Country Director - job advert..
I'm recruiting a Country Director/Chief-of-Party for what will be a fairly large-scale (about $1 million/year) HIV prevention program for men who have sex with men (MSM) in Nigeria. The position description is attached. I'm looking for someone with MSM HIV prevention knowledge/experience, someone with USAID/PEPFAR experience, and someone who is willing to live and work in Abuja. Nigeria experience would be great, but is not required.
Please forward this to anyone you know who might be qualified/interested. Interested candidates can contact me directly at [email protected].
Thanks,
Sean
--------------------------------------------
Sean Casey
Coordinator, Global Equality Network
Director, Global HIV Initiatives
208 S. LaSalle Street
Suite 1818
Chicago, IL 60604
ph: 312.660.1361
cl: 312.296.2115
fax: 312.660.1500
[email protected]
www.heartlandalliance.org
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6 comments:
I forget but aren't we still way too homophobic in Nigeria for this?
No way, this is a perfect job for Nija.
Because of the phobia and secrecy surrounding 'the love that dare not speak its name' in Nija, this job will be like being in control of 'security vote', a la Governors/LG Chairs.
The CD will be able to rack up all sorts of expenses which can neither be proven, confirmed nor denied. The core client base is virtually impenetrable (no pun intended), I mean who is going to work with the yan daudu's in Kano with their millionaire boyfriends?
All that crap about USAID menene-menene experience is off-point. The most important qualities are; a smart, foreign-trained Nija, with awareness (not necesarily first-hand knoiwledge) of the culture of same-sex relationships in Nija.
Homosexuality in Nija does not work like it does in the West. Most of the actors are in regular marriages, with wives and children. The relationships are subtle (to the point of secrecy) and bound up in occult-like codes and loyalty-bonds.
This job can be easy or impossible - depending on how serious and respectful (of local culture) the sponsors are.
If they just want another PR statement for their profile, it has failed already. If however they really want to do some good, they are welcome.
Modibbo
As a woman, I feel that it is good that the advert exists. I have gay Nigerian friends but they are not 'out'. More troubling, a white male friend was in a relationship with a Nigerian male for 3 years. The Nigerian man could not cope with being gay and the connations of being a 'bitch' for a white guy! He succumbed to marriage with a female but still wanted his 'other life'. My white friend refused. Worse still, two married couples living in a house together - both husbands having an affair with each other. The women do not know. Nigerian men do not use condoms with their wives (if she asks- she is cheating etc). Circulate it widely to make people aware and perhaps normalise the issue.
Again, I hope my people do not think that All gay people have HIV. We have a LONG LONG way to go
So men have sex with men in Nigeria?
What can I say...
On a serious note, I'm sure there are lots of qualified people for the job but take my advice ...
advertise someplace else.
(Devils advocate comes to mind)
You have the full address and contact details published in a place we had a riot for attempting to host a beauty pageant.
tut tut. ;-)
Amy, the fact that many Nigerians are homophobic should not preclude us from recognising that HIV/AIDS doesn't dicriminate. Its irrelevant whether a person is gay, straight or has rich boyfriends. HIV/AIDS is a scourge and men who have sex with men, whether they're open about it as a few Nigerian men are now becoming, or whether they do it in secret, are still among the most vulnerable groups.
We cannot deny that so far there has so far been no official HIV prevention programme targeted at this particular group of people. Indeed, because prevention programmes are targeted solely at heterosexal people, there are bound to be MSMs in Nigeria who are given to the false belief that because they have homosexual sex, they are safe. This must be so since many are led to believe that HIV is only transmitted by heterosexual sex.
As has been correctly observed by some of the other commenters, most MSM's in Nigeria are in heterosexual relationships also. And it is unlikely that the majority of them would use condoms in sexual relations with their female partners, thereby exposing the woman to infection. So really, there is in fact a dire need for a specifically targeted HIV prevention programme of the nature proposed in this job advert and we should actively circulate the advert, just as Jeremy has done. My 2 naira's worth.
how many country directors are they trying to have?
http://naijagal.blogspot.com
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