Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Closing date: 15 Oct 2015
1. Context
About Search for Common Ground
Since 1982, Search for Common Ground, an international non-governmental organisation, has been working to transform the way the world deals with conflict: away from adversarial confrontation, toward cooperative solutions. We work with partners on the ground to strengthen local capacity to deal with conflict. Operating within 36 countries, SFCG uses creative, multi-faceted approaches to help divided communities understand differences while working toward commonalities.
SFCG has been working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since 2001, initially in order to provide information on the inter-Congolese dialogue. SFCG currently has a large communication capacity, broadcasting messages via over a hundred media partners that are listened to by millions of people. Our other activities include conflict mediation, community forums, participatory theatre, comic book production, and conflict analysis. All of this work is carried out in order to transform the conflict dynamics in the country, and contribute to the building of a democratic, peaceful and stable society.
About the Program
In the DRC, numerous wars and protracted conflict have contributed to weak state authority and poor governance. This situation has also led to a lack of adequate support – economic, social and political – for young people, who make up over half of the population.
Young women and girls in particular have been marginalised from decision-making and suffer from widespread discrimination. First highlighted in the Conflict Analysis completed in 2012, recent evaluations by SFCG have shown that in Equateur Province (one of the six provinces where the UNICEF PBEA program is implemented) the problem of gender discrimination is particularly concerning. There is a basic lack of knowledge of the concept of women’s rights, and there is highly inequitable access to education between boys and young girls. The analysis also stressed the importance of working with both men and women to improve relations between men and women, rather than working only with women.
Gender equity is necessary not only for economic development but also to build sustainable peace. This is because unjust societal relations are widely accepted as a factor undermining social cohesion. The social constructions of masculinity and femininity, as well as the practices those constructions encourage can fuel tensions and propel violence. So redressing unequal gender relations is a fundamental aspect of promoting the sustainability of peacebuilding interventions.
To respond to this situation, SFCG plans to implement a project based on the overriding theory of change of its DRC Youth Strategy; that if we can shape the role of young people in conflict contexts so that they contribute to peace, then we can shape the dynamics of the whole conflict. The project, Promoting the Role of Young Women and Girls in Peacebuilding and Education in Equateur, is funded by UNICEF and will run for six months.
For more details on the Terms of Reference, kindly click the link below.
http://www.sfcg.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Terms-of-References_DRC_UNICEF-09212015.pdf
How to apply:
Applications
SFCG invites all interested and qualified candidates to submit a letter of interest, indicating clearly how their experience meets desired qualifications, resume and 2 references, along with technical (demonstrating implementation and analysis methodology) and financial offers for implementation of the above activities, by 15 October, 2015 to: alemon@sfcg.org and rherrington@sfcg.org.
Applications not meeting these requirements will not be considered.