Life skills trainer

Sawa for Development and Aid is a Civil Society Organisation founded initially as a spontaneous initiative in December 2011 to respond to the arrival of the first 40 Syrian families displaced from Syria into the North of Lebanon.

This initiative then grew to include individual activists, locals and internationals, who worked together (literally meaning ‘Sawa’ in Arabic) to share their knowledge and exchange their experiences in order to support Syrians, internally displaced or refugees in neighbouring countries, united by their belief in their right to live in dignity and freedom, and to be active individuals in their communities, and wherever they are.

Sawa sees itself as part and parcel of the society, and that it is on a continuous learning journey based on a participatory relationship at all levels with the communities that it works with, whether host or displaced, as well as with local and international partners.

Sawa believes that humanitarian, developmental and civic work has to always strive to achieve social justice, and so it aims to work with individuals and communities through holistic interventions towards a society based on democracy, pluralism, and values of citizenship and human rights. 

Job Description:

1. Develop a program of Life Skills training to include elements of empowerment support, employability training, communication skills, presentation, negotiation, conflict transformation, non-violence culture & tools, peace building, mediation, planning, decision-making, marketing, and monitoring and evaluation skills.  for delivery to beneficiaries which will involve creating suitable and relevant lesson plans and training materials.
2.  Ensure training meets required learning outcomes and prepares beneficiaries for onward progression.
3. Prepare progress reports and evaluation of each participant outcomes achieved on the course.
4.  Manage the group of participants including attendance records, record keeping and report writing, and liaising with placement and employer engagement team regarding onward progression.
5. Develop needs and services plans.
6. Provide assessment to identify changing needs.
7. Provide counseling aimed at preparing the beneficiaries to analyze and better understand situations.
8. Ensures the safety of the beneficiaries at all times.
9. Offer supervision of the participants in program as necessary.
10. Coordinate with program staff in order to ensure proper coverage and group facilitation is available at all times.
11. Gather and create a group topic schedule. Utilize best practice group curriculum for all groups.
12. Lead assigned groups and include skills training activities.
13. Complete daily progress notes and appropriate documentation for all services as necessary.
14. Attend weekly team meetings to update staff on the beneficiary’s activity and progress.
15. Complete written documentation per program requirements, and in compliance with NGO’s policy and training.
16. Using established best practices list, provide basic living skills training and life skills coaching and education to beneficiaries based on established treatment plan and goals; model appropriate skills and behaviors; supply educational material, offer suggestions, and use appropriate tools and resources; lead, organize and participate in specific skills training activities.
17. Act as a role model to beneficiaries; actively incorporate and demonstrate personal and professional empowerment principles such as conflict management, assertive communication, respect and acknowledgement of biases.
18. Attend a variety of meetings, trainings, and seminars, which may include staff and departmental meetings.
19. Maintain high ethical standards; serve as a cooperative and productive team member within assigned program area, division, and the Agency.
20.  Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications-Skills-Education:

• University degree in a related field, such as development, Statistics, Economics, Psychology, Social Science, Social worker with coursework in operations research, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis etc.
• Minimum 3 year of work experience in development programming required.
• Proven ability to work productively with a variety of stakeholders to run participatory processes and meet tight deadlines with an emphasis on producing quality products.
• Demonstrated awareness and responsiveness to gender and social issues in cross-cultural contexts and gender integration programming.
• Demonstrated the ability to adapt to new environments and be flexible given the nature of the work ( i.e. constant changes happening on the ground, movement of the refugees…)
• Excellent computer skills, including experience with: Excel, PowerPoint, Word...
• Fluency in spoken and written Arabic and English.
• Excellent organization and follow up skills.