Livelihoods Adviser – Entrepreneurship Adviser Full-Time

VSO is the world’s leading development organisation that works through volunteers to fight poverty. We are unique in the way we bring people together to share their skills and experience, generate insights and ideas and, most of all, take action against poverty and exclusion. It’s a highly effective approach that works, and today is helping millions of people in some of the world’s poorest communities lift themselves out of poverty.

Role overview

This volunteer role will support the VSO Country Office to make Secure Livelihoods and Small Business programming decisions. You will carry out research into Technical and Vocational Training (TVET), value chain analysis, business planning, and Village small scale lending Associations (VSLAs); resulting in a list of recommendations that will inform VSO Secure Livelihoods and Business strategy and in particular, Provide technical support to local partners in implementing income generating activities;
Support curriculum development or review for Technical Vocational institutions.
Designing and implement value chain analysis, business planning, and Village small scale lending Associations (VSLAs)

Skills, qualifications and experience

Essential

• A minimum of a Bachelors Degree in Economics, Social Sciences or International Development;
• Proven experiences of working with national governments and building relationships with government departments;
• Proven experience of skills development, labour market development and/or market development programming;
• Excellent communication skills with good command of both spoken and written Portuguese;
• Strong report writing skills;
• Experience of making evidence based programming recommendations.

Allowance

As a VSO volunteer, you will be sharing your skills with local communities on a full time basis. VSO will cover your travel, vaccinations, accommodation, and medical insurance costs, along with a local living allowance which will be paid in local currency. This allowance meets reasonable living expenses in country, but will not be enough to send money home. You will also receive some financial support to contribute to your on-going expenses at home.

Accommodation

VSO works with some of the poorest communities in the world which means accommodation varies and will be basic.

Some background about VSO

Much has changed since VSO started 60 years ago. We’ve gone from being a UK charity to a truly global development organisation. In 2016/2017 alone, we worked with over 7,000 volunteers from all over the world and from all backgrounds to deliver services that had an impact on the lives of almost 2.6 million people in the 24 countries where we work. Our programmes focus on the areas of health, education and livelihoods, with an increasing emphasis on resilience building, social accountability, gender and social inclusion. We believe progress is only possible when we work together and that strong partnerships are crucial to delivering positive change. That’s why we work with over 500 partner organisations, from local and national governments, to businesses, NGOs, funders, charities and community groups. Currently, over 30% of our people are recruited from within the country in which they work, and we continue to grow the share of community and national volunteers involved in our programmes. We also send increasing numbers of volunteers from one developing country to another. However, our vision has remained the same; to build a world without poverty.

If you’re interested in applying for this role, please download the job description for more information.