JOB TITTLE: Programme Specialist (Social Sector Financing)

ABOUT NGO CCR
The NGO Coalition on Child Rights, hereinafter referred to as ‘NGO CCR’ is a national Coalition of NGOs and networks whose broad goal is to entrench child rights programming in all development processes in Malawi anchored under the four fundamental principles of the rights of the Child: non-discrimination; The best interest of the child; right to life, survival and development; and participation within the evolving capacities of the Child. The NGO CCR’s mission is to contribute towards the promotion, respect, protection and fulfilment of children’s rights through evidence based Advocacy, Coordination, Capacity building and Research, monitoring and reporting.

The NGO CCR is currently the Executive Board member of the Child Rights Networks for Southern Africa (CRNSA), which is a SADC regional level body of non-state actors for Child Rights. The NGO CCR is also a member of ACERWC CSO Forum which is a Pan-African body of non-State Actors on Child rights and collaborates with the Child Rights Connect at the UN level on matters on Child Rights. Further, NGO CCR is a member of the International Budget Partnership (IBP) and current Country Researcher on Open Budget Survey (OBS) for Malawi.

ABOUT THE PUBLIC FINANCE FOR CHILDREN (PF4C) PROGRAMME

NGO CCR has partnered with UNICEF Malawi Country Office to implement a three-year national Child Sensitive Social Policy Programme called “Strengthening social sector financing, budget transparency and accountability for improved social service delivery in Malawi” to be implemented from 2024 to 2026 with financial support from the European Union and the Ireland Embassy.

The programme seeks to:

1. Influence and advocate for improved social sector financing, including social protection at national and district levels;
2. Strengthening public budget transparency, accountability and oversight at national and district levels;
3. Support reforms of Malawi’s decentralized systems in relation to social sectors;
4. Generate evidence and establish trends on financing gaps in the social sectors and the wider PFM and socio-economic sphere in Malawi

JOB PURPOSE

Under the overall leadership and Supervision of the National Coordinator, the Program Specialist (Social Sector Financing) will be responsible and accountable for providing technical and programmatic support to NGO CCR members and public policy/budget makers in all stages of PF4C programming including related advocacy/ engagement initiatives and campaigns at both national and district levels.

This position is tenable at NGO CCR Secretariat Office in Lilongwe

The position is on one year fixed term contract, renewable depending on performance and availability of donor finding

JOB DEMANDS AMD EXPECTATIONS
The Program Specialist (Social Sector Financing) si highly technical position that requires:

• Specialized knowledge of public financial management procedures, fiscal policy and proven experience leading the design and implementation of a budget analysis and advocacy campaign; preferably for children,
• Expertise ni assessing public financial management performance for social sectors (e.g. budget analysis, budget tracking, public expenditure tracking surveys, social accountability, budget and fiscal participation and budget transparency,
• Understanding of child protection and social protection policies, programmes and interventions in Malawi is required.
• Strong understanding of Government sectoral financing and management processes and procedures.
• Understanding the local political economy and public financial management systems reform); preferably for children or youth, as well as skills in child and youth engagement.
• The ability to conduct strong technical social policy and budget analysis; provide technical guidance to others; a good understanding of the budget cycles and legal frameworks,
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; capacity to operate and collaborate with multiple political and technical Stakeholders and complex organizations; achieve work to tight deadlines; and manage a heavy workload.
• Ability to use of STATA or other statistical analysis Programmes

MAJOR FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

A: Social Policy governance

• Provide technical assistance on public financial management, fiscal policy and budget analysis and expenditure tracking and monitoring
• Provide technical assistance to NGO CCR members and Child-led groups in the design and implementation of annual/mid-year social sector budget analysis and advocacy campaigns.
• Provided technical assistance to NGO CCR members in the development and drafting of appropriate advocacy and engagement tools such as policy briefs, budget briefs and position papers at both national and district levels.
• Lead evidence generation on relevant child sensitive Social Protection studies/situational analysis
• Lead the work on budget transparency and accountability, including support to production of citizens budget and the open budget survey (OBS) research and dissemination

B: Advocacy and Influencing

• Support in designing and planning for high level policy and budget makers engagements and using appropriate approaches and tools for effective influencing
• Assist in organizing and conducting high level Parliamentary engagements e.g., Clusters
  sessions, public budget hearing sessions, and mid-year budget review engagements
• Assist in planning, organizing and implementing joint high level Parliamentary post-budget monitoring visits/missions to District Councils to influence effective budget execution for children
• Support in designing and planning for various PF4C Campaign initiatives.
• Assist in mobilizing and organizing resources for stakeholder engagements/dialogue sessions on meaningful public financing for children in Malawi
• Provide technical assistance in ensuring meaningful child participation in public budget processes at both national and District Council levels.
• Assist in follow up and produce progress updates on the PF4C Campaign issues with relevant Policy and Budget makers.

C: Capacity Building and Systems Strengthening

• Assist in conducting capacity assessments for CSOs and Children groups on influencing PF4C Programming, Social Policy analysis, budget analysis, tracking and advocacy
• Assist in designing and planning tailor made capacity building initiatives and Programmes for child focused CSOs, Child-led groups and public policy/budget Makers on Child responsive PFC Programming, Social Policy analysis, budget analysis, tracking and advocacy
• Assist in organizing and hosting PF4C CSO Caucus periodic meetings.
• Assist in disseminating PF4C products, tools and generated evidence to COs and other Stakeholders.
• Prepare training materials and co-facilitate training sessions on a number of PF4C themes and topics to stakeholders.
• Provide technical support to NGO CCR members and District CSO and children groups to meaningfully engage with local actors and public budget makers on fair and equitable financing for children with a focus on budget analysis and advocacy.

D: Collaboration and Networking

• Assist in building strong working relationships with colleagues at NGO CCR Secretariat, memberships, Children groups, Strategic partners, and Government entities on PF4C related matters.
• Assist in mapping and engaging Child focused budget and tax advocacy organisations, public finance for Children donors and development partners to strengthen and sustain their commitment towards investing in children.
• Assist in engaging and capacitating children groups and community structure in public budget participatory mechanisms that hold government accountable for spending commitments/obligations for children
• Assist in collaborating with PFC researchers including the Academia in generating credible evidence on public financing trends in social sectors to inform public policy reforms.

E: Technical reporting and Documentation

• Draft quality PF4C progress and technical reports (activity, monthly, quarterly, annual and others) in a timely manner
• Document and consolidate credible evidence on public financing trends ni Social Sectors to inform public policy reforms
• Document and consolidate lessons learnt and success stories for the PF4C Programme.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

1. Education:
A master’s degree from reputable University in one of the following fields: Economics, Public Policy, Public Finance, Political Science, or other relevant technical field.

2. Experience

• Proven experience in upstream Public Finance Management is required.
• Proven experience in evidence generation activities to support improved investments in Social Protection and other Social Sectors is required.
• Proven knowledge of the Social Cash Transfers Programme and of other social protection interventions ni Malawi
• Experience working on programme or project evaluation is a considered as a strong asset.
• A proven track record in designing and implementing a budget advocacy campaign, preferably with children or young people.
• A proven track record of working with civil society organisations, children and youth, public participation or audit institutions to keep government accountable.

3. Expected technical knowledge and skills:

• Knowledge of Public Finance Management procedures, processes and standards is required, specifically for upstream PFM (planning and budgeting) in MTEF/PBB settings.
• Knowledge of Child Protection and Social Protection policies, programmes and interventions in Malawi is required.
• Knowledge of Government sectoral financing and management processes and procedures is required.
• Knowledge of STATA or other statistical analysis programmes is required.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills are required, particularly is macroeconomics, public finance management and financing of social sectors.
• Strong drafting skills are required. The person wil be requested to draft clearly and concisely to support the production of NGO CCR own products (Position papers, Budget briefs, etc.) as wel to support quality assurance and improvements to reports produced for UNICEF or with UNICEF’s financial support.

4. Competences

• Ability to time achieve quality results
• Ability to work with complex team of professionals
• Ability to think creatively, innovate, set priorities, manage a work plans, and evaluate progress with minimal supervision
• Ability to work with others (diversity) and maintain a strong work relationships and networks

5. Behaviors and Values

• High integrity and accountability
• Child Safeguarding: Clean Police background checks record on Child Abuse
• Gender sensitivity and diversity
• Self and ethical awareness

HOW TO APPLY
Qualified and interested individuals should submit cover letter and resume with 3 traceable referees including their latest employer by email to the following email address: ngoccrmalawi@gmail.com by Thursday 15 February 2024 at 5:00 PM

EQUALL OPPORTUNITY
• NGO CCR is an equal employer and al qualified and interested individuals are encouraged to apply.

NOTE:

• Please clearly indicate the POSITION TITLE AND YOUR FULL NAME as part of the Subject Line of the email.
• Due to large volume of applications received, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
• NGO CCR is an equal opportunity employer for suitably qualified professionals
• NGO CCR does not charge any application/recruitment fees