Gender, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer - Afar, Ethiopia

About Ayuda en Acción:  

Ayuda en Acción Foundation is a secular, non-partisan international non-governmental organization (NGO) established in 1981 with a global commitment to fight against poverty, inequality, and exclusion. Its headquarters is in Madrid, Spain. The organization operates in 20 countries within Africa, South and Central America and Europe (Spain, Portugal). 

In Ethiopia, Ayuda en Acción has supported a range of humanitarian and development interventions through local and international partners between 2002 and 2017; an independent country program was established in 2018. Ayuda en Acción Ethiopia aspires to tackle poverty, inequalities and exclusion that perpetuate poverty. The organization perceives women, men, girls, and boys as the center of its efforts in the country, giving it an impetus to strengthen people’s and institutions’ capacities to meaningfully contribute to development and dignified life of all in Ethiopia. To achieve its mission, Ayuda en Acción Ethiopia has been working in Afar, Oromia and South Ethiopia Regional States in close cooperation with local and international partners, international research institutes, Government, and private sector actors.

Ayuda en Acción Ethiopia, as part of the institutional strategy, manages a range of projects: Food security and resilient food system, employment, entrepreneurship and economic empowerment, value chain using market system, inclusive education and gender, humanitarian and resilience building within three program priorities: sustainable livelihoods and resilient food systems; inclusive education; and emergency response and resilience building. Ayuda en Acción are part of Alliance 2015, a strategic network of seven European NGOs engaged in humanitarian aid and development projects. 

Purpose of the Role:

Ayuda en Acción Ethiopia seeks a Gender and M&E Officer to lead gender equality efforts and coordinate the M&E framework for the AICS/EU-funded consortium project: Recovery and Advancement of Inclusive Skills and Employment for Afar’s Displaced and Host Communities (RAISE Afar). Implemented by Ayuda en Acción (lead) with partners COOPI and AISDA, the project covers Semera (Bureau of Labor and Skill), Asayta, Aba’ala City Administration, Afambo, Chifera, Telalak, and adjacent woredas.

The Officer will ensure gender sensitivity across all project cycles, develop monitoring tools, support accountability mechanisms, analyze data, and promote learning to enhance program quality and impact. This role involves implementing gender/protection activities, guiding teams to apply gender lens, and mainstreaming gender integration. The position serves as AeA’s gender focal point for all Afar programs.

Key priorities include embedding gender and social inclusion in project design/implementation, ensuring MEAL systems deliver high-quality data for reporting/learning, guaranteeing compliance with donor/AeA policies, and addressing barriers to women’s participation in TVET/employment/entrepreneurship. The Officer will foster consortium collaboration for sustainability.

Reporting line and Interdependencies with Other Functions:

The Gender and M&E Officer will report directly to the Area Program Manager. S/he will closely work with MEAL Manager, Consortium project Manager, EU funded EMPOWER project coordinator. S/he will coordinate with field program/project staff in Afar.  

Key Responsibilities:

• Mainstreaming and technical support:

• Participate in conducting gender analysis and contribute to the development of gender-responsive project strategies, indicators, and activities.
• Work closely with program teams and develop tools, guidance, and training modules on gender equality and social inclusion.
• Support staff and partners to integrate gender perspectives into all aspects of project implementation.
• Participate and provide guidance on the inclusion of women in the enterprise/cooperatives, employment, training (TVET) and skill building
• Work closely with program team and develop/adapt Gender Action Plans and ensure alignment with the project’s logical framework. 
• Monitor progress on gender-specific and gender-sensitive indicators as required by the EU /AICS Results Framework.
• Work closely with protection and safeguarding focal points to ensure gender-sensitive programming that is safe and inclusive.
• Support in implementing gender components of projects/program.
• Provide support to TVET and consortium partners to conduct TVET and community-based dialogues.
• Work closely with program team and organize and facilitate community dialogue on women leadership and empowerment to enhance their engagement in social, economic and political participation
• Lead and conduct gender analyses, technical studies, and assessments on gender in relation to women and youth empowerment.
• Work closely with program team and provide technical support to and identify opportunities for the development of relevant advocacy and communication/information materials to address gender issues.
• Ensure that program activities are carried out with cultural sensitivity while promoting gender equality and inclusion of marginalized groups.
• Represent AeA in relevant M&E and gender working groups/clusters at the regional (Afar) level as required.
• Collaborate effectively with consortium partners, UN clusters, multi-stakeholder platform, government counterparts and other stakeholders on M&E and gender-related activities.

• Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL):

• Support MEAL Plan development/implementation per donor requirements (with MEAL Manager).
• Conduct monitoring, data collection, and quality assurance aligned with donor standards.
• Collect/analyze sex- and age-disaggregated data (SADD) to optimize beneficiary needs assessments.
• Take part in feedback/complaint mechanisms per donor/AeA accountability principles.
• Analyze monitoring data for reports/learning documents, track gender indicator progress.
• Facilitate M&E review meetings and learning events for evidence-based programming.
• Coordinate field visits to assess program performance/beneficiary feedback.
• Manage gender-sensitive feedback mechanisms (e.g., hotlines, community meetings) ensuring women/girls’ safe access.
• Ensure systematic feedback recording, SADD analysis, and confidential responses.
• Support gender-responsive community communications on program progress/decisions.
• Develop/implement gender-responsive strategies, guidelines, and tools.
• Support lessons-learned sessions and after-action reviews integrating gender dimensions.

• Capacity building and training:

• Train staff, partners, and beneficiaries on gender-sensitive approaches, gender equality and Protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA).and women’s and youth’s economic empowerment.  
• Facilitate workshops on gender equality, leadership, and workplace inclusion for youth and women.
• Provide guidance and training for TVET, private sectors, SME, Cooperatives and government on gender equality.
• Organize and facilitate different capacity building trainings and workshops for key stakeholders on women‘s right and girls’ empowerment and create awareness about gender equality and rights among the local community

• Reporting and Communication:

• Contribute to providing timely and high-quality reporting on project gender outcomes and MEAL findings for donor reporting, project management, and partner meetings.
• Contribute to donor reports and proposals by providing gender-sensitive data and analysis.
• Prepare regular reports on gender outcomes and MEAL findings.
• Ensure visibility of gender results and learning through communication materials, success stories, and case studies.
• Contribute to project proposals and the design of future gender-sensitive programming.
• Document and share best practices on gender-transformative approaches.