Project Assistant 223 views3 applications

Reporting to: Program Officer

Location: Benghazi, Libya (Local Position-for Libyan only)

Type of position: L2S1

Application closing: Open until position is filled

Job start date: January, 2020

Contract Type and Duration: One-year renewable

Interpeace

Interpeace is an international organization for peacebuilding that supports locally led peacebuilding initiatives around the world. Interpeace tailors its approach to each society and ensures that the work is locally driven. Together with local partners and local teams, Interpeace jointly develops peacebuilding programmes and helps establish processes of change that connect local communities, civil society, government and the international community.

As a strategic partner of the United Nations, Interpeace is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and has offices around the world. For more information about Interpeace, please visit www.interpeace.org

Interpeace in Libya

Interpeace undertook its very first mission to Libya in September of 2011. In 2012 Interpeace developed a programme aimed at establishing an infrastructure for peace in Libya with a pilot phase in Sebha. By mid-2014, the programme had been able to make significant progress capturing a broad array of perspectives on impediments to peace and opportunities for stability in the South. The 2014 Libyan conflict led to a brief pause in Interpeace’s engagement in the country. In 2015 Interpeace initiated a peacemapping project focusing on the resilience of some Libyan communities.

Lessons learned from the peacemapping initiative formed the foundation for the “Community Resilience and Cohesion: A Bottom-up Approach to Peacebuilding in Libya” project from June 2017 through August 2019. This first phase of the program targeted Eighteen communities across Libya through a series of capacity building workshops on conflict management and analysis, and community facilitation skills for a selected groups of change agents with the goal of strengthening intra- and intercommunity cohesion in the country. The new phase of the project: “Strengthening Local Cohesion in Libya: A Pathway to Lasting Peace” will continue its work on supporting Libyan local communities to build up lasting peace through strengthening their capacities and providing them with the needed tools and technics enabling them to manage internal challenges, build consensus on priority areas with other communities, and connect these processes with the national level dialogue agenda.

Position within the Organization

The Project Assistant is a member of the Programme Management Unit which manages and implements all of Interpeace’s active and ongoing programmes around the world. The Programme Management Unit is led from the Headquarters office in Geneva, although team members are based in various locations including in Eastern and Central Africa, West Africa, Europe and the MENA region.

Purpose and General Overview

The Project Assistant reports to the Program Officer, providing assistance for the development & implementation of the program activities in the East of Libya. S/he is responsible for Interpeace’s Benghazi office management in coordination with the Operations Assistant and under the guidance of the Operations Officer based in Tripoli.

This post is a local position and involves regular travel to communities where the programme is engaged in the East as well as to the Tripoli and Tunis Interpeace offices.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Supports the Operations Assistant in establishing the new Interpeace Office in Benghazi;
• Supports the planning and management of program activities in the East in close coordination with relevant local communities, change agents, and local government authorities;
• Assists the Program Officer and the Policy and Advocacy Advisor in liaising with local government officials and community leaders with the aim of strengthening program presence and fostering closer working relationships in the implementation of program activities in the East;
• Supports in the identification of new change agents in the targeted communities in the East;
• Supports the logistics arrangements of community-based activities, workshops, focus group discussions, trainings, research and other program activities as requested;
• Maintains programmatic accountability for program activities including data collection for evaluation, record keeping of activities;
• Collects and documents community-based activity reports, photos, attendance lists, and monitors program social and other media mentions;
• Supports travel arrangements for participants in activities through provision of name lists, passport copies, and participation/confirmation lists to the Administrative Assistant to make hotel and flight bookings in a timely manner, circulating follow-up documents to activities participants, and distributing road costs and DSA;
• Conducts regular visits to targeted communities to provide recommendations for effective and efficient implementation of the activities;
• Provides technical input for the effective implementation of the program through assisting in the development and implementation of work plans, procurement and M&E plans.

The Project Assistant is to remain flexible and perform other duties as required for the effective running of the program. The Project Assistant will also demonstrate a commitment to the values and working principles of Interpeace both within the Interpeace team and in the broader regional and international community.

Requirements:

• Tertiary degree with fluency in spoken and written English and Arabic
• At least 2 years’ experience in international development or related field, previous experience in Local NGO or an INGO desirable
• Experience in programme and financial management
• Strong networking skills
• Excellent skills in Microsoft Office
• Strong analytical and practical problem-solving skills
• Ability to organize work efficiently and deliver assignments in a timely manner often under time constraints with excellent attention to detail
• Ability to work effectively remotely as a team member and with minimal supervision

Interpeace Competencies

• Collaboration and Weaving
• Communication
• Drive for results
• Adaptability and Continuous Learning
• Respect for Diversity

Interpeace values diversity among its staff and aims to achieve gender equality both through gender parity at all levels of the organisation and to promote a gender dimension in all its work. We welcome applications from women and men, and those with disabilities.