CSO Coordination Associate - Social Cohesion

Volunteering Communications & PR

Overview

Support civil society organizations to foster public participation and social cohesion

You have:

• Experience working with civil society organizations and actors and coordinating between organizations to ensure project delivery
• Experience in monitoring and reporting on project implementation
• Excellent oral, written skills in English and in Sinhala/Tamil languages
• Excellent interpersonal skills, cultural and social sensitivity and the ability to work in a diverse working environment
• Strong overall community literacy skills including proficiency in Microsoft office applications
• Self-motivated with the ability to meet strict deadlines
• Desirable: Support project operations functions in collaboration with the project operations team

Contract

This is a UNV National Expert contract. This kind of contract is known as National UN Volunteer. It is normally only for nationals. More about UNV National Expert contracts.

The recent economic crisis and the subsequent political changes, including a dramatic overhaul of the parliament in the recently held general election, indicate that the general public is demanding a shift in how previous governments have been working in Sri Lanka. Amidst this demand, Sri Lanka is witnessing a change in new government priorities, including creating an efficient public sector and an ethically and socially responsible nation devoid of ethnic and religious divisions. At a time when the social contract between the state and its citizenry has been disrupted and there is clear demand for revitalizing the same, identifying pathways to do so requires attempts to create collaborative dialogue and advocacy around multiple issue areas affecting peace and stability in the country.

Multiple and overlapping challenges, such as the economic transition amidst IMF imposed austerity measures, proposed revival of traditional industries, such as agriculture, for paving the way for financial stability and enhancing the growth potential of the country, addressing issues, such as the spread of hate speech and disinformation and promoting more ethical and responsible use of digital sphere for maximizing its potential for country’s development using opportunities for innovation and collaboration, requires partnerships across different sectors; agreements on new policies; and platforms for exchange and innovation.

The project “Promoting Participation Pathways for Human Development – 3P4D” under the Civic Space Flagship of the GPCR Funding Window is a global project with Sri Lanka included among four other developing nations in promoting structural reforms aimed at fostering an enabling environment for people's participation in public life. These reforms will focus on an appropriate combination of the following elements:

• Regulatory frameworks for civic space: Legal and administrative provisions regulating the exercise of freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly and the protection of human rights defenders. • Citizen participation infrastructure: The concrete mechanisms and processes that allow people to participate in different aspects of public life, such as procedures enabling citizen input into policymaking. • Civil society strengthening infrastructure: Mechanisms to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations, including by strengthening their financial viability either through public investment (e.g., social innovation funds) or private capital (innovative financing solutions). The project adopts a strong gender equality lens, focusing on enhancing women’s participation and leadership in decision-making processes. As such, it streamlines gender equality principles and all of its outcomes, with one key output fully dedicated to women’s empowerment. In addition, the project will systematically address the issue of young people’s inclusion in public life with at least one result per country, explicitly contributing to advancing young people’s leadership and participation in public life by providing support to youth-led organizations.

• Assist the Technical Specialist to conduct relevant project field visits. • Participate and report back on CSO meetings and forums in the field. • Support managing the collaborative leadership engagements and the facilitation of advocacy efforts. • Support the Technical Specialist to coordinate between the CSOs and closely monitor and report on the project implementation process • Support CSOs to coordinate work between govt institutions foe effective delivery of project initiatives. with • Support for completion of assessments required by UNDP, spot checks and audits of the CSO portfolio • Supporting the Technical Specialist to oversee all contractors’ work. • Support the organizing/coordinating of public events such as meetings, launching events, training programmes, workshops, field visits, outreach and awareness-raising campaigns, and seminars • Assist in preparing resource materials, and draft meeting notes/minutes. • Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

• Accountability • Adaptability and flexibility • Creativity • Judgement and decision-making • Planning and organising • Professionalism • Self-management

• Experience working with civil society organizations and actors and coordinating between organizations to ensure project delivery • Experience in monitoring and reporting on project implementation • Excellent oral, written skills in English and in Sinhala/Tamil languages • Excellent interpersonal skills, cultural and social sensitivity and the ability to work in a diverse working environment including working with grassroots community organizations, members as well as religious leaders • Strong overall community literacy skills including proficiency in Microsoft office applications • Self-motivated with the ability to meet strict deadlines, collaborate in teams whilst working towards achieving targets set under the social cohesion pillar of the inclusive governance team. • Desirable : Support project operations functions in collaborations with the project operations team

Sri Lanka is an island nation located off the south coast of India. It’s home to an estimated population of over 21 million people. It is a multi- ethnic, multi- cultural and multi- religious country. Colombo is situated in the Western Province of Sri Lanka and is the commercial capital of the country. The city is located on the west coast of the island, adjacent to the administrative capital, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte. Bandaranaike International Airport is located 35km from Colombo and is served by the main international airlines.

Sri Lanka is a tropical country with moderate temperate and high humidity all throughout the year. Average temperature in Colombo ranges between 27 and 30 degrees Celsius. The island experiences two main monsoon seasons, where heavy rainfalls occur, from May to August and October to January. Sri Lankan food is characterized by fragrant spices, all forms of coconut, and rice. Rice and curry are the main dishes. Sri Lankan cuisine tends to be quite spicy.

There are hotels and other types of accommodation options available in Colombo. Supermarkets, banking and medical facilities are present within the city. Telephone and Internet service is widely available. Phone plans and data are inexpensive; however, you should not expect internet service to work consistently or at high speed.

At present Sri Lanka is undergoing high inflation and an economic crisis. The public unrest and protests are common. The prices of common commodities fluctuate regularly and shortages can also be experienced.

Sri Lanka became a member of the United Nations on 14 December 1955

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Potential interview questions

Added 1 year ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: unv.org