Opportunity closing date: Friday, 5 June 2015
Association for Water and Rural Development (AWARD) is an NGO in South Africa that works on water supply in the broader context of managing water resources and their wise use, with a focus on learning about water security issues in the Sand River Catchment area.
AWARD seeks to appoint a Rapporteur Intern to document stakeholders’ perspectives and resilience assessment process in the Olifants River Basin, based in Hoedspruit, Limpopo.
This is a fixed-term contract position until 31 December 2016.
This opportunity is offered through AWARD under the RESILIM-O programme. AWARD is a research-based NGO that has had a 15-year focus on water resources policy, management and livelihoods. More recently the organisation has had an increased focus on biodiversity. AWARD works on systemic and social learning approaches to water issues at local and catchment-scales nationally and internationally, mainly water-sharing between South Africa and Mozambique.
AWARD was awarded a 5-year grant from USAID to implement the RESILIM-O programme (Resilience in the Limpopo Basin – Olifants River Basin). The objective of the programme is to improve trans-boundary management of the Limpopo River Basin resulting in enhanced resilience of people and ecosystems. This will be addressed through:
- Reducing vulnerability to climate change through improved water resource management;
- Conserving biodiversity and ecosystems; and
- Building stakeholder capacity to undertake and sustain (i) and (ii).
In the third year of the research phase, AWARD will continue building a collaborative and systemic picture of natural resources in the Olifants River Basin as a basis to strengthen natural resource management to build resilience. Stakeholders from a variety of platforms and diverse socio-economic backgrounds are being engaged to co-construct the systemic picture of their catchments through the Resilience Assessment Process (RAP).
There are multiple stakeholder engagements in the RAP, where various tools and approaches such as VSTEEP (a tool for obtaining contextual information on stakeholders’ value, social, technological, economic, environmental and politico-legal characteristics), mirror-back, risk assessment, scenarios and resilience assessment are utilised. The Rapporteur Intern will attend these stakeholder engagements and other meetings core to the RESILIM-O programme to document stakeholders’ perspectives and perception, as well as all observations and information relevant to the RAP and RESILIM-O.
During stakeholder engagements, multiple languages – native to South Africa – may be spoken and some will be translated into English by native-speaker(s). Additionally, technical information resulting from research on drivers of change to the natural resources in the Olifants River Basin may be shared in these meetings. These drivers range from climate change and the political economy to mining, agriculture and waste water treatment works. The Rapporteur Intern must be able to work with the facilitator(s) and translator(s) to capture all relevant information shared in these engagements and other meetings (meetings collectively) core to the RESILIM-O programme and observations.
The Rapporteur Intern must be able to prepare formal reports to document all information captured through participant observations within a couple of days after each meeting. The reporting process includes cleaning up and verifying of the notes taken at meetings. The Rapporteur Intern may also need to match certain narratives to specific photographs taken at the meetings and working with translator(s) post-meeting to translate all the information into English. The formal reports are detailed recording of what took place and what was shared at the meetings, as well as data for qualitative analysis. Therefore, accuracy and thoroughness are critical. The Rapporteur Intern will also set up and maintain a database of all the reports and SORT notes.
Requirements:
- Active listening skill – ability to listen to what is being said in great detail and objectively for discourse analysis;
- Ability to capture communication and observations rapidly in a word processing software such as Microsoft Word;
- Keen observation skill;
- Excellent English written skills and report writing; ability to work in teams;
- Show initiative in terms of understanding and responding to research needs;
- Ability to think logically and systemically to set up database; and attention to details;
- Qualifications: An undergraduate degree with Honours in a social science or journalism that provides training on participant observation or similar qualitative research method that requires active listening and note-taking is a minimum requirement;
- Preferably a familiarity or experience with natural resource management;
- A master degree, work experience and multiple language skills will be an added advantage;
- Key competencies required for this post:
- Active listening skill
- Attention to detail and high level of accuracy in note taking
- Fluency in English (read, write and understand)
- Proven computer literacy and ability to take note rapidly with a word processing software
- Familiarity with qualitative research methods
- Prepared to travel
- Ability to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and sectors
- Organisational skill
- Teamwork and collaboration
- < >Show initiative in terms of understanding and responding to research needs
- Interest in water and in participatory systemic approaches
Responsibilities:
- Support planning for stakeholder engagements for RAP and other programme meetings
- Take detailed notes during stakeholder engagements and other programme meetings
- Sort and organize notes and photographs taken
- Prepare formal reports or documentation from the notes taken
- Set up and maintain a database of notes, reports and other documentation related to the meetings
- Assist with presentation of reports
- Plus any duties as assigned by the project manager or senior research assistants
How To Apply
To apply, submit a CV and motivational letter, including at least three names of contactable referees to Kelvin Chabala via email: kelvin@award.org.za, clearly indicating in your application the following reference: “Rapporteur Intern”