Job Opening: Advocacy and Policy Officer

Founded by two Black women in the aftermath of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests around the world, the African Futures Lab (AfaLab) works to advance demands for racial justice for Africans and Afro-descended people around the world.

We pursue the recognition and the repair of past and contemporary structural racial inequalities through the development and exchange of rigorous and empirically grounded knowledge across Africa and Europe. Concretely, our work consists of research, “Mobilization Labs” with partner organizations, and advocacy.

Together, these activities and outputs serve to bolster the efforts of activists and policymakers fighting to hold States and private actors accountable for the enduring effects of colonialism and slavery in Europe and in Africa.

Topically, our current projects touch on the intersections of racial justice and gender rights, climate justice, justice systems, and socio-economic inequalities.

The Lab is registered as a not-for-profit organization and our work is thoroughly transnational in nature.

We’re a small team! We currently have 5 staff members, 3 of whom are full-time, and 2 part-time. We operate in a mix of English and French.

You can learn more about the Lab, who we are, and what we do here on our website. You can also find us on X (Twitter) - external linkand on LinkedIn - external link. 

In 2022, AfaLab launched the project "Advancing the Reparations Agenda for Colonial Crimes and Slavery in Africa," which aims to contribute to the development of a common African agenda for racial justice and reparations. The project includes:

1) a multi-sited research project that has already given rise to 9 research projects on justice and reparation for colonial crimes and slavery in Africa.

2) Mobilization Labs, during which civil society actors from the 5 regions of the continent develop advocacy strategies based on the research completed in the first phase of the project.

3) Advocacy campaigns where these strategies are implemented and demands for justice and reparations from African civil societies are brought to national, international. and/or supranational institutions and publics.

The Lab is seeking an Advocacy & Policy Officer (APO) to implement, coordinate, and supervise the second and third components of this project.

The APO will work under the direct supervision of the Executive Director and in close collaboration with the Research and Program Assistant and the Communications Officer. 

Advocacy

1. Develop & pilot one global advocacy strategy

• Develop and pilot an advocacy strategy on historical and contemporary racial injustices across Africa and Europe
• Organize participatory processes to develop a strategy and an action plan, based on research and project documents
• Continually monitor and share information (internally to the organization and externally) on the political environment relevant to the advocacy strategy
• Conduct and continually update stakeholder mapping and power analyses
• Document advocacy progress and results relating to the project and theme, reviewing and adapting the strategy and action plan where necessary

2. Implementation of advocacy activities

• Develop advocacy tools related to the project and theme, as defined in the action plan
• Assess, mobilize, and organize internal and external resources required for advocacy activities
• Ensure that the project/thematic team produces reliable and consistent data for advocacy purposes as and when required
• Represent AfaLab in networks and other spaces of engagement on historical and contemporary racial injustices

Policy

• Draft position papers/articles/op-eds/reports
• Develop policy projects, including commissioning research and producing reports
• Scope new areas of policy
• Analyze and monitor relevant legislation, policies, measures, projects and studies on racial justice and reparations in the areas where AfaLab is involved

• Master's degree or PhD in Law, Political science or Economics

• Robust knowledge of historical and contemporary racial justice issues

• 3-5 years' professional experience in advocacy projects

• Language skills: English (native speaker or functional equivalent); French (writing and speaking proficiency)

• Excellent writing skills, with experience in writing for varied audiences (e.g. policy, general public, legal briefs, scholarly analyses)

• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel

• Excellent teamwork skills

• Flexibility and adaptability

• Enthusiasm about working in a small, dynamic, and committed team in a growing organization 

• This position will be based in Paris.

• Occasional international travel may be required to represent the organization at conferences and meetings.

• We are looking for a new colleague who embodies AfaLab’s organizational values:

  1. Commitment to justice
  2. Integrity
  3. Reliability and trustworthiness
  4. Creativity
  5. Optimistic outlook