Location: Castries, St. Lucia

Start Date: As soon as possible

Placement Length: 7-9 months

Language Requirements: English Level 4-Advanced

Open to Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents of Canada Only

The Volunteer's Role

The main objective of this placement is to strengthen the Gender Division's capabilities in implementing initiatives for gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) within its policies, programs, and services. The aim is to address the needs and rights of women and vulnerable groups, including efforts to prevent Gender-Based Violence.

As a volunteer, you will play a crucial role in enhancing the staff's skills by delivering engaging training sessions on integrating gender equality. Your tasks will also involve developing monitoring and evaluation tools essential for seamlessly incorporating GESI into programming. Furthermore, you will act as the gender specialist responsible for integrating gender equality principles not only within the specific ministry but also across other relevant ministries.

The BLUEPRINTS project covers four countries: Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Your collaborative efforts will closely align with three other Gender Experts based in Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Additionally, you will collaborate with a local In-Country Program Support Officer to provide comprehensive support to both the Gender Divisions and various ministries.

Submit your application today and join us in making a meaningful impact!

As a volunteer, you will:

• Conduct an assessment of the staff's capacity to implement gendered policies, programs, and services.
• Provide support in developing and training resources, and conduct training sessions with staff from various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) on gender equality mainstreaming into their programs using a human-rights-based approach.
• Support the development and implementation of gender policies and policies related to gender-based violence (GBV).
• Develop GESI/RBA indicators to monitor and report on the effectiveness of program implementation beyond sex-disaggregated data.
• Update the center's monitoring and evaluation system to measure the program's impact, progress, and tracking of participant development.

Essential Requirements:

• University degree in social/political sciences, international development, human rights, gender studies, social work, law, public policy, or related fields

Essential Background:

• Minimum of 3 years of demonstrated experience in a position related to the promotion of gender equality, diversity and/or women's development issues
• Experience working with government agencies and senior management
• Experience in training and facilitation

What's in it for YOU?

A life-changing experience!

About Us, the Project and the Partner

Cuso International

Cuso International is an international cooperation and development organization that works to create economic and social opportunities for marginalized groups. Together with our partners, we are focused on efforts to advance gender equality and social inclusion, improve economic resilience, and deliver progress on climate action. We believe that by sharing skills, we can build better futures. Founded in 1961, Cuso International works in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Canada.

Project - BluePrints for Gender Equality

Cuso will be implementing the four-year BLUEPRINTS project funded by the Government of Canada Global Affairs Canada (GAC); the main focus of the project is to strengthen the capacity of local governments in Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to integrate gender into policies, programs, and services to better reflect the needs, perspectives and interests of the Caribbean's most vulnerable women and girls.

Partner - Gender Affairs Division, Ministry of Social Development, Housing and Community Empowerment

The Gender Relations Division's mission is to create an environment to redress gender imbalances through policies and programmes geared towards maximizing women participation in, and benefits from national socio-economic development initiatives and improve the relationship between women and men: the goal of which is to enhance the quality of women's lives and to allow both women and men to achieve their full potential.