State Coordinator, Uttarakhand

Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is a movement to empower women working in the informal economy. SEWA Bharat is part of the national SEWA movement. Established in 1984, it is a national federation of SEWA organizations of women working in the informal economy. SEWA Bharat emerged out of the need to address the SEWA movement’s challenges with geographical expansion and coordination. SEWA Bharat comprises a family of SEWA organizations to further informal women workers’ rights, livelihoods, financial independence, education, health and social security.

SEWA Bharat is looking for a State Coordinator for Uttarakhand who would be based in Almora district. She would be responsible for coordinating the work of SEWA in the state. In Uttarakhand, SEWA runs many programs (refer www.sewabharat.org) and local social enterprises. The base is membership in the Union, grassroots leadership development, organizing and advocacy from panchayat to state level and working in an integrated and sustainable way. The team runs local programs and institutions and works in a coordinated manner to facilitate the entire process.

The State Coordinator would work under the guidance of the National Coordinator and dedicated Central Team member assigned. Depending on the number of districts in which SEWA is active, she may either have to work directly in the districts or with a district coordinator. While there may be certain projects in certain districts, her focus should be to spread the activities/learning of all projects to as many districts as possible. This she does by organizing meetings with district coordinators or staff. For this she has to be close to the field, have a wide vision and be proactive.

The State Coordinator works closely with the state union committee, particularly the General Secretary of the union. While the Union President and Secretary are the face of SEWA in the state, the State Coordinator is their ally and close supporter. In this way she gets to know the
issues the union focuses on, and she finds ways to sustain their activity through studies, government linkages, program support and actual building up of their economic activity – all the 11 points of SEWA. For this she needs to know and maintain good relationships with all state officials and programs. Together with the union secretary, she organizes the state coordination meetings where the core state team and the union committee participate and plan the work ahead.

The State Coordinator is expected to strengthen the Core State team. She is responsible to see that the plans are executed well and records maintained. SEWA Uttarakhand state has ongoing projects and some may be dropped or added in due course .
The state coordinator is responsible to oversee all projects through regular interaction with the persons in- charge of them at district level. Hence, she has to know the objectives and the timelines of the projects and monitor their progress. For this she will receive assistance from the Central team members as well. She makes the annual assessment of the district coordinators. She is also responsible for recruiting staff as and when necessary. It is the job of the state coordinator to develop a smooth functioning of all in the state so that the functions of the state grow to be autonomous. For this she should understand how to delegate responsibilities while also keeping track of overall performance and progress. Hence, she should visit the districts regularly and make sure she knows all the staff working in the state. She should also make it a point to meet the local grassroot in each district so that she understands their capacities and is able to provide them inputs as and when required. The state coordinator should have good monitoring skills and be systematic in maintaining records. She may be required to draft proposals as per the need to raise funds. For this she would get support from the team but she would need to identify and articulate the needs of the members.

The position is based out of Almora, Uttarakhand.

Qualified female candidates are requested to please indicate their ability and availability to undertake the terms of reference above.
Please send your cover letter and resume to email id: [email protected] with the subject line “Application for State Coordinator Uttarakhand”.

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