Child Protection Assistant at International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:


Job Title: Child Protection Assistant
Requisition ID: req8831
Location: Konduga, Borno
Sector: Child Protection
Employment Category: Fixed Term
Employment Type: Full Time
Open to Expatriates: No

Background
IRC has been present in Nigeria since 2012 when the organization responded to flooding in Kogi state. In response to the Boko Haram insurgency, in early 2014 IRC opened a field office in Mubi town of Adamawa state followed by offices in Yola (Adamawa state) in November 2014, Maiduguri (Borno state) in October 2015, and Monguno (Borno state) in October 2016. IRC is currently implementing programs in Health, Child Protection, Food Security, PRoL, WASH, Nutrition and Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) in three States in northeastern Nigeria.
The IRC is currently intervening to the emergency situation in Monguno resulting from the high influx of persons displaced from recent attacks in some parts of Borno through a multi-sectoral approach. The Child Protection Sector has secured funding to provide Psychosocial Support case management to Unaccompanied, Separated Children, and Children with other protection needs and to also support their caregivers. The CP team will also be working with adolescent boys, girls and their caregivers using the Supporting Adolescents and their Families in Emergencies resource package.
Scope of Work

• Adolescent girls and boys are gravely underserved in humanitarian emergencies, particularly during the acute phase of response
• They are often inserted into programming designed for younger children or into adult programming, where their age-specific needs are not understood or met
• The Adolescent Protection Assistants will act as focal points for adolescent girls (younger) and boys within Child Protection programming in Monguno emergency response.

Technical Quality:

• Provide support for adolescents and their families and link them to specialized services where needed.
• Ensure regular communication with the CP Officer and manager for updates on achievements and challenges

Grant Monitoring and Reporting:

• Provide input for weekly and staff activity reports. .

Coordination & Representation:

• Effectively communicate with other caseworkers, government social workers and service providers as part of providing individual support to adolescents and their families.
• Regularly attend all CP related meetings at field level

Program Development:

• Contribute to the development of proposal activities in relation to case management.
• Coordinate with other IRC sectors staff (e.g. WPE, Protection, Health and Livelihoods) at field level

Other:

• Consistently and proactively monitor/assess the safety and security of field teams; promptly reporting concerns or incidents to IRC management and  liaising with community leaders and other external parties as required to maintain/enhance the security environment for IRC programs
• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs

Professional Standards:

• All IRC staff is required to adhere to THE IRC Way Standards for Professional Conduct and the IRC country employment policies.
• Uphold the IRC Child Safeguarding Policy and ensure the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in the workplace and communities of intervention

Key Responsibilities

• Child Protection Assistant will work within a Child Protection emergency response team, providing case management and psychosocial support services to adolescents and their care givers.
• Work as part of a Child Protection team in a safe space to provide support to children as part of broader response services
• Participate in identifying facilitators and an initial SAFE approach training and engage in ongoing skills building using SAFE materials.
• With support from supervisors, mentor and coach the community volunteer responsible for co-facilitating sessions with adolescent girls (younger) or boys
• Facilitate sessions once a week for female or male caregivers
• Provide psychological first aid and support to adolescent girls(younger) or boys who disclose experiences of violence and support referral to access required services
• Facilitate feedback meetings with adolescent girl(younger)s and boys, female and male community stakeholders and caregivers and share feedback with supervisor
• Complete weekly reports on project activities, including documenting feedback from participants of SAFE sessions and proactively sharing back lessons learned whilst facilitating the curricula
• Participate in weekly team meetings.
• Lead community engagement activities to introduce SAFE activities to female and male community leaders and caregivers
• Conduct initial assessments to identify the risks and needs of adolescent girls and boys
• Work closely with other project staff to identify adolescent girls(younger), adolescent boys, and female and male caregivers to participate in SAFE learning activities
• Act as lead facilitator to deliver sessions twice a week for adolescent girls or boys together with a community volunteer facilitator

Qualifications
Candidates are desired who have:

• A Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences, Education, Economics, another Human Development related field or equivalent of experience preferred
• At least two years experience working to support children, adolescent girl and boys, women  or parents and caregivers
• Experience as an active participate of social groups, with an understanding of group dynamics and processes.
• Capacity building, facilitation or training experience
• The ability to adapt and work under pressure and strong interpersonal skills
• Fluency in English and Kanuri
• Basic competency in computer skills
• Experience with facilitation of group work with relevant populations
• A high level of motivation to assist adolescent girls and boys affected by humanitarian crisis
• A commitment to child protection and gender equality
• A learning attitude and willingness to increase skills and knowledge in the protection of adolescent girls and boys

Work Environment

• The situation in Konduga is currently calm.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply