Country: Lao People's Democratic Republic (the), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Closing date: 21 Nov 2014
This is your chance to support an organisation that supports women who have lived through the horrors of human trafficking and helps to give them a brighter future, one free from fear and discrimination. The work of our partner is doing a lot to help women who have been affected by human trafficking and provides them with the support they need to recover from the ordeal. They aim to restore the security and rights of victims, by providing safe centres for rehabilitation. In these centres, they provide medical and psychological assistance to the women, as well as education and vocational training, to eventually help them reintegrate into society. They run two social enterprises in Vientiane and Sevannakhet, which are set up as beauty salons, used for training the women and helping them to earn an income.
As one of their donors has pulled out, there have been numerous cutbacks that have affected the staff and subsequently the knowledge base of their finance staff. Therefore they are having to downscale their spending, and adjust for the change. There is a Chief Accountant in Vientiane, and the admin staff in Sevannakhet send their monthly stats to the Chief Accountant, who consolidates the accounts. This person is not highly experienced, and a recently audit raised several issues that our partner hopes you will be able to address.
They have recently had a finance volunteer from France, who went some way to building the staff's capacity. They are now doing bank reconciliations and tracking cash-flow, but as their training was very recent, your help is needed to keep it fresh and reinforced. You will be the first AfID volunteer on site, so your role will also include doing a general assessment of their internal controls, identifying any weaknesses and reviewing those highlighted by the audit, and implementing any recommendations where necessary. There will be opportunity to travel between the two offices to train staff in both locations, the Chief Accountant would also like support with creating budgets.
The work that our partner does is indispensable to the victims that they support, it is up to you to ensure that their work may continue. Whether you’re looking for a break from the office life or are hoping to begin a career in the international development sector, this role would be a perfect experience and would make a world of difference for our partner and the women they support.
There is the option of free accommodation in the residency centre, but due to the nature of the organisation this option would only be available for female volunteers. For male volunteers there is a very reasonably priced guesthouse nearby the organisation.
If you’re looking to volunteer and want to learn more about capacity building abroad, where your skills will fit in and the international development sector as a whole, join AfID and development expert John Cammack for our London workshop on the 31st October – http://www.afid.org.uk/page/4/Workshops
How to apply:
This is an issue that urgently needs addressing and you can help. Please contact us on +44 (0) 208 741 7000 or email info@afid.org.uk to find out more.