Community Organiser

Vacha Charitable Trust, Andheri - Mumbai

Vacha is a Resource Centre for Girls and Women based in Mumbai. Vacha means speech, articulation and self-expression. Started as a women’s library and cultural centre in 1987, it was registered as Vacha Charitable Trust in 1990. Envisioning a society built on the principles of social justice, equity and democracy, Vacha establishes safe educational centres for adolescent girls in their _bastis _by providing them with 21stcentury life skills such as computer training, conversational English and social awareness. Vacha ideates and creates learning resources including audio-visual materials, booklets and modules in joint collaboration with the programme participants, Vacha staff and other experts. Vacha’s vision is of world without exploitation, oppression, or discrimination against women, girls or any other section of society. Our mission is to focus on issues of girls and women through educational programmes, resource creation, research, training, networking and awareness building. Belief in girls’ leadership and visibilising girls’ issues at micro and macro level are the core components of our work.

Title of the Position: Community Organiser, Andheri - Mumbai

**Description of the project**:
The project of girls’ empowerment will involve working with girls from the deprived sections to negotiate their current marginalized status and develop resilience to work towards their future goals. Vacha’s main aim is to work towards the empowerment of girls disadvantaged by lower caste status, linguistics and religious minorities under the overarching phenomenon of poverty and gender. Girls’ empowerment programme is a three-pronged approach - Imparting Knowledge, Skills and creating opportunities to exercise learnt knowledge and skills. It has components of soft and hard skills and community actions. Skills acquired are used in community actions. Community actions are planned and executed by youth, girls and boys. In the more conservative communities, there are only girls. However, a total of 30% are boys in girls’ leadership programme. We encourage girls’ leadership and their visibility in the community especially in performing tasks like getting more toilets, getting street lights, etc. With participation in these activities, the success in which directly and positively impacts their lifestyles, their status in their communities goes higher and their self-confidence enhances. We encourage their leadership in a mixed group in every activity or decision
- making bodies. It is compulsory to have at least 50% of girls in all leadership events/activities. It also has a gender sensitization programme for boys. We want boys for themselves as they too are from the same deprived communities but the extreme son preference gives them a higher status in the family and in the community. They enjoy better nutrition and mobility.

The other component of the project will involve gender and health training and sports activities with adolescents in _bastis_.

Job Responsibilities:
a. Project roles
- Project management girls’ resource centre in Andheri in Mumbai.
- Mobilizing participants for Vacha’s girls’ empowerment programme,
- Conducting sessions, trainings and exposure visits with adolescents in gender sensitization, self-awareness, social awareness, digital literacy, social action and community level advocacy.
- Regular visits to the field for conducting sessions/training programmes with youth and giving inputs for the progress of the project.
- Working with the project coordinator to make action-based project plans.
- Working with community leaders, community-based organisations, women and child development dept., police system, Child Welfare Committee, and other relevant authorities to seek their supports in girls’ leadership programmes.
- Contributing to resource creation and compilation of resources relevant to girls’ concerns as and when necessary.
- To carry out other tasks that are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the role.
- Regular and timely submission of MIS reports (attendance, activity reports etc.) as required by the organisation.
- Ideological / value-based roles
- Articulating of the gender perspective and values of equality while planning the programmes and representing organisation at various platforms.
- Leadership roles
- Representing organisation at city/ national level conferences, seminars, meetings etc.
- Handling deadlines, resource crunch and should be ready for unpredictable challenges.
- Managing the group dynamics within youth groups.
- Personnel /Human Resource Development roles
- Submission of the project budget and expense to account team on timely basis as defined by the organisation.
- Ensuring the decorum in the organisation while maintaining the morale and spirit of the team members.
- Degree in Social Sciences/ Developmental field from reputed college/university.
- 3-5 years of experience of working in NGOs focusing on women or children or yo