Vacancy title:
Advocacy and Legal Officer

Jobs at:
Caritas Uganda

Deadline of this Job:
26th May 2017

Duty Station:
Uganda

Job details:
Project Name: Uganda Governance and Poverty Alleviation Programme
Reports to: National Director

About Us:
Caritas Uganda is the Socio-pastoral and development arm of the Uganda Episcopal Conference based at the Uganda Catholic Secretariat in Nsamba, Kampala. Its Vision is: “that they may have life and have it in its fullness” (John 10:10), and mission is “to work towards a peaceful and prosperous society where social justice, love, solidarity, reconciliation and economic justice prevails.” Caritas Uganda is a member of the Caritas International is Confederation whose headquarters are in Rome, serving humanity in many countries globally. Locally, Caritas Uganda works through its vast network of Caritas established in all 19 Catholic Dioceses in Uganda. Our core mandate is development and emergency response.

Job Summary: The Advocacy and Legal Officer will be responsible for feeding into and help implement Caritas Uganda/Uganda Farmers Common Voice Platform (UFCOVP) Advocacy Strategy

Key Duties and Responsibilities:
• Provide research and analysis on key policy and legal related debates, produce briefing notes and other materials on key Caritas Uganda focus advocacy areas
• The jobholder will represent Caritas Uganda in high level profile policy-making platform/Forums, think- tanks, academic partners, the media and the public.
• The officer will work in liaison with other Caritas Uganda/Uganda Farmers Common Voice Platform Members to support the development of Caritas Uganda/UFCOVP advocacy strategies and activities for Advocacy priority areas
• Work closely with Caritas Uganda/ UFCOVP national steering Committee to develop coordinated advocacy and public campaigns themes.
• The incumbent will work with the other Caritas Uganda Staff to organize advocacy forum both at National and Local levels
• Provide content for Caritas Uganda/ UFCOVP key communications material including website, quarterly and annual reports
• Provide legal and policy advice to both Caritas Uganda and the Uganda Farmers Common Voice Platform (both at National and the regional levels) on key policy and other emerging issues.
• Support programme partners and the Uganda Farmers common voice advocacy platform members in their advocacy and lobby initiatives including training them in appropriate legal matters
• Work closely with networks within the Catholic Church and other like-minded civil society organizations for the good of small holder Farmers in Uganda
• The jobholder will also document and share success stories and lessons learned and build capacity of Uganda Episcopal Conference, CU and partner organisations to influence change in obstacles for the attainment of smallholder farmer rights.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
• The ideal candidate should preferably hold a Bachelor’s degree(s) in Law; with a post-graduate Diploma in Legal practice, a Bachelor’s degree(s) in Development Studies, Social Science, International Development, Mass Communication, and Public Policy.
• A minimum of four years of demonstrated working experience in designing and implementing advocacy related activities;
• Previous experience in policy design, analysis and interpretation, writing and production of reports
• Prior experience in production of policy briefs, publications, and providing legal guidance.
• Prior exposure and experience in policy campaigns and dialogues with Governments and other stakeholders at both local, national and International levels
• Proven capacity to influence decision makers, develop and manage strategic relationships to achieve common goals and objectives in a consortium setting
• Broad familiarity with National and Global Development goals and programmes especially those geared towards improving Agriculture in Uganda.
• Broad knowledge of the Uganda National Development Plan, Government Programs and decision making levels; a good working knowledge of NGOs and other development agencies will be an added advantage;
• Excellent communication and social skills;
• Highly analytical and good computer skills (MS Word, Excel, Access, Power Point etc.);
• Must be hard working, trust-worthy and having a high level of integrity and respect.

Job application procedure
All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send a detailed CV, copies of academic transcripts and certificates and three professional referees, one of whom should be a former employer to the Secretary General at Uganda Catholic Secretariat (UCS), Plot 672, Hanlon Road-Nsambya Hill, P.O. Box 2886, Kampala, Uganda.