Vacancy Announcement 

Institutional Coordination Specialist for The Skills Development and Economic Transformation (SD4T) Programme – EU cofinanced component “Improved self-reliance and self-determination of refugees and host population in Kirehe District” 

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. The GIZ Office in Kigali covers GIZ’s portfolio in Rwanda and Burundi. GIZ Rwanda/Burundi implements projects on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union and other commissioning authorities in the following priority areas: Sustainable Economic Development, Good Governance, Climate and Energy, Digitalization, Extractive Governance and Peace and Security in the Great Lakes Region.

General Context of the Multi-Donor Action “Improved self-reliance and self-determination of refugees and host population in Kirehe District”

Rwanda has been hosting refugees for several decades. As of January 2023, Rwanda provided refuge to 126,919 individuals, with 60% originating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and 40% from Burundi. Most refugees (91%), reside in five refugee camps: Mahama, Kigeme, Mugombwa, Kiziba and Nyabiheke. As of February 2023, Mahama camp hosted 58,248 refugees, making it the country’s largest. It was established in 2015 in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by thousands of Burundians fleeing violence in their country. The camp is situated in Kirehe District. The Ministry in charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA) administers the camp and is responsible for security and protection of the refugees in coordination with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The protracted refugee situation and the country’s overall economic situation put pressure on the host country Rwanda, which is exacerbated by diminishing humanitarian funds. Mahama refugee camp and its neighbouring communities in Kirehe District are particularly affected due to the size of the camp and the relocation of refugees from other camps. The Government of Rwanda (GoR) is therefore stepping up its efforts for local inclusion and graduation of refugees out of humanitarian aid. The goal is to achieve the vision laid out in the joint MINEMA-UNHCR strategy on Economic Inclusion of Refugees and Host Communities 2021-2024 to enable all refugees and members of the host community to become self-reliant by 2030. 

Objectives of the Multi-Donor Action

The Multi-Donor Action “Dutere Intambwe – Improved self-reliance and self-determination of refugees and host population in Kirehe District, Rwanda” is jointly co-financed by the European Union (EU) under the EU Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) as part of the project “Skills Development for Economic Transformation” (SD4T). The overall objective of the Action is “to contribute to provide a regional multi-sectoral response for durable solutions to the Burundian refugee crisis in five countries of the Great Lakes region”. The specific objectives (SO) of the Action are: 1) Enhanced protection of Burundian refugees (women and men in all their diversity) in Kirehe District, Rwanda and 2) Strengthened the resilience, empowerment and self-reliance of refugees (women and men in all their diversity) and communities hosting refugees.

One area of intervention will be to improve the framework conditions for the promotion of gender-sensitive economic inclusion of refugees and vulnerable population of surrounding communities both at the district and national levels. This will be achieved through enhanced coordination between the district administration, civil society partners (NGOs, CSOs etc.), and the private sector. Public-private dialogues (PPD) are one possible format to achieve this enhanced coordination. At national level, interventions will focus on facilitating intra-governmental exchange (e.g., between MINEMA, MINALOC, MINICOM, MINEDUC, MINECOFIN) to promote gender-sensitive economic inclusion of refugees and vulnerable groups. In addition, existing multi-stakeholder platforms will be used to promote inclusion of refugees and vulnerable groups.

It is with this background that GIZ Rwanda is currently looking for a Institutional Coordination Specialist for the Multi-Donor Action “Dutere Intambwe – Improved self-reliance and self-determination of refugees and host population in Kirehe District, Rwanda”.

Location: Kigali

Fixed Term: 01.02.2024-31.08.2026

Position: Institutional Coordination Specialist

The Institutional Coordination Specialist will perform the following responsibilities and tasks:

A. Responsibilities

The Specialist will be responsible for:

• Coordinating the implementation of interventions to improve the framework conditions for the promotion of gender-sensitive economic inclusion of refugees and host communities
• Ensuring communication and visibility measures are in place according to the specific obligations towards the German government and the European Union

The Specialist will perform the following tasks in close cooperation with the respective partners:

B. Tasks

Coordinate the implementation of interventions to improve the framework conditions for the promotion of gender-sensitive economic inclusion of refugees and host communities

At Kirehe district: 

• Supporting Public-Private Dialogues (PPDs) to identify areas for further inclusion of refugees and refugee-led organization (RLOs) in Kirehe district planning processes to facilitate access to national services (including access to business development services and professional upgrading, among others by including existing TVET schools in PPDs)
• Facilitating opportunities for exchange and learning between districts to increase the potential for replication (building on experiences of two local hubs of SD4T in Huye and Musanze)
• Strengthening the access to consumer markets e.g. through collaboration with logistic service providers
• Establishing a steering structure with Maison Shalom and potentially other partners like Ruanda TVET Board (RTB) and UNHCR

At national level: 

• Facilitation of intra-governmental exchanges to advocate for and identify potentials for refugee inclusion across relevant line ministries, which besides MINEMA includes MINALOC, MINICOM, MINEDUC, and MINECOFIN.
• Support the Head of Component in promoting refugee inclusion through existing multi-stakeholder platforms, including the UNHCR/MINEMA led technical and steering committee meetings on the topic of economic inclusion, as well as the SSWG TVET and the SSWG 3 Youth Employment within PSDYE SWG, in which German Development Cooperation (GIZ mandated by BMZ/German Embassy) plays an active role 

Ensure communication and visibility measures are in place according to the specific visibility obligations towards the German government and the European Union

• Developing promotional materials, content for project website, social media channels and other communication channels
• Preparing and summarizing progress reports, newsletters, factsheets, etc.

C. Required Qualifications, Competences and Experience

1. Qualifications and Professional experience

• 5 years’ experience in the field of institutional coordination / implementation of intra-governmental exchanges, and / or implementation of Public Private Dialogues
• Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Business Administration or other relevant academic fields
• Experience in working with organizations active in the field of refugees’ economic inclusion and/ or  MHPSS in Rwanda is an additional advantage
• Experience working with international organizations would be an added advantage

2. Others:

• Willingness for travels to Kirehe /Mahama-Camp
• Willingness to always abide by the principles and regulations of GIZ while implementing the different activities and representing the SD4T programme within the different partner institutions
• Ability to work independently and coordinate all the planned activities in accordance with the programme’s operational plan and the needs of the different partner institutions
• Knowledge on the use of MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams etc.)
• The candidate must be very conversant and fluent with both Kinyarwanda and English. French is an added advantage.