United Religions Initiative (URI) Recent Available Job Opportunity

Posted on :

26 Nov, 2020

Category :

Vacancies South Africa

United Religions Initiative (URI) is a global interfaith network that promotes peace and justice by engaging people at the grassroots level to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world.

Founded in 2000, the United Religions Initiative (URI) is a global interfaith network that promotes peace and justice by engaging people at the grassroots level to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world.

 

 

Job Title: Regional Coordinator
Employment Type: This is a full-time position
Remuneration: Commensurate with experience & similar non-profit positions within country of residency

The purpose of the United Religions Initiative (URI) is to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation,to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and
all living beings. Grassroots groups called Cooperation Circles (CCs) are the foundational unit, the center and the life of URI. Self-governing and self-funding, they bring people of all beliefs together to address
the most pressing issues facing their communities, building bridges of compassion and understanding between people of different religious and cultural traditions. The global network presently consists of
over 1060 CCs in 108 countries.

Working together, groups of URI members from diverse belief traditions identify and address pressingproblems with grassroots ingenuity. Projects and programs undertaken by our CCs serve one or more of
14 Action Areas including the Environment, Health & Social Services, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Peacebuilding, Women, and Youth.

URI cultivates and uplifts the CC network through eight regional offices around the world and a GlobalSupport Office in San Francisco. URI is governed by a Global Council of Trustees elected by & from
member CCs.

The URI functions through 8 administrative regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and theCaribbean, Middle East and North Africa, Multiregion, North America, and Southeast Asia & the Pacific.
Africa is divided into several zones. The Southern Africa Zone includes 13 countries: Angola,Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa,
Swaziland, Zambia, & Zimbabwe. The zone creates a supportive environment for CCs, offers opportunities for connection and in-depth dialogue, provides coaching & referrals, and enhances mutual exchange among CCs.

The Regional Coordinator (RC) for Southern Africa serves as a member of the URI Global Staff and works as a movement organizer to support CCs and guide URI development in the region. The RC seeks to understand, uplift, and meet the needs of current CCs, and assist in the establishment of new CCs. The RC upholds and models the Preamble, Purpose and Principles stated in the URI Charter (see https://uri.org/what-we-do/charter).

Primary responsibilities include building good relationships with CCs, connecting CCs to one another zonally & regionally & globally, facilitating growth and sustainability in the zone, and linking Southern Africa to the broader URI global network. An annual program allocation is provided by the URI Global Support Office each year. To complement this allocation the Southern Africa zone may raise additional funds to increase its budget. The Regional Coordinator is supervised by the Director of Global Programs.

 

Responsibilities:
Overall Support for Cooperation Circles

  • Work with CCs, trustees, and your supervisor to prepare an annual workplan. The workplan will focus on supporting the CC network, and providing services or programs to address CCs’ needs & desires related to fulfilling URI’s purpose. This may include: coaching, problem-solving, brainstorming, celebrating, training, inspiring, linking with other CCs who do similar work in the zone or globally, connecting them with other information resources, etc.
  • Implement the workplan and submit two related narrative reports per year.
  • Maintain effective relationships that support CCs in achieving their aims.
  • Cultivate & promote CC members’ leadership in their circles and in the broad URI network.
  • Supervise and coordinate the work of the zonal staff team, including a CC Liaison & Administrator in Capetown, and a Country Contact Person in Malawi.
  • Manage the CC application and review process in coordination with the staff liaison to the CC Approval Committee of the Global Council.
  • Maintain accurate data information for CCs in the zone & work with Global Support Office colleagues to keep all CC records updated.
  • Maintain regular communication & collaboration with URI’s African Global Council Trustees.
  • Plan & coordinate facilitation of occasional CC gatherings as agreed to in the workplan. These may be virtual or in-person, and may be local, within-country or include all CCs in the zone.
  • Promote CC involvement in URI global initiatives as requested such as the International Day of Peace and World Interfaith Harmony Week.
  • Facilitate strategic efforts with CCs in building partnerships with like-minded external organizations.
  • Be available for possible travel to support CCs and help develop new ones as agreed to in the workplan.
  • Participate in staff calls including RC training & coaching calls, monthly RC group calls, monthly supervision meetings, Global Staff calls, etc.

Financial Management, Reporting and Evaluation:
Regional Coordinators are responsible for planning, executing, & reporting to the Global Support Office
all program allocation expenditures.

  • In consultation with the African Trustees and your supervisor, develop an annual budget in accordance with the program allocation and any other funds raised by the zone.
  • Submit two related financial reports per year to the Global Support Office.
  • Track all expenditures and submit receipts for all of them to the Global Support Office twice a year.
  • Maintain a URI bank account for the zone.
  • Respond in a timely manner to requests from the Global Support Office Finance staff.

Communications:

  • Be in regular communication with all CCs
  • Facilitate communication among CCs, including sharing of best practices & stories of impact, fostering connections with the global network, & providing other helpful information to CCs.
  • Frequently share zonal information and stories with the Global Support Office Communications Team so that Southern Africa news is featured on the global website.
  • Manage updates of the zonal website, social media platforms, whatsapp groups, etc.
  • Stay current on URI email, whatsapp and other correspondence.
  • Take advantage of RC group calls, Global Staff calls, supervision meetings and other opportunities to share good ideas, challenges and successes with URI colleagues.

Requirements:

  • Strong organizing & leadership skills, including: facilitation, project management, setting priorities and goals, collaboration, and superior communication skills (listening, speaking, writing)
  • 3-5 years’ experience promoting interfaith understanding and organizing, or grassroots organizing or related work
  • Proven experience working effectively in cross-cultural contexts and with diverse teams
  • Commitment to utilizing consistent, clear, candid communication as crucial to building and maintaining virtual relationships
  • You must be someone who loves working remotely, is comfortable working alone, AND simultaneously is able to create and facilitate varied remote teams covering large geographic distances
  • Enjoyment of actively participating as a team member
  • Ease with working collaboratively and cooperatively in shared decision-making processes
  • Flexibility to consistently accommodate volunteers’ meeting schedules, which may mean working evenings and week-ends
  • Excellent computer skills including: Microsoft Office, Google Drive/Docs, Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, strong experience with social media
  • Commitment to personal and organizational learning as part of a diverse global community
  • Commitment to raising both celebrations and challenging issues, and to engage reflectively in related conversations
  • Commitment to embrace & model URI’s vision & values as described in the Preamble, Purpose and Principles
  • Ability to travel domestically and internationally, comfortable doing so alone
  • Experience with raising funds is a plus
  • Excellent command of written and spoken English, fluency in other languages is a plus

Equipment Considerations:
Candidates must:

  • Own a personal computer with ready access to consistently reliable strong wifi
  • Own a telephone with capacity to use whatsapp
  • Have occasional access to a printer and photocopier as needed

APPLICATION GUIDELINES

Complete the application form which is a separate word document. Send it with a cover letter stating why you
believe your qualifications are a match for the position, your resume and two professional references to
[email protected].

Application Deadline: November 27th 2020

 

 


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