Accountability and Communications Officer

Administration and Finance Officer

Dalia Association, Palestine
December 26, 2013

About Dalia

Dalia Association was established in 2007 by members of the Palestinian community from the West Bank, including Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, inside the Green Line, and the Diaspora. We are diverse in terms of age, gender, religion and politics, yet we are united by our vision -- to realize our rights as Palestinians to control our resources and sustain our own development for generations to come. Our mission is to mobilize and properly utilize resources necessary to empower a vibrant, independent and accountable civil society.
 
To achieve our mission, we:
-Make grants to support inspirational and relevant civil society initiatives, especially grassroots efforts that seek to supplement local resources. Community-controlled grantmaking increases the transparency, accountability and professionalism of local initiatives.
-Link resources by introducing people with expertise, ideas, contacts, equipment, and other assets to community activists who can use them to serve their communities. Effectively utilizing resources that already exist in our abundant community helps decrease our dependence on outside resources.
-Encourage giving by locals, companies, refugee and Diaspora Palestinians. We revive local traditions of philanthropy and volunteerism and create new systems that make giving easier, safer and more trustworthy. A permanent endowment will be built over time to ensure sustainable income for current and future generations.
-Advocate for systemic change in the international aid system so that it respects Palestinian rights and responds to local priorities. Advocacy includes constructive engagement with innovative donors who want a local partner to help them improve their policies and maximize their impact.

As the first Palestinian “community foundation,” serving all Palestinians in historic Palestine, Dalia Association seeks to mobilize the abundant resources of the worldwide Palestinian community and their friends—steadfastness, traditions, creativity, faith, expertise, and money—and facilitate community-based decision-making about how these resources should be used. Dalia Association provides an independent, sustainable source of funds with transparent and accountable mechanisms for local control and a vibrant community organization in which Palestinians can themselves be donors and implementers of their own social change and sustainable development agenda. In this way, we promote sustainability of Palestinian civil society and its institutions. Further, we are determined to help shape a dynamic and relevant civil society that is accountable to the people. We develop new traditions of secular philanthropy and social responsibility alongside Islamic and Christian giving. We re-inspire volunteerism not driven by factional politics, and re-inspire people’s hope and trust in self-initiative.

Currently, Dalia Association runs two integrated grantmaking and philanthropy development programs that are controlled by communities. The “Women Supporting Women” (WSW) program has funded 30 women’s associations in six districts and established Women’s Funds for Community Philanthropy in three districts. WSW empowers and trains women, through direct experience, to decide how to use community development resources and mobilize their own capacities – both as individuals and in women’s networks – to strengthen their assets and increase their impact. We contribute to women’s empowerment and leadership within their families and communities, improved development practice, and the long-term sustainability of women’s groups and networks through sharing resources.

The “Village Decides” program has been successfully implemented with 12 community groups in three villages. This program is designed to involve people in decision-making and resource distribution in a democratic, accountable and transparent way. Dalia Association offers the Palestinian community the opportunity to practice their rights to determine their development priorities as well as to enable them to control resources to achieve societal change. The Zawiya Community Philanthropy Fund was established as a follow up to support new projects using local, diaspora and matching funding. A short film showing implementation of the pilot in Saffa village is at http://www.dalia.ps/node/190.

Dalia Association aims to expand and institutionalize creative and effective ways of mobilizing sustainable philanthropy and engagement with local development on the part of local, Diaspora and private sector givers. These include village funds, women’s funds, family funds and company funds. Dalia Association also does advocacy to engage international donors in reforming their aid practices to be more in line with Palestinian rights and priorities. We have published articles about aid in The Guardian, Al-Quds, This Week in Palestine, and took part in a 30-minute panel debate on Al-Jazeera called, “Counting the Cost of Aid.” We utilize community research, films, presentations at international events (including the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness), petitions, local and international media, meetings and consulting opportunities to educate, engage and mobilize community groups in the West Bank, Gaza and inside the Green Line. Dalia Association and Rama Mari won Special Mention in the 2013 Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA) for the film “International Aid Hurts Palestinian Civil Society” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8GGoVjRvAnw).

Dalia Association’s success and potential were recognized when it won the Arcus Global Social Justice Prize in 2013, in part for a 10-minute film that demonstrates Dalia’s innovative, community-led model: http://vimeo.com/64070940.

Description of Position

The Accountability and Communications Officer is a new position of strategic importance. S/he is responsible for leading the conceptualization, development and implementation of accountability and communications mechanisms that embody Dalia’s community-controlled philosophy and demonstrate impact. S/he is point person for the promotion of accountability to all stakeholder groups and targeted communications with all stakeholder groups, including the local community, institutional donors, individual contributors, private sector partners, Diaspora contacts, the Palestinian and international media, and others. The Accountability and Communications Officer must have demonstrated skills in traditional monitoring, evaluation and reporting (preferably for UN-funded projects). S/hemust also have a critique of traditional approaches and specific ideas about how to implement community accountability in ways that improve on mainstream approaches. S/he must be able to work with other staff members, the board of directors, local partners, and others to integrate new thinking and systems that advance accountability and communications in Dalia’s daily work at all levels, including into governance, management, daily operations, and community relations. S/he must be able to gather, analyse and present information to be used by other key staff members in their reporting to institutional donors, newsletter subscribers, fundraising, public relations, and other activities.

Reporting to the Executive Director; starting immediately

Contract type: One-year contract renewable indefinitely pending funding

Responsibilities
-Conceptualize and develop an accountability strategy, policies and procedures in accordance with Dalia’s philosophy and its obligations to various stakeholder groups including grantees, the community at large, institutional donors, private sector partners, Diaspora contributors, and others.
-Develop and implement a plan of monitoring progress, satisfaction, results and impact (including objectives, qualitative and quantitative indicators, tools, data collection systems, templates, schedules, analysis) in collaboration with program staff, community members, and other stakeholders
-Conduct regular monitoring visits to project locations including leading both qualitative (focus groups, interviews, observations, etc…) and quantitative (surveys, statistics review, etc…)
-Organize field visits for donors and other partners to project activities and prepare/provide programmatic and logistical support as needed.
-Develop summary materials and deliver presentations on M&E findings to staff, partners, and/or other stakeholders.
-Integrate a learning mentality and concrete monitoring processes at all levels of Dalia’s work (governance, staffing, fundraising, activities, programs, projects, communication, partnerships, etc.), including integration with operations (hiring, performance appraisal, budgeting, etc.)
-Create and implement a bilingual communications plan that advances Dalia’s commitment to transparency and accountability to stakeholders, including (but not limited to) institutional donors, grantees, local community members, private sector partners and individual sustainers, local and international media, etc.
-Oversee, write and ensure the translation and timely distribution of high quality communications materials such as quarterly and annual reports, donor monitoring and evaluation reports, lessons learned, success stories, articles for the website or other media, press releases, newsletters, targeted updates for private sector partners and individual sustainers, public presentations, and other documents (including management of versions and archiving of materials); coordination with staff responsible for social media, etc.
-Awareness raising and capacity development for staff, volunteers and community members in self-assessment, participatory assessment, and accountability drawing on international and indigenous norms and standards and innovating new ones
-Liaise with external evaluators when necessary, contracted translators, IT contractors and others as needed to fulfil expectations
-Ensure Dalia’s compliance with IATI and represent Dalia IATI communications
-Support program and organizational planning as necessary
-Assess and actively participate to the reinforcement of Dalia as a learning organization with increasing quality expectations, including by staying abreast of developments and controversies in the field of M&E and facilitating Dalia’s response to them, and by helping Dalia contribute its expertise in community accountability to the global discourse
-Any other tasks as directed by the Executive Director

Qualifications
-Demonstrated skills in traditional NGO M&E including terminology, formats  (preferably with UN-funded projects); formal M&E training strongly preferred
-Demonstrated ability to innovate new community accountability systems, working in a participatory fashion with a diverse range of stakeholders, and ability to integrate new accountability systems organizationally
-Excellent report writing skills and writing for other audiences
-Strong skills in interpersonal communication, time management, self-direction, teamwork – including in diverse settings such as villages, refugee camps, with women’s committees, etc.
-Fluent Arabic and English (speaking, reading, writing)
-Willingness and ability to work all over the West Bank; access to Jerusalem (preferred but not required)
-BA degree in any field; MA degree in a relevant field highly preferred
-Computer literacy and excellent organizational skills
-Interest in and commitment to Dalia’s philosophy

Compensation and Job Benefits

Dalia is a local, Palestinian NGO that pays local salaries. The starting salary established for this post is $1,500/monthly. Dalia has a small staff who work in a comfortable, non-smoking office in Ramallah near Darna Restaurant. Usual working hours are Sunday-Thursday from 8 am to 4 pm, though staff are expected to work as needed to meet deadlines or at times of unusual demand. Benefits are those prescribed by Palestinian law.

How to Apply

Send updated CVs in both Arabic and English.Include a cover letter explaining your specific interest in this position and the name, title and contact information of three references. Email to
 

[email protected]

with your family name and “Accountability and Communications” in the subject line. . Please note: In order to promote credibility and hire the best possible staff, Dalia has an open hiring policy. We do not discriminate on any basis. However, because of the high volume of applications, we do not review applications that do not follow the instructions above, and we apologize that we are not able to contact applicants who do not meet the minimum qualifications. Direct any questions to [email protected].

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