SKOP - Vacancy: Liaison Officer

The National Platform of Maltese NGDOs Office 82, National Pool Complex M.T. Spinelli Street Gzira GZR 1711, Malta Tel/Fax: (+356) 2131 5562 Email: info@skopmalta.org www.skopmalta.org

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Liaison Officer within SKOP in the frame of “TRIALOG V” European Commission - Reference grant: DCI-NSAED/2011/197 TRIALOG V: Strengthening CSOs in EU12/AC for active engagement in Global Development submitted under Objective 2/NSA-LA: Development Education in the EU

Background The Liaison Officer will support SKOP’s participation in the TRIALOG V project and empower SKOP for effective engagement in global development education and public awareness raising issues. The position of Liaison Officer is a paid function for which SKOP offers €636 per month gross, for 20 hours per week (50% position). The position is being offered for a period of 35 months (ending on 30 September 2015) and starting shortly after the announcement of the interview results.

Focus The main task of the Liaison Officer will be to increase the networking with SKOP’s member organisations and relevant national and European bodies, including TRIALOG and CONCORD. The Officer will also contribute to further develop the capacities of the Platform and its members to deal with current and fundamental development policy issues. The overall objective of the work is to strengthen the SKOP network and increase its level of engagement in CONCORD and other important European policy exchanges.

Responsibilities (-) assess and prioritise the needs of SKOP’s members with regards to policy, networking and capacity building activities and develop an annual capacity building and networking plan (including the respective budget) for the platform and its members in close collaboration with TRIALOG; (-) coordinate the policy, networking and capacity building plan with TRIALOG and manage the implementation of national TRIALOG funded activities (e.g. workshops, public events etc.); (-) provide quarterly updates about key aspects of the current work of SKOP and its members to TRIALOG and contribute to the TRIALOG Information Service (TIS); (-) ensure regular communication and exchange between SKOP and its members and provide quarterly updates about relevant issues (including policy topics, networking and capacity building opportunities) to the members; (-) support SKOP’s and its members’ involvement in the activities of the three main areas of TRIALOG V: (1) Global Networking for Global Learning; (2) Platform …………….

The National Platform of Maltese NGDOs Office 82, National Pool Complex M.T. Spinelli Street Gzira GZR 1711, Malta Tel/Fax: (+356) 2131 5562 Email: info@skopmalta.org www.skopmalta.org

strengthening and empowering for being DEAR multiplier and (3) EU13 platform exchange; (-) actively participate in CONCORD’s Policy Forum, or – if delegated elsewhere – closely collaborate with the platform member or platform staff member responsible; (-) support SKOP’s involvement in CONCORD working groups and the regular flow of information between platform representatives in working groups and the platform’s members; (-) support SKOP’s involvement in wider interaction with other EU13 national platforms; (-) actively participate in the yearly TRIALOG Training of Multipliers (2,5 days); (-) actively participate in relevant policy, networking and capacity building events, including those organised by TRIALOG; (-) actively participate in the annual policy coordination meeting with all EU13 liaison officers and TRIALOG staff linked to the Autumn CONCORD Policy Forum meeting; (-) contribute to drafting policy digest documents for platform members to better understand central development policy topics.

Application Applicants are asked to submit to SKOP their CV as well as a letter of motivation, which shall not exceed two pages.

The application can be submitted via email to info@skopmalta.org, or by post to the office of SKOP’s member organisation KOPIN, addressed as follows: SKOP (c/o KOPIN) Suite 2b, 195 Naxxar Road San Gwann SGN 9011 Malta Time frame Application deadline: Monday, 19 October 2012 (23.59h). The Board of SKOP reserves the right to cancel this call for applications should the Platform not receive sufficient applications, in terms of both quantity and quality.

Applications sent via email have to be submitted by the stipulated deadline, whilst applications sent by post have to show a postmark of the stipulated deadline.

Interview period: 24 – 31 October 2012. Interviews can also be held via Skype.

Decision announcement: 02 November 2012. Both the successful and the unsuccessful candidates will be informed accordingly, via email and/or phone.

The National Platform of Maltese NGDOs Office 82, National Pool Complex M.T. Spinelli Street Gzira GZR 1711, Malta Tel/Fax: (+356) 2131 5562 Email: info@skopmalta.org www.skopmalta.org

About SKOP (See also www.skopmalta.org) SKOP - The National Platform of Maltese NGDOs (non-governmental development organisations) is Malta's broadest network of voluntary and non-governmental organisations working in international development and humanitarian aid.

The Platform was founded on 26 June 2001, on the initiative of KOPIN, and has presently 18 members and six associates. It is officially recognised by the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and is enrolled with the Commission of Voluntary Organisations, in accordance with the Voluntary Organisations Act, as National Network (registration number: VO/0366; registration date: 15 February 2010).

The Platform aims to improve Malta's contribution to international development by promoting the exchange of experience, ideas and information amongst its members, between networks of NGOs in Malta and internationally, with the Maltese Government, and between its members and other Maltese bodies with an interest in international development and humanitarian aid.

To support this work, the Platform manages training, advocacy and information services.

The Platform works to promote the exchange of experience, ideas and information by acting as a broker for a variety of relationships and by collating and distributing information.

The Platform facilitates relationships: (a) Between members: the Platform aims to enable its members to learn together, sharing experience to ensure that the best practice in the NGDO community is accessible to all. It facilitates the members’ access to training and capacity building initiatives, in Malta and abroad, on topics that are often identified by members themselves. The Platform supports its members in building an understanding of the changing world in which they operate, to enable them to adapt appropriately. (b) With the Maltese Government: as Malta's broadest network of NGDOs, the Platform represents the views and interests of the NGDO community to government. It aims to ensure that mechanisms for consultation and financial support are designed to ensure the most effective work together for international development. The Platform aims, not to represent all NGDO views on all topics, but to ensure that government has access to the work of the NGDO community on as wide a range of topics as possible. (c) With the European Union: as an active founder-member of the pan-European NGDO confederation CONCORD, the Maltese Platform has a key role in advocating on European Union development policy. At an EU level, its shares CONCORD's aim to ensure that EC development policy is prioritised over political considerations, that an increasing share of EC aid goes to least developed countries and that EU external policies are consistent with development objectives and integrated with poverty reduction targets. The Platform has a role in ensuring that Maltese NGDOs (individually and collectively) are better informed about the actual and potential role of EC development policy and practice and are better placed to influence the EU. Information collation and distribution: the Platform provides its members with information on EUrelated issues made available by CONCORD and TRIALOG. It also carries out regular research on activities implemented by Maltese NGDOs. It also provides access to organisations and individuals seeking information from or about the Maltese NGDO community.

Working Groups and Campaigning: The Platform holds a number of working groups, such as the AidWatch Malta WG or the Development Education WG, and manages the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) campaign which in Malta is called STOPoverty! Neqirdu l-Faqar! Campaign.