Musawah (www.musawah.org) is a global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family that advances rights for women living in Muslim contexts, in both their public and private lives. Launched in February 2009 at a Global Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that was attended by over 250 women and men from some 50 countries of Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and the Pacific, we act to strengthen the movement, build knowledge and advocate for change in discriminatory laws and practices.
Musawah is currently seeking a Programme Officer based in the MENA region to coordinate Musawah’s activities in the region, including Musawah’s Campaign for Justice, movement building, international advocacy, knowledge and capacity building initiatives. The MENA Programme Officer will be a core member of the Musawah Programmes and Secretariat team. S/he will report directly to the Senior MENA Expert on substantive programme work, and to the Programme Director on programme operations and Secretariat work.
Closing date of applications: May 31st, 2024
Responsibilities
MENA Regional Programme Management
Work with the Senior MENA Expert to:
– Implement Musawah’s activities and strategies for the region.
– Ensure that all programme activities are delivered on time, within scope and budget.
– Represent Musawah at meetings with regional partners, training sessions and workshops, and maintain comprehensive documentation of these events in Musawah’s shared drive and AirTable.
– Monitor and evaluate the impact and results of Musawah’s activities under the programme and ensure clear and comprehensive documentation is kept.
– Develop impact reports, as required, to support Musawah’s reporting and engagement needs.
– Contribute to fundraising activities, donor reports and donor relations related to the region.
Campaign for Justice in Muslim Family Laws (CFJ), Advocacy & Outreach
Work with the Senior MENA Expert and CFJ Programme Officer to:
– Implement the MENA CFJ Strategy activities in the areas of Outreach, Knowledge Building, Capacity Building, International Advocacy and Communications.
– Spearhead movement building and establishing a sense of community, connection and common purpose among Musawah Advocates and allies in the MENA region,and promote their work.
– Map the actors, issues and challenges on Muslim Family Laws and Practices in national contexts across the region, and update them in the Musawah country tables and tables on positive developments in Muslim Family Laws and Practices for the countries in the region, based on the agreed priority.
– Respond to and facilitate requests for regular information sharing among Advocates through various activities.
– Collaborating with identified country and national advocates on implementing CEDAW’s Concluding Observations which pertains to MFL reforms.
– Identifying and assisting advocates in preparing thematic reports to the CEDAW Committee
– Liaise and coordinate with Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law on activities and strategies for the region.
– Conduct relevant monitoring, evaluation and learning documentation and analysis to measure success and identify key lessons learned, and share those learnings and recommendations to help strengthen future work in the region.
Work with the International Advocacy (IA) Programme Officer to:
– Assist in the identification of and communication with regional advocates working on reporting within international mechanisms.
– Help in translation of any relevant regional IA material invitation letters, guides and materials into Arabic.
Work closely and liaise with other Regional Programme Officers for Sub Saharan Africa and Asia to develop ideas for cross-regional joint projects and share learnings.
Capacity & Knowledge Building
Collaborate with the Capacity Building Programme Officer & MENA Senior Expert to:
– Design, coordinate, implement and follow up on Musawah’s capacity building training programmes in the MENA region.
– Assist in undertaking the communication between Musawah and participants of training/events in the MENA region which includes translation of invitation letters, training guides and materials into Arabic.
– Conduct relevant monitoring, evaluation and learning documentation and analysis to measure success and identify key lessons learned, and share those learnings and recommendations to help strengthen future work in the region.
– In coordination with the CB Programme, reach out to and engage with advocates, scholars and experts for potential inclusion in Musawah’s pool of trainees and resource personnel.
– Maintain regular contact with alumni of Musawah’s trainings, track follow-up activities, and respond to their challenges and needs.
– Work closely with the Knowledge Building team in coordinating knowledge-related activities and disseminating Musawah knowledge and resources amongst the Musawah network and partners in the MENA region.
Overall Secretariat and Institution Building
– Participate in the Secretariat and all staff related meetings (virtual and in-person).
– Represent Musawah at various national, regional and international meetings.
– Identify and assess the risks and implications of activities carried out by the Secretariat in the MENA region as well as organizing support to develop mitigating strategies to address such risks.
– Contribute to the needs of the Secretariat, and assist other Secretariat members in any relevant work.
– Support the Secretariat with any administrative, logistics or backend work during Musawah organised training courses and/or events.
– Contribute to and uphold Musawah’s institution building initiatives such as establishing and adherence to policies and guidelines, governance and organisational strengthening.
– Collaborating with the communication team to effectively promote Musawah’s activities and achievements in the MENA region, and showcasing the work of local advocates and partner organisations. This involves composing short texts and stories for the newsletter, engaging content creators in the region, and actively participating in the planning and execution of online and offline activities.
– Carry out other duties as may be reasonably required to meet the primary objectives of the position.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
The team working with the Musawah Secretariat are not so much ‘staff’ as activists and professionals who are deeply committed to Musawah’s principles and who work together to advance Musawah. In this position, you would be expected to be mainly self-managing and self-motivated, contributing effectively to Musawah and passionately mobilising Musawah’s constituency towards achieving Musawah’s Vision for the Family.
As Musawah addresses equality and justice in the Muslim family, the majority of those leading Musawah and those working in the Secretariat are expected to have good knowledge and/or prior experience on Muslim family laws or practices.
The Programme Officer for MENA should be able to meet most of the following:
– At least three (3) years experience of the women’s movement and advocating for women’s rights in MENA.
– Have an interest in issues related to family laws and governance.
– Fluency in Arabic and English, with effective writing and communication skills.
– At least three (3) years experience coordinating programmes or projects, with proven ability to develop, implement and evaluate impact of activities. Experience working in MENA or Muslim contexts is required.
– Strong networking and interpersonal skills, with a “can do” attitude and a team player with proven ability to work collaboratively in global and virtual teams.
– Commitment and agreement with the basic principles of Musawah’s Framework for Action.
– Passionate belief in the vision, mission and objectives of Musawah, knowledge of issues related to women, gender and Islam, and a commitment to women’s human rights and a global feminist perspective.
– Strong sensitivity and commitment to diversity related to beliefs, perspectives, cultures, geography, and sexuality.
– Experience with and/or willingness to learn Google Suite, social media platforms and online advocacy tools (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Linkedin, etc.); website management (WordPress); customer relationship management and email marketing (Airtable and Mailchimp a plus); Zoom video conferencing; and other digital tools as needed.
– Strong organisational skills including time management and MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning) to manage priorities, with an eye for detail and rigorous reporting.
Musawah offers a competitive salary and benefits scheme, appropriate for such a position in the non-profit sector, dependent upon experience and qualifications.
The successful candidate will be located in the MENA country which s/he is applying from as the work entails engaging and networking with the national-level advocates and grassroots activists in the MENA region. You must have full working rights in the country in which you are applying.
How to Apply
Kindly fill in the Job Application Form and attach a current CV with contact information for at least two references, and a cover letter that expresses your particular interest and fit to work in an organisation like Musawah.
The application closing date is 31 May 2024.
We thank all those who apply; only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.