Project Officer for Advocacy in Davao, Philippines (m/f/d)

We are looking for a Project Officer for Advocacy, based in Davao, Philippines, starting from May 1, 2024

Who we are

forumZFD supports people involved in violent conflicts on the path to peace and strives to help overcome war and violence.

forumZFD is currently working with peace consultants in Germany, as well as ten other countries in Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia. Its Academy for Conflict Transformation offers a learning space for professional, international peace work. Through dialogue events, educational work and campaigns, forumZFD actively advocates civil peace policy. 

forumZFD is recognised by the German federal government as a member of the Civil Peace Service (CPS) consortium. It finances its work through public and private grants, donations and membership fees.

Background

The island of Mindanao in the Philippines is the theatre of various, intersecting, violent conflicts. One is the conflict between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a group seeking self-determination for the Muslim inhabitants of Mindanao and the Philippine Government. At present, a peace agreement between the MILF and the Government is being implemented. Another is the decades-long communist insurgency of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP), which seeks to transform Philippine society and overthrow the government. Both these major political conflicts intersect with more localized violent conflicts stemming from natural resource extraction, clan feuds, land disputes, among others, shaping the conditions on Mindanao.

In the Caraga region, forumZFD has been indirectly working on the conflict between the CPP-NPA-NDFP and the GPH through projects that strengthen the use of non-violent conflict transformation methods to deal with local conflicts and that work towards building a peace constituency. forumZFD recognizes the need to approach ending the conflict through non-violent means, and so advocates for an alternative, nonmilitarized approach, including the resumption of peace negotiations.

The Project Officer for Advocacy will support the Project Manager in developing an advocacy strategy to call for sustainable non-violent alternatives (including peace talks) to bring an end to the armed conflict between the GPH and the CPP-NPA-NDF.

Your responsibilities 

Under the overall supervision of forumZFD Country Director, the successful candidate will be directly accountable to the Project Manager for Advocacy. You will work closely with the Project Manager to support the design and implementation of the project, as well as coordinate with other team members at both the programme and project level concerning project-related activities. This is an exciting new project and you will have ample opportunities to contribute and influence the direction of the project, including creative and innovative ideas. 

Your tasks in detail

• Support the development of an advocacy strategy in line with other project activities and forumZFD’s overall organizational mandate;
• Carry out research on relevant topics that can support and inform the development of advocacy materials;
• Draft briefs, public statements, and other written materials that can contribute in elevating the discussion about the CPP-NPA-NDF-GPH conflict, including national and international discourse on peace talks;
• Assist in organizing and facilitating public and closed advocacy events and similar activities;
• In coordination with the Project Manager, network and strengthen relationships with Philippine and international civil society organizations, and other relevant actors. 
• Take active role in implementing the advocacy project based on the forumZFD planning, monitoring and evaluation (PME) processes which include constant reflection and documentation of best practices and lessons learned through regular team discussions, systemic conflict analysis, and monitoring sessions;
• Perform other project-related tasks as may be assigned by the Project Manager. 

Qualifications

• University degree (minimum BA, ideally MA/MSC or similar) preferably in the social sciences, community development, Political Sciences, Peace and Conflict Studies, Transitional Justice or related fields;
• Experience in outcome-orientated project planning, Systemic Conflict Analysis, Do No Harm, monitoring and evaluation (knowledge in Outcome Mapping, Reflecting on Peace Practice (RPP), or similar methods desirable). 
• Ability to network and engage actors relevant to the project on all levels from civil society to diplomatic community.
• At least 2-3 years relevant work experience working on/in conflict affected contexts and/or peacebuilding; experience working in a similar role preferred; previous advocacy experience strongly preferred. 
• Good networking skills and experience doing coalition-building, including working with networks and groups with different perspectives desirable; 
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English;
• Ability to analyze and summarize information quickly.
• Ability to produce written output to short deadlines
• Willingness and ability to travel within the Philippines and overseas related to work assignments, and to work flexible working hours;
• High tolerance for ambiguity; 
• A dynamic and proactive team player on which colleagues can rely on; and
• This job is open only to non-Filipino applicants as it is an international position.

Distinct advantages would be:

• Knowledge of a local language (Visayan, Tagalog, or other);
• Experience of facilitating dynamic group processes and conflict management
• Experience working in the Philippines and/or other developing countries;
• Working experience in a (preferably multi-cultural) team environment;
• Familiarity with Philippine history, politics, society, and culture;
• Practical experience in organizing and facilitating bottom-up advocacy projects and activities

Our offer

We offer an attractive position with responsibilities for a minimum of two years in a growing organization. As the position is based on the German Development Aid Workers Act (EhfG), the position is remunerated according to the provisions of this law, including comprehensive social security benefits and financial reintegration assistance upon return. We also offer participation in qualification and professional development courses (among others, at forumZFD’s Academy for Conflict Transformation), a project-based preparation, regular coaching and, where appropriate, participation in a language course.

As a project officer working for forumZFD, you will work within the innovative field of conflict transformation and peacebuilding through contributing your ideas and skills.

Start of assignment

Ideally, you are available to start working on May 1, 2024 (preparation courses, followed by at least two years’ work within the project with the option of extension).

Your application

Please apply in English online (letter of motivation, CV and contact details of two reference persons) by latest January 24th 2024.

An online assessment center is planned to be scheduled from February 5-7 2024.

In case of any questions, please feel free to contact Mr. Sven Reuter at reuter@forumzfd.de or Ms. Máiréad Collins at collins@forumzfd.de.

Please find further information about our organization and our assignments online at www.forumzfd.de/en

Our work in the Philippines is presented at www.forumzfd.de/en/philippines

This job advertisement as well as further employment postings can be viewed at www.forumzfd.de/en/jobs

We are looking forward to your application!