Vacancies

Musawah is currently seeking a Programme Officer based in the MENA region to coordinate Musawah’s activities such as movement building, Advocates’ outreach and capacity building initiatives under the banner of Musawah’s Campaign for Justice in Muslim Family Laws (“CFJ”) (2021-2024). 

The MENA Programme Officer will be a core member of the Musawah Programmes and Secretariat team. S/he will report directly to the Co-Director (Exterior).

***Closing date of applications: 18 August 2021

Responsibilities

Campaign for Justice and Outreach

Work alongside the Senior Technical Expert on MENA, the Capacity Building & Outreach Officer (“CBO”) and the Coordinator for CFJ to:

(i) develop and implement the MENA CFJ strategy (2021-2024) and
(ii) spearhead movement building and establishing a sense of community and common purpose among Musawah Advocates and Allies in the MENA region.

This includes:

• • Implement the MENA CFJ Strategy activities in the areas of Outreach, Knowledge Building, Capacity Building, International Advocacy and Communications;
  • Facilitate regional outreach and connections among Advocates to build the movement regionally and promote its body of work;
  • Map the actors, issues and challenges on Muslim Family Laws and Practices in national contexts across the region;
  • Respond to and facilitate requests for regular information sharing among Advocates through various activities;
  • Work closely with the Communications team to disseminate Musawah knowledge and resources, build a sense of engagement with Musawah as a movement, collect stories of change/transformation and engage with content creators in the region;
  • Update the Musawah database on Muslim Family Laws, country tables and positive developments in Muslim Family Laws and Practicies for the countries in the region, based on the agreed priority.
  • 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.

Capacity Building 

• Collaborate with the CBO to design, coordinate and implement Musawah’s capacity building training programme in the MENA region (both online and face to face) which includes Musawah’s flagship Islam and Gender Equality & Justice (“I-nGEJ”) course. 
• 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.
• Reach out and engage with advocates, scholars and experts as potential to be included as Musawah’s pool of trainees and resource personnel. 
• Maintain regular contact with alumni of Musawah’s training, track follow-up activities, and respond to their challenges and needs.
• Lead 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.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

The small 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;
• 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 Muslim contexts is an advantage.
• 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;
• 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, HootSuite, etc.); website management (WordPress); customer relationship management and email marketing (Airtable and Mailchimp a plus); Zoom video conferencing; and other digital tools as needed;
• 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 organisational skills including time management and MEL (Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning) to manage priorities, with an eye for detail and rigorous reporting.

Location, Salary and Benefits

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 country which he/she is applying for 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 18 August 2021.

We thank all those who apply; only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.