The Project
The Fundasaun Haburas Moris (FHM) is looking for a Monitoring and Evaluation Mentor to support the monitoring, evaluation, and reporting for a new carbon credits program. The program is slated to run for 20 years.
The Location
Maliana is the capital of Bobonaro district, Timor Leste, located near the Indonesian border. With a population of approximately 22,000, the inland regional city is approximately 150km southwest from the capital, Dili. The predominant agriculture is rice production. The majority of Maliana’s population is heavily dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. Most of the population are farmers cultivating rice and maize.
Maliana has seven villages consisting of Lahomea, Holsa, Ritabou, Odomau, Raifun, Tapo-Memo and Saburai. There are two main sources of water irrigation that supply water to paddy -fields Bulobu River, Nunura River, Malibaka and Bui Pira river. The main native dialects include Bunak and Kemak but most people understand and speak Tetum.
The Challenge
For the farming communities who make up 80% of Timor-Leste’s population, deforestation poses a real threat to their rural livelihoods. Reforestation offers a way to combat land degradation and adapt to climate change with more resilient landscapes and incomes. But with the payback from traditional industries like timber too small and too slow to encourage planting, what are the alternatives? The Timor Leste Carbon Forestry Program are working with Timor-Leste’s first internationally-certified carbon farming programme on the technology to make reforestation pay.
In this position FHM is looking for a person who can integrate into the organization and help build capacity as a peer/ colleague, from within. This person will also assist to embed best practice into management systems and procedures and support the organisational development.
About You
The successful candidate will have:
- Demonstrated experience in a M&E or MEAL role
- Knowledge of carbon credits programs
- Strong organisational and communication skills
- Ability to gently persist with multiple tasks in an environment of change where work practices and pace of work are different from metropolitan societies and where many interruptions and delays will occur
- Personal attributes that will be vital include flexibility, patience and a sense of humour
- Cultural sensitivity and openness to working within a different cultural context
- A willingness to engage your Australian community in promoting the work of the host organisation and their role.
How You Will Help
First you must be willing to learn from the local community.
Over the first six months you are asked not to change anything or suggest a change to operations. During that six months you will take the time to learn language and cultural mores from a local counterpart willing to mentor you. You will also start a register of the strengths of the current personnel and the assets in the community/country that might be used to achieve the goals of the assignment.
You need to commit to clarifying why things are done the way they are rather than presuming from your own cultural lens to outline what is missing. So, you need to ask questions to enable you to learn from your hosts, rather than in ignorance make suggestions about how things can improve. Palms training will prepare you for this approach.
In the second six months you will be ready and better know which of your skills and what of your knowledge applies to:
- Providing coaching and mentoring to FHM staff on M&E processes
- Guide FHM staff in designing and developing appropriate data collection tools and M&E frameworks for the carbon credits program
- Work with FHM staff to strengthen communication and reporting relationships between and amongst stakeholders
- Producing reports for donors
Note: The monthly living allowance enables you to live a modest local lifestyle. Based on the cost of living in a particular country, it covers food, your daily commute, communication and other local costs. It is not set to enable you to meet financial commitments at home, such as a mortgage or a personal loan. It will not cover the costs of eating out and other entertainment. Read more about what is covered in our FAQ.