The Northern Uganda Resilience Initiative (NURI) is one of three engagements under the Uganda Programme on Sustainable and Inclusive Development of the Economy (UPSIDE), which is a  thematic programme of the Danish Country Programme for Uganda 2018-2022, for which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the Government of Denmark and the Government of Uganda.

NURI will pursue enhanced resilience and equitable economic development in Northern Uganda, including for refugees and host communities, by supporting Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA), Rural Infrastructure (RI), and Water Resources Management (WRM).  NURI will be implemented over 4 years from 2019 to 2022.Geographically NURI covers 9 districts, namely; Arua, Pakwach, Nebbi, Zombo, Moyo and Adjumani in West Nile sub region - and Agago, Kitgum and Lamwo in the Acholi Sub Regions of Northern Uganda. Besides targeting nationals, NURI works with refugee settlements within selected districts. Selected settlements include Rhino Camp Refugee settlement in Arua District, Palorinya Refugee Settlement in Moyo District, 3 selected refugee settlements in Adjumani District and Palabek Ogili Refugee Settlement in Lamwo District. NURI activities are implemented by various local partners, e.g. District Farmers Associations (DFAs), and Resilient Agricultural Units (RAUs). Other interventions will be outsourced to private companies/partners.

Reporting      

The VSLA Coordinator reports to the Programme Management Adviser , who heads the NURI Coordination Function.

Duty Station  

The VSLA Coordinator for NURI will be based in Arua.

Purpose of the position        

The VSLA Coordinator role is to fine-tune the VSLA strategy across the NURI programme and guide, lead and build the capacity of the team involved in implementation of  VSLA in NURI. Further, the VSLA Coordinator will ensure the quality control, monitoring and reporting for the VSLA activities in NURI. As NURI is an agricultural programme, the VSLA Coordinator should aim to build a VSLA strategy that encourages and enables investment in agricultural activities while building up household resilience to shocks through savings, assets and social capital.  

Major Responsibilities include:

•   Review and fine-tune the NURI strategy and implementation plan as it relates to VSLA activities with special focus on ways to encourage investment in agriculture and in building household resilience.

•    Review and fine-tune VSLA Manuals and training materials

•    Develop a capacity building programme for VSLA staff in the NURI programme.

•    Carry out training and capacity building of the NURI VSLA team.

•    Support the VSLA team in the identification and training of Community Based Trainers (CBTs)

•     Fine-tune and implement the NURI VSLA monitoring system

•     Collect qualitative and quantitative data on VSLA and support CF on VSLA reporting and monitoring activities.

•     Build the capacity of NURI staff more broadly in understanding and supporting VSLA groups and activities

•     Follow up on the implementation of the VSLA model, oversee, guide and provide technical support to VSLA Field Officers

•    Track VSLA groups performance through the SAVIX MIS system in collaboration with the NURI -CF Advisor and M&E function. Use the SAVIX system for benchmarking of NURI groups with other groups.

•     Contribute and participate in any evaluation of VSLA groups.

•      Effectively document all information related to VSLA project successes and best practices, create a bank of pictures, videos, and most significant change stories.

•     Identify and build strategic linkages, relations, collaborations and networks with partners and other stakeholders in  NURI programme implementation

•     Ensure Farmer and Refugee groups VSLA activities are integrated or synchronized with ongoing NURI interventions so as to ensure sustainability and avoid duplication.

Education/Knowledge

•     A bachelor degree in Marketing, Economics, Business studies or related fields

•     At least 3 years of experience working with micro-finance / VSLA sector

•     Demonstrated experience in Community Economic Development and Management

•     Demonstrate ability to foster partnerships with community, Government agencies and Groups

•      Strong group facilitation and training skills.

Technical Skills & Abilities:

•       Financial Management skills

•       Knowledge of community development, empowerment and mentoring approaches

•       Research, Monitoring and Evaluation skills.

•       Good oral & written communication skills

•        Report writing skills