Introduction 

This is an excellent opportunity for fluent English-speaking candidates with experience in programme management to work for a rights-based survivor-centred international organisation based in The Hague. We are looking for a highly motivated candidate who can help us further develop and implement our programmes supporting national survivor networks in Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, and India. 

The ideal candidate has a solid and progressive international career in programme management, network building, and/or support to civil society movements in the development/humanitarian sector. You have a proven affinity and experience with programming for victims/survivors of CRSV/SGBV (Health, Protection and Mental Health/Psychosocial Support) and a strong commitment to survivor-centred approaches. You have experience working in the South Asia region. 

You have at least 5 years of relevant programme management experience, including donor reporting and monitoring and evaluation. You have a hands-on approach, and strong inter-cultural communications skills. We are seeking a candidate who is willing to travel to the programme countries and is keen to work in a young and growing non-profit organisation with an international working environment. 

About Us  

The Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation (MF) supports survivors’ demands for a world where sexual violence as a weapon of war is no longer tolerated, and bears consequences for individual perpetrators and states. We work for a future where survivors receive the holistic care and compensation they need to rebuild their lives. We create opportunities for survivors to speak out and be heard, and where they can, organise to create change, influence policies, and demand justice and accountability. 

The Mukwege Foundation’s ‘Voice’ programme focuses on strengthening survivors’ agency to actively influence and participate in policy and practice concerning them at national and international levels.  

At the global level, SEMA – the Global Network of Victims and Survivors to End Wartime Sexual Violence – offers a safe global platform for survivors to come together for solidarity, to share experiences and knowledge, to advocate powerfully for the abolition of the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war, and to lobby for the recognition of the rights of survivors to quality holistic care and to restorative justice. The global dimension is essential for peer-learning, bringing survivors from different generations and cultures together.  

At the national level, the Mukwege Foundation supports the initiation, development, and strengthening of in-country survivor networks, creating safe spaces for peer-to-peer support, and building survivors’ capacities to enable them to actively engage in advocating for their rights. The in-country networks vary according to their context and capacities, but in all cases these networks organise to raise awareness about the reality, causes and consequences of wartime rape in the respective countries, to combat stigma, impunity and harmful myths around CRSV, and to commemorate and recognise the many victims of these atrocities by creating a collective memory of survivors’ experiences. 

For the national survivor networks, the Mukwege Foundation is currently working in Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Iraq, Ukraine, Mali and Nigeria, and is planning to expand the programming to Ethiopia, Nepal, Myanmar, and Burundi in 2024 and beyond.  

General characteristics and objectives of the position 

The main responsibility of the Programme Manager is to actively facilitate the development, strengthening, and impact of national survivor networks. The Programme Manager ensures alignment with holistic care programming at the local level and remains in close coordination and alignment with SEMA, the Global Network of Survivors. The Programme Manager reports to the Programme Director. 

Specific objectives of the position  

The Programme Manager has the following responsibilities and tasks: 

In alignment with the overall MF strategy, you are responsible for the implementation of regional and national projects supporting the development of CRSV survivor networks in Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal, and India. 

This includes: 

• Development, coordination, and monitoring of national survivor networks in Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal, and India. (This includes scoping visits, identification and due-diligence assessments of (new) national partners, start-up of new networks, organising trainings, and supporting implementation of healing/collective memory programmes). 
• Ensuring a survivor-centred approach is applied throughout the entire project cycle. 
• Supporting the Implementing Partners (IP) to ensure they are aware of and use a survivor-centred approach. 
• Supporting survivor networks with developing advocacy messages and strategies and ensuring consistent links in messaging with SEMA, the Global Survivor Network. 
• Sharing lessons learned between national networks (and assisting in developing peer-to-peer support mechanisms). 

Project management responsibilities for this position include: 

• Responsible for the existing project(s) implementation, including compliance with contractual obligations, budget control and submitting timely and quality financial and narrative reports to donors. 

• Responsible for the identification, contracting and supporting of Implementing Partners (IP) that are part of the project implementation.  
• Responsible for the accuracy of the IP narrative and financial reports. 
• Responsible for the monitoring and evaluation throughout the project cycle. 

Qualifications and competencies 

Knowledge and skills 

• Fluency in English is mandatory, knowledge of any languages of the South Asia region is a plus. 
• Solid and progressive international career with a minimum of 5 years in programme management, network building, and/or support to civil society movements in the development/humanitarian sector. 
• Proven affinity and experience with programming for victims/survivors of CRSV/SGBV (Health, Protection and Mental Health/Psychosocial Support) and a strong commitment to survivor-centred approaches. 
• Strong experience within donor-funded project implementation, including reporting and project and budget monitoring.  
• Readiness to travel to the Mukwege Foundation’s projects in programme countries (up to 25-30% traveling time).
• You are trustworthy, respectful and honest, and exhibit a high standard of integrity in all interactions.  
• You have well-developed skills to create empathy with partners and survivors in multiple contexts, and also deal with sensitive situations.  
• You are flexible and have a proven ability to adapt and respond to the changing environment and to constructively create opportunities for change through active participation. 

Diversity  

The Mukwege Foundation is an international organisation with a diverse, international team and its main office in the Netherlands. 

As the Mukwege Foundation, we believe in the value of a diverse (leadership) team. We believe that a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace is essential to our work. We welcome people from all backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, and experiences.  It will be considered a plus if the candidate can contribute to the diversity in our team.  

This role can be based in The Hague or the South Asia region. 

What we offer 

• 5-month consultancy contract  

How to apply   

Please send your cover letter and CV, in English, to Ms. Lucy Shanahan, Office Manager, at vacancies@mukwegefoundation.org using the subject “Programme Manager – National Survivor Networks”.    

Please note that we will interview candidates on a rolling basis and, as such, we encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.   

Start date: 15 March 2024