Consultancy Opportunity: Senior Communities Consultant | Africa

Accountability Counsel amplifies the voices of communities to protect their human rights and environment. As advocates for people harmed by internationally financed projects, we employ community driven and policy level strategies to access justice. Since our founding in 2009, our team has partnered with communities and advocates from 50 countries to defend their rights, demand justice, and achieve historic victories. We are seeking a senior advocate to help African communities secure their environmental and human rights when negatively impacted by international investments.

We work toward change through three programmatic approaches. Our Policy Advocacy program advocates for accountability offices that are accessible, transparent, and fair tools for justice; advocates in our Communities program provide grassroots legal support and assist communities to use accountability offices effectively; and our Research team delivers concrete research and tools for the movement for accountability more broadly. Our respect-based approach underlies all that we do: internally, it guides how our team treats one another, and externally, it ensures that marginalized people, particularly Indigenous Peoples, women and girls, are included as full participants in community-led strategies seeking accountability.

The Opportunity
Accountability Counsel is seeking an experienced, Nairobi-based advocate to support its Communities program, which works to ensure that communities in the Africa region can access justice for human rights and environmental violations using accountability offices tied to international finance.

The Senior Communities Consultant’s primary projects will be aimed at:

• Ensuring that communities and local and regional advocates know how to trace international financing and use accountability offices to seek accountability and remedy for human rights and environmental abuses. This may include holding workshops, documenting abuses through field investigations, interviews, document reviews, legal and technical analysis, consultation with experts, and other research and advice;
• Advocating for case-specific and systemic outcomes at development finance institutions, corporations, government agencies, complaint offices, and other relevant authorities; and
• Creating and participating in strategic information exchange, network building, and capacity building opportunities to contribute to the development of an ‘accountability ecosystem’ in Africa (a network of civil society advocates for accountability, justice, and remedy for the negative impacts of international financial flows).

Who You Are

• Personally committed to Accountability Counsel’s mission and values and respect-based approach. You believe in the agency of communities around the world to protect their human rights and environment and are motivated to support them to do so.
• An experienced advocate for social and/or environmental justice that is committed to centering the voices of communities in those struggles. You have a degree in law or a related field, such as development studies, international finance, or human rights and at least seven (7) years advocacy experience in a relevant field (e.g. human rights, environmental law, environmental and social justice campaigns, international development, corporate accountability, community organizing). We are seeking someone as equally talented at sensitively working with communities at the local level, as they are effective at international advocacy.
• Enthusiastic about a non-traditional style of lawyering. We are seeking an advocate who prepares and empowers communities to advocate for themselves rather than speaking for them.
• A thoughtful relationship builder who develops rapport and trust across lines of difference, both internally and externally. You have a high degree of empathy, patience, and ability to work among diverse coalitions, including across different languages and time zones.
• A critical, strategic thinker. You have excellent written, verbal, research, and analytical skills, including the ability to review and evaluate highly technical information related to international financing and related policies. You have sound judgment and the ability to think strategically in a fast-paced environment.
• A self-directed team member who welcomes advice. You are comfortable working independently with remote supervision. You can organize and prioritize your workload. At the same time, you proactively, openly, and actively escalate issues to, and welcome feedback and direction from, the rest of Accountability Counsel’s team.
• A transparent and empowering leader. You generously share knowledge and empower peers and partners to build their own advocacy and leadership skills, while also supporting their wellbeing.
• At home in a lean, but collaborative nonprofit environment working at the cutting edge of international environmental and human rights law, with the ability to stay both focused and nimble in the face of change.
• Fluent in a language commonly used in the Africa region, and fluency or advanced language proficiency in English.

Hours and Location
This full-time consulting opportunity based in Nairobi, Kenya will begin 1 February 2022. This position will require close communication with Communities team members in the US and Asia, and regular communication with the rest of our global team. This position will require travel within Africa and internationally once it is safe to do so.

Compensation
Accountability Counsel is committed to competitive, equitable, transparent, and progressive compensation for staff and consultants. The compensation for this consulting role will be commensurate with experience and location. We expect the annualized compensation to be between USD59,500 and USD66,500.