The Rural Microfinance Specialist will co-lead the microfinance/financial inclusion activities of the Livelihoods for Resilience Activity in CARE implementation woredas of SNNPR. Working in collaboration with the other (Awassa-based) Rural Microfinance Specialist and focusing in particular on Gedeo Zone of SNNPR, the Rural Microfinance Specialist will co-lead activities related to the establishment of village economic and social associations (VESAs) and their linkages to microfinance institutions (MFIs), and provide technical guidance to the work of Facilitators for Empowerment

[Note: VESAs are similar to Village Savings and Lending Associations (VSLAs) but, in addition to their savings and lending activities, are used by the project as a platform for training in financial literacy, livelihoods, gender, nutrition, and climate change adaptation, as well as linkages to microfinance and other services]

Responsibilities and tasks:

·         Coordinate closely with the other Microfinance Specialist to ensure a harmonized and coherent approach to financial inclusion activities

·         Provide guidance and close support to Facilitators for Empowerment (FFEs) in organizing PSNP households into VESAs

·         Lead interventions for creating and supporting Village Economic and Social Associations (VESAs), including village savings and loans activities, training in financial literacy, and conversion to cooperatives if and when appropriate

·         Build the capacity of financial service providers (MFI, RUSACCOs and cooperative unions) to understand resilience and provide appropriate, equitable & sustainable services to women, men and youth engaging in different livelihood activities (crop and livestock and off-farm).

·         Organize training courses and deliver or arranges for the delivery of training programs related to savings and lending, financial literacy, and access to microfinance for staff, partners and project clients

·         Assess VESAs’ readiness for VESA-MFI linkages

·         Regularly review the status of partner financial service providers’ service provision, provide support to improve their service delivery, and track their loan disbursement.

·         Organize joint forums for financial service providers, regional government and other relevant actors to address financial inclusion issues, including the issue of outstanding loan and other bottlenecks, at regional/woreda level as appropriate

·         Facilitate linkage and collaboration between the PSNP 4 Livelihoods Implementation and Coordination Unit (LICU), the Cooperative Promotion Office, and financial service providers for complementarity, synergy and sequencing among coops, MFIs and VESAs

·         Keep up to date with developments in the sector, including best practice examples within the country and internationally, and ensure ongoing personal development and learning

·         Review and keep current on practices on Government of Ethiopia policies in the microfinance sector, and ensure an active information flow regarding best practices and application of program/project standards in the Livelihood for Resilience Activity implementation in Gedeo Zone

·         Develop capacity of CARE and local partner field staff on microfinance and operation of Village Savings and Loan Associations/Village Economic and Social Associations, and related initiatives

·         Organize and facilitate presentations, reports and other documentation on microfinance/financial inclusion training events and field program operations

·         Ensure the communication of microfinance concepts and procedures within the organization, with partners and other stakeholders

·         Review project evaluation reports, compile and share lessons for project adaptation and future project design considerations