Description

A. Program effectiveness (40%)

• Review and cascade SAYE youth engagement strategy at partner and community level.
• Ensure that youth issues are mainstreamed across project activities, including training materials, M&E, operations, policies and procedures and design activities that target youth.
• Support youth programming partners to facilitate youth participation in new/existing self-help groups for employment, market access, financial access, and engaging and participating in decision-making within the agribusiness and non-agribusiness space.
• Coordinate and provide technical support on youth engagement and participation.
• Ensure that all activities are operated by HPI’s safeguarding policies including child and youth protection policy, code of conduct, whistleblowing policy and harassment policy to create a work environment free from sexual exploitation and abuse of young women and people with disabilities.
• Facilitate linkages between the youth and business incubators, impact invetsors, Business development service providers and accelerators.
• Support youth groups to network and collaborate with other young people across districts and regions to share information, business ideas and experiences using youth sensitive forums within the agribusiness and non-agribusiness space.
• In collaboration with the gender and safeguarding specialist, support young women to individually or collectively pursue new or existing business ideas for improving business performance through co-design opportunities and showcasing success/failures.

• Coordination of youth activities including youth group formation, youth coalition formation and roll out of youth advocacy activities.
• Support youth partner organizations to design and implement proven and evidence-based youth inclusion and engagement strategies, guidelines, SOPs and training manuals.
• Design and implement approaches to increase engagement of youth with key stakeholders including national and local partners, organizations, youth networks and leaders at all levels.
• Oversee establishment of strategic partnerships and alliances with other youth movements and groups and build relationships across priority districts and regions in Uganda.
• Work closely with all SAYE project stakeholders to influence district and national leaders to be youth friendly and meaningfully engage in youth initiatives and activities.
• Organize partner coordination/learning and reflection sessions to leverage program learning and enrich intervention strategies across the priority districts.
• Seek input from the young people as to the areas of support that can be provided to further their work.
• Develop, manage, and maintain strong working relationships with a broad range of stakeholders to promote their active engagement with youth, youth-led and youth-serving organizations.
• Support program partners to work adaptively by co-designing youth empowerment interventions that maximize their unique strengths and aligns with contextual realities across priority districts and regions in Uganda.
• Train/mentor partner staff in delivering youth sensitive programming with emphasis on training, coaching and mentoring for young people within the agricultural market system in group formation, group dynamics, youth-led research and advocacy, to share innovations and best practices in agribusiness.

C. Capacity building (25%)

• Enhance the capacity of local partners to facilitate youth participation in new/existing self-help groups for employment, engagement and participation in decision making within the agribusiness ecosystem.
• Monitor policy discussions and reforms within the agricultural market system to increase youth influence and participation on government programmes targeting agricultural market systems at district, regional and national levels.
• Support groups of youth to network and collaborate with other young people across districts and regions to share information, business innovations/ideas and experiences using youth sensitive forums within the agricultural market system.
• Provide technical guidance to partners during the development of project work plans.
• Organise quarterly and bi-annual coordination meetings for partners supporting youth engagement and participation components.

D. May perform other duties as assigned (5%)

1. A postgraduate qualification in social development, business program management or any other relevant field with at least five (5) years in a supervisory role.
2. Familiarity with national youth and gender policies in Uganda.
3. Track record working with youth groups in a development context.
4. Experience in developing private-public partnerships, especially at national and district levels.
5. Experience in community group formation and strengthening.

1. Ability to identify key players in an ecosystem, engage with them and mobilize them to support project work.
2. Knowledge and experience with developing and conducting youth and gender analysis including organizing and facilitating youth and gender trainings.
3. Past experience in partnership management.
4. Understands group dynamics for youth and other vulnerable groups within the agricultural market system.
5. A strong belief in the potential for young people to influence positive change through participation.
6. An understanding of the project-selected value chains and HPI’s Values-Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD) model.
7. Strong mentoring, counseling, and coaching skills.
8. Knowledge and experience in cooperative development.
9. Good understanding of the sustainable livelihoods approach and related issues.
10. Well-developed assessment, analytical, and planning skills.
11. Proficient knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets, presentation tools, electronic mail (Microsoft office preferred) and internet.
12. Empathetic and ability to identify with youth associated challenges.
13. Ability to build and maintain an overall positive public image of the organization, its mandate and its brand while ensuring that youth initiatives are supported.

1. Excellent mobilization skills.
2. Excellent oral and written reporting skills with the ability to prepare and present documents in a well designed and attractive format with superior attention to detail.
3. Sensitivity to the needs and priorities of disadvantaged populations, particularly women and youth.
4. Working in a multi-cultural setting and commitment to promoting teamwork, gender equality and sensitivity to hunger and poverty issues.
5. Ability to travel domestically and internationally, occasionally on short notice.
6. Excellent communication and negotiation skills with the ability to relate to individuals diplomatically and tactfully.
7. Sound judgment, professionalism, and a positive attitude with the ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment and in sometimes difficult circumstances.
8. Demonstrate a high degree of honesty and integrity.
9. Ability to work with sensitive information and maintain confidentiality.