AWCF-FK exchange program needs young Filipino professionals

WANTED: Three young Filipino professionals, for posting abroad as exchange staff.  

Deadline for application—July 31, 2012.

 

The Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF), a resource center and advocacy body on gender and co-ops in Asia, has been implementing for the past years the “Capacity-building for Gender and  Co-operatives in Asia” Project. The Project is an exchange program activity in partnership with Fredskorpset (FK) Norway, and is entering the Phase 5 of its implementation within the AWCF network. FK Norway is a government agency that arranges reciprocal exchanges of personnel between organizations in Norway and developing countries.

The Project is under FK’s “South-South Exchange” Program. In AWCF’s exchange program activity, young professionals from AWCF member-organizations are given the chance to work for 10 months in one of the network’s other member-organizations. These young professionals can either learn or teach--depending on the needs identified--in the member-organization to which each of them are assigned. AWCF’s members are the Center of Agricultural Extension Volunteers (CAEV), Vietnam; Credit Union League of Thailand (CULT), Thailand; Credit Union Promotion Club (CUPC), Malaysia; Forum for Indonesian Co-operatives Movement (FORMASI Indonesia), Indonesia; National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), Philippines; and Socio-Economic Development Organization of Cambodia (SEDOC), Cambodia.

The exchange program aims at propelling solidarity and collaboration in the AWCF network, and at capacitating the various members’ human resource in various fields of expertise like gender equality; co-operative services (financial intermediation, mutual benefit, cash management, housing, business development services, micro-enterprise, and micro-finance); sustainable agriculture (marketing and agricultural extension); training and education; information and communication technology (management information system, information technology-supported business development centers, accounting software); and other technical skills, such as project development, public relations, and documentation.

For the exchange program’s Phase 5, participants will be posted to their assignments from October 2012 to October 2013. And AWCF needs three young Filipino professionals, 22-35 years of age (up to 40 years old for females), to fill up the following positions:

1. Co-op Business Development Center (BDC) Specialist

(to be posted to CAEV, Vietnam)

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Contact farmers in project pilot sites to understand their behavior in receiving new and advanced  techniques
• Work with CAEV technical staff to help them understand the BDC. Help them in setting up and managing the BDC as well as to strengthen co-ops
• Assist in the development of new products and service offerings of the farmers
• Establish one BDC as a model for other co-ops or for project sites of CAEV to follow
• Develop BDC operations manual and training materials
• Help CAEV technical staff in editing CAEV’s English documents
• Learn the agricultural services for farmers in Vietnam 
• Submit monthly report related to the activities and their learning to host and sending partners 
• Submit terminal report on the exposure study to host and sending partners
• Learn the basic Vietnamese language

Qualifications:

• University graduate
• One to two years work experience in co-operatives
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Personal qualities: gender-sensitive; good knowledge of BDC development; willing to implement programs/projects; good interpersonal skills; good health; creative; and has entrepreneurial outlook

2. Credit Union Gender Equality (GE) Specialist

(to be posted to CULT, Thailand)

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Attend preliminary activities, such as basic orientation on CULT and its operations
• Attend exposure study to observe CULT program implementation
• Read documents and attend study visits to primary credit unions (CUs) to learn about the CU movement in CULT
• Develop a GE program in CULT, featuring— a) Gender Needs Survey and Sex-Disaggregated Data;b) Gender Training for Leaders and Staff; c) Develop GE Plan and Budget;  d) Create GE Committee/Appoint Gender Focal Person (GFP) Training Program; e) Assist the Education and Training Department staff in producing GE modules and in documentation; f) Assist the Human Resources Section in integrating GE in the Human Resource Policy
• Assist the Human Resources Section in integrating GE in the Human Resource Policy
• Assist the Training and Education Department in promoting GE in two pilot primary CUs, with GE plan developed, budget allocated, and GFP appointed
• Assist International Relations (IR) staff at CULT and primary CU in documentation in English  
• Give orientation to primary CUs about the co-op movement in the Philippines
• Submit monthly report related to the activities and their learning to host and sending partners 
• Submit terminal report on the exposure study to host and sending partners 
• Learn basic Thai language 

Qualifications:

• University graduate
• Background knowledge of co-operatives
• Background knowledge of gender mainstreaming
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Personal qualities: good interpersonal skills; good attitude; willing to assist CULT; willing to implement programs/projects; willing to learn; good health; creative 

3. Credit Union Business Development Center (BDC) Specialist

(to be posted to CUPC, Malaysia)

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Review the policies, systems, and procedures of CUPC’s BDC
• Assist in the BDC's systems installation (especially on the BDC fund and financial management)
• In cooperation with CUPC’s staff in charge for the BDC, prepare training modules of co-ops and BDC formation, and also catalogue the training modules
• Facilitate operation of the BDC (e.g., train and enhance the human resources, BDC staff, and National Women and Family Development Committee [NWFDC] of CUPC on conducting training, module preparation, training design preparation, training documentation, and similar activities)
• Facilitate and teach about promoting BDC services
• Conduct field visits to chapters of CUPC to gather data on the current activities on Small and Medium Scale Industries (SMI)
• Read documents on co-op development in the CUPC network and in Malaysia as a whole, and have exposure to some some co-ops
• Submit monthly report related to the activities and their learning to host and sending partners 
• Submit terminal report on the exposure study to host and sending partners
• Learn basic Bahasa Malaysia/Basic Tamil language

Qualifications:

• University degree in relevant field, preferably Economics
• Strong background on BDC implementation, especially on training, consultancy, and BDC  promotion
• At least two years work experience in business development
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Personal qualities: good interpersonal skills; good attitude; willingness to assist CUPC; willing to implement programs/projects; willing to learn; good health; creative; strong facilitation and leadership skill; able to work independently but is also a team player

Applicants may send their letter of intent and résumé/curriculum vitae to Ms Sally A. Ganibe (awcf@coopwomen.org) on or before 31 July 2012. For inquiries, please contact the AWCF Secretariat in the Philippines at phone number +632 4387666.

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NOTE: 

Two other participants in this exchange program activity will come from Indonesia and Cambodia, to be assigned to Philippines and Thailand, respectively. The selection and hiring of participants from Indonesia and Cambodia will be done by the AWCF-FK Project partners in those countries.