:
- Civil society-policymaker dialogue sessions on inclusive labour market interventions for women (inclusive of youth)
- Civil society-policymaker dialogue sessions on inclusive labour market interventions for people with disabilities (inclusive of youth)
- Training for disability-focused CSOs on comprehensive social protection
- Training for child and youth-focused and gender-focused CSOs on comprehensive social protection
- Consultation sessions on social service provisions for people with disabilities
- Consultation sessions on social service provisions for care givers
- Consultation with other CSOs advocating for comprehensive social protection
- Training on the advocacy evaluation techniques for CSO nominated staff
- Implement evaluation techniques to generate a baseline report on advocacy effectiveness for CSOs.
5. Furthermore, as a member of the Shamil team the CSO specialist will:
- Support Shamil team in developing initiatives, plans and budgets for engaging with civil society (those responsibilities above), including the development of the project’s annual plan and budget.
- Contribute to the reporting and monitoring of Shamil’s progress in engaging with civil society.
- Develop strong and effective relations across civil society in Jordan, regularly meeting with key partners, while undertaking an analysis of which actors within civil society will be the most effective partners for Shamil.
- Contribute to the development of communications products that can be used to build the capacity of civil society on comprehensive social protection.
- Engender productive relations between civil society and government in taking forward policy dialogue on comprehensive social protection.
- Monitor the engagement of civil society in social protection, providing regular feedback to the broader Shamil team.
- Ensure promotion of greater gender equality, women’s empowerment and the inclusion of all members of society, including persons with disabilities.
6. Qualifications and Skills
- Master's degree in social sciences, journalism, communications, economics or a related field.
- Minimum of 5 years of experience working with civil society organisations in Jordan, preferably in a social policy context.
- Strong understanding of civil society dynamics, including governance structures, advocacy strategies and accountability mechanisms.
- Strong understanding of social protection landscape in Jordan.
- Arabic native speaker and fluency in English.
- Excellent communication, writing, networking and interpersonal skills.
- Proven ability to work effectively in multicultural environments and with diverse stakeholders.
- Proficiency in reporting.
7. Duration and Location
This position is full-time for a duration of 1 year, with the possibility of extension.
The Civil Society Specialist will be based 4 full days-a-week in Shamil’s office and 1 full day-a-week at ARDD premises, with occasional travel to project sites and meetings as required.
8. Reportingen
The Civil Society Specialist will report on activities and progress to Shamil’s Senior Social Protection Specialist and to ARDD management with the purpose of ensuring smooth communications and coherence.
For labor related issues the CSO will report to ARDD management.
To Apply for this Position kindly contact: [email protected]
Final deadline: 31 July 2024