Microbusinesses Field Monitors

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Overview of Position

Project background:

Protracted conflict in Yemen has not only caused widespread damage & displacement but also significantly reduced livelihood opportunities & food security. Weaknesses within community institutions & local authority has eroded the social contract between them, whilst marginalization of communities’ further limits access to services & social cohesion. Local & community institutions are under resourced & under capacitated, limiting access to basic services. Communities are also subject to environmental shocks & threats at a time when coping mechanisms, strategies & assets are significantly depleted. Exposure to environmental stressors exacerbates the existing precarious situation & requires risk reduction strategies to mitigate the potential for further disaster. The combination of these hardships not only leads to increasing vulnerability to the point of famine, but also further weakens social cohesion & leads to inter community conflict.

With critical levels of acute malnutrition, Taiz lowland & Hajjah lowland were in IPC AMN phase 4 during the period of January to July 2020. While these two zones remained in IPC AMN phase 4, the acute malnutrition situation was projected to further deteriorate & the following zones were projected to move to IPC AMN phase 4 during the period of January – March 2021: Abyan lowland, Lahj lowland, Hodeidah highland, Hodeida lowland. Over 2.25 million cases of acutely malnourished children are estimated to require urgent treatment for acute malnutrition in 2021. The four zones with the highest numbers of global acute malnutrition cases are respectively Hodeidah lowland, Taiz highland, Sana’a city & Hajjah lowland.

These four zones account for over 40% of the total expected cases of acute malnutrition in the country. In terms of severity based on the prevalence of global acute malnutrition, the following seven zones are the worst affected: Hodeidah lowland, Hodeidah highland, Abyan lowland, Lahj lowland, Taiz lowland, Hajjah lowland & west Dhamar. The combined global acute malnutrition prevalence is at or above 20% in these seven zones. The combined global acute malnutrition prevalence in the Hodeida governorate (both lowland & highland) exceeds 30%, indicating very severe conditions. Given the projected trends of the contributing factors & other contextual information, the situation is likely to further deteriorate.

Income generating activities, small businesses & both formal & informal employment opportunities continue to be profoundly impacted by the conflict, as well as the impact of COVID – 19. Many households, especially female headed, the poorest, IDPs & the marginalized, lost their source of income due to damage to infrastructure, the collapse of the local economy & closure of businesses, including but not limited to the agricultural sector which the World Bank (using ILO data) identifies as employing 28% of target communities (42% for women) & 48% of the population in vulnerable employment. Employment & care services are affected for women workers in general & particularly for informal & domestic workers. The COVID – 19 outbreak profoundly impacted women’s ability to maintain their livelihoods quarantines significantly reduce economic & subsistence activities & disproportionately affect employment-generating sectors that are predominately female, such as care services & trade. In this context, the risks of social & domestic challenges that women & girls face increase exponentially. As per our clients study on the “impact of COVID – 19 on MSMEs (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises)”, women who own MSMEs face challenges in sustaining their enterprises, more than 37% of female owned MSMEs experienced revenue losses of 40 – 60%. In terms of the access to markets, the general pattern from the findings shows a stronger association between COVID – 19-related restrictions & sales constraints than with input constraints.

The overall objective of the joint program (goal) is to strengthen resilience of the population in the most vulnerable governorates in Yemen.

The specific objective / outcome of the joint program is improved management of local risks & shocks in crisis affected communities of the most vulnerable governorates in Yemen.

The program aims to achieve four intermediate outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Increased local institutional resilience management & community social cohesion in crisis affected communities.
• Outcome 2: Broadened access of vulnerable population to sources of energy & job opportunities in the renewable energy sector.
• Outcome 3: Increased sustainable production & productivity of crop and livestock in crisis affected communities.
• Outcome 4: Improved access of women, youth & other vulnerable groups to food & income opportunities.

ERRY III joint program targets the most vulnerable groups including youth, women, the unemployed, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) & stressed host communities & people with disabilities, using inclusive, participatory & conflict sensitive tools to mobilize & involve them in the program activities. The program will target 17 of the highly vulnerable districts within the abovementioned seven governorates. Under outcome 4, ERRY will provide emergency employment for women & youth & rehabilitation of market & productive asset. The activity would support the targeted beneficiaries in meeting their daily needs through the emergency employment opportunities. 5 months of employment with daily cash rate provided to the beneficiaries for the rehabilitation / construction of market & productive asset. Moreover, ERRY is developing skills & income opportunities for rural women & youth by providing training & capacity building program. Potential income projects will receive financial assistance in additional to technical support following establishment. ERRY is partnering with four implementing partners to implement short employment activities & rehabilitation of community assets in 6 governorates: Lahj, Abyan, Taiz, Hajjah, Al Hudaydah & Al Mahwit.

Objective & purpose of the position:

Our client seeks to recruit 1 field staff to monitor the implementation of cash for work activities carried out by ERRY implementing partners. Microbusinesses Field Monitors will report to ERRY Enterprise Development Officer & coordinate with Area Coordinators. The positions will be in the project following locations:

Governorate District

Lahj Tuban, Al Madaribah & Al Maqatirah

Role Objectives

The Microbusinesses Field Monitors will work closely with the livelihood team & report to the Enterprise Development Officer to support the activities implementation & perform the following tasks:

Grant distribution & project establishment:

• Collect all microbusinesses information through direct interviews with grantees using the project template.
• Meet grantees to assess the training outcome provided during the second phase of the support.
• Interview beneficiaries to assess the grant distribution mechanism & find out any challenges beneficiaries encountered.
• Follow up the grant distribution to or on behalf of beneficiaries for the purpose of project establishments.
• Monitor the establishment process of income projects for each grantees.
• Communicate with income projects owners to ensure they received / are receiving needed support from implementing partners during the establishment of projects.
• Track the advisory support provided to projects owners to ensure feedback & support is delivered on time.
• Check with beneficiaries & follow up with IPs on the channels established by each IP to enable grantees share their needs of business advisory & list and evaluate the means IPs & their team use to communicate & follow up advisory support for each beneficiary.
• Ensure IP advisors are providing needed mentorship during & after submitting final versions of the plans.
• Keep continuous contact with projects owners to identify their needs, grievances & provide needed linkage to UNPD team or to relative implementing partner.
• Assist our clients team in tracking income projects development & recommend prominent cases to use for media & report highlights.
• Provide a list of microbusinesses with focus on innovative ideas.
• Provide a recommendation on businesses owners willingness to participate in our clients upcoming events like bizarre & exhibitions.
• Assess group businesses & report their success & failures.
• Provide location details for open market established microbusinesses.
• Share final information on the status & operations of every income project established.
• Provide & idea on the project sustainability & potentials to continue.
• Collect further needs & challenges as raised by owners of grantees of different types.
• Provide recommendation on the most potential businesses supported or to be supported.
• Collect & document feedback on the project from local authorities, local communities & related individuals.

General activities:

• Listen to beneficiaries & identify relevant issues & grievances in the project & report them to the appropriate personnel.
• Regularly conduct surveys & focus group discussions to determine beneficiary’s satisfaction on the activities implemented by IPs.
• Assist in the implementation of the plan of action, review achievements & constraints & provide feedback accordingly.
• Monitor & review the distribution & redemption of cash & vouchers, verify that IPS are using the payment mechanism agreed on with IPs & the related data management & reporting is accurate.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Project reporting

• This role reports to the line manager.

Key competencies

• University degree in social sciences, social work, economy, political science, administration or other related fields linked to humanitarian or economic activities with a minimum of 4 years of working on economic empowerment activities, livelihood, MSMEs, grants projects, women projects, or microfinance.
• Experience in working or evaluating similar projects.
• Experience in working with NGOs & private sector.
• Experience in field monitoring & evaluation in rural areas.
• Good information technology skills, including MS Office software packages (Word, Excel, etc.) & web based sharing platform & applications.
• Familiar with the local community’s habits & values & be able to demonstrate respect for them in their work.
• Willing & be able to travel freely throughout the district without restrictions.
• Strong interpersonal skills, courtesy, tact & ability to work effectively with people of different national & cultural background.
• Ability to interpret & analyze a wide variety of project issues & statistical information & to maintain accurate & precise records.
• Ability to communicate in a team with people from different cultural & ethnic backgrounds to achieve common goals.
• Ability to work systematically, use initiative, good judgment & to communicate complex matters both orally & in writing.
• Use of own discretion to address unforeseen situations seeking advice from & / or reporting to supervisor as applicable.
• Experience in preparation of reports, overviews & documenting field missions.
• Fluency in Arabic (oral & written) is required & advanced English knowledge is a strong asset.
• Ability to work in rural areas & collaborate with different stakeholders.
• Understanding of rural income generating activities, their needs & challenges.
• Demonstrated ability of analytical & drafting work.
• Familiarity with computers & word processing (Word, Excel, Power Point).
• Consistently approaches work with energy & a positive, constructive attitude.
• Ability to work under pressure & to meet deadlines.
• Demonstrates excellent oral & written communication skills.
• Demonstrates openness to change & ability to manage complexities.
• Self reliant & able to work as a part of a multi cultural team in a stressful situation.
• Demonstrating / safeguarding ethics & integrity.
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge & sound judgment.
• Self development, initiative taking.
• Acting as a team player & facilitating teamwork.
• Learning & sharing knowledge & encourage the learning of others.
• Informed & transparent decision making.

Team management

• This role has no team management responsibility.

Further information

• Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply for this role.