Afghanistan: Protection Officer - Afghanistan

INTERSOS is an independent humanitarian organization that assists the victims of natural disasters, armed conflicts and exclusion. Its activities are based on the principles of solidarity, justice, human dignity, equality of rights and opportunities, respect for diversity and coexistence, paying special attention to the most vulnerable people.

1.Terms of reference

Job Title: Protection Officer
Code: SR-28-526
Country: Afghanistan
Duty Station: Kandahar with regular visits to Kabul
Starting date: 06/05/2018
Contract duration: 3 months
Reporting to: Project Manager (PM) and Head of Mission (HoM)
Supervision of: Direct supervision of: 10 social workers – 2 per mobile team & 5 mobile teams 5 psychologists and 5 lawyers – 1 per mobile team for each 60 community outreach workers – 2 per targeted location and 1 M&E reporting officer

2. General context of the project

The program’s general objective is to contribute to a reduced morbidity and mortality associated with malnutrition, diseases and hazards resulting from deficient (or non-existing) health and nutrition services, environmental health conditions and protection environment in conflict-affected communities in Kandahar province – Afghanistan. The program will target 72.241 individuals > 12% men, 48% women, 20% boy and 20% girls > 23% IDP, 4% documented returnees (DR), 12% undocumented returnees (UR) and 61% is most vulnerable local (host) community (HC).

The proposed program aims on the health and nutrition side to address the inadequate coverage and quality of life-saving services (especially for reproductive health and nutrition services) for the most vulnerable communities in Maywand, Spin Boldak and Zheray. The project will also address some of the key determinants of malnutrition and child and maternal mortality through promotion of improved Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices, safe delivery and healthy behaviors. Hygiene/WASH promotion is closely linked to health and nutrition and can further help to decrease mortality rates. Lastly the project will seek to enhance the psycho-social wellbeing and protective environment of the most vulnerable population groups. WASH and protection components will also be implemented in the informal settlements of Kandahar where IDP and (mostly) undocumented vulnerable returnees are concentrated.

Activities include:

• Structural rehabilitation/upgrade of HFs; hire and train (female) dedicated health staff for RH (and/or nutrition services) at HF level (static), run mobile teams to support the outreach capacity of the HFs for provision of RH and nutrition services; identify and train new additional community health workers and supervisors; conduct community awareness sessions on health and nutrition related topics; and secure the OPD nutrition services at HF level by dedicated trained nutrition staff;

• Conduct training in CP, GBV and PSS for different stakeholders, actors and volunteers; conduct awareness sessions for community members on protection related issues; provide individual case management services for individual protection cases (CP, GBV and PwSN ) , and run collective PSS for most vulnerable population groups at community level (CP, GBV and PwSN);

• Run WASH – HP sessions for different target groups;

• Promoting harmonization of programme approaches and methodologies across the different implementation sites by developing and monitoring use of common tools, as well as creating opportunities for experience sharing and learning;

• Providing clear technical support, supervision, training and mentoring to the protection teams, including training needed to build specialized skills in GBV and CP case management, legal assistance, psycho-social support (PSS), protection monitoring and risk mitigation;

• Ensuring that protection staff and services adhere to GBV and CP best practices, professional standards and principles;

• Providing support tools to monitor programme implementation and quality, as well as to collect feedback from beneficiaries;

• Contributing to produce high quality donor reports and other materials as required;

• Participating in proposals design including protection components;

• In coordination with Project Managers and Protection Officers, identifying individual training needs and ensuring access to training and professional development opportunities appropriate to the skill gaps and needs;

• Developing training material for different trainings to share within the protection teams;

3. General purpose of the position

The Protection Officer (PO) is in charge of the implementation and the supervision of the health and nutrition sector-related activities for the project entitled: “Multi-sector emergency response for Kandahar province for the conflict affected population (IDPs, returnees, vulnerable communities)”. Furthermore, the PO is aimed as well at supporting technical support and quality of INTERSOS protection activities in Afghanistan and at providing technical inputs to the protection strategy and programme development at Mission level.

4. Main responsibilities and tasks

Programme:

• PO and PM should work as complementary team for the implementation of the project activities, under the responsibility of the PM;

• In close coordination with PM and protection cluster, develop and establish internal and external functional and effective referral and coordination mechanisms at field level for comprehensive assistance to persons at risk or exposed to protection violations (GBV, CP and PwSN), mapping the different referral services available (medical care, mental health and psychosocial support, safe shelter, legal counseling and assistance, education and livelihoods opportunities, cash assistance, etc.), establishing collaborative relations with other relevant actors working in the target areas (international and national, humanitarian and institutional), supporting the development of SOPs and related information material;

• Ensure proper follow up on case management services including referral of clients to social workers, monitor the social workers’ case load, revise assessments, assist the social workers in developing case plans, monitor the follow up on services provisions and conduct regular case management audits;

• Ensure a proper implementation and follow up of case management and training/coaching for case management staff, ensuring standardization and quality of services;

• Organize weekly case management meeting with the different teams of case workers;

• Ensure the proper storage of sensitive data through a correct use of internal databases and case monitoring tools;

• In close coordination with the PM build the capacity of local actors and key community members (such as the community focal points and outreach volunteers) on identification and referral of individual cases (CP, GBV and PwSN);

• If security situation allows for it, undertake regular field visits to provide technical guidance and supervision as well as regularly monitor the progress of the case management activities;

• Agree with the PM from the beginning on reporting mechanism, tools and deadlines from PO to PM and from project team to PO/PM > apply PAT as internal project monitoring tool;

• Elaborate trend analyses on 6 monthly bases for CP, GBV and PwSN;

• Ensure to put in place a quality complaint mechanism and conduct a beneficiary satisfaction survey at the end of the project implementation to measure the impact of the activities and adapt the program to better meet the needs and respond to the gaps for assistance in the project target areas;

• Maintain regular and positive collaboration with the colleagues to harmonize approaches and methodologies of response, share challenges and best practices and ensure that protection is mainstreamed into the other sectors of intervention;

• Support the development, implementation and evaluation of the mission strategy and programme in reference to the Protection Sector, and specifically the CP and GBV Sub-Sectors, providing technical inputs and recommendations for new and ongoing interventions in the country;

Human resources:

• In coordination and consultation with PM, to complete the recruitment and selection of the protection project national staff;

• Managing of social workers and community outreach volunteers are directly reporting to the PO;

• In coordination with the PM, train all protection project national staff on CPiE, GBV, PwSN and psychosocial support key concepts and related issues, the guiding principles underlying the response approach including informed consent and confidentiality and the framework for action including how to identify, emotionally support and refer Child Protection, GBV and PwSN cases;

• Ensure protection mainstreaming training for all other sectors’ project staff;

Working relationships/communication:

• In coordination with PM, establish and maintain regular and collaborative relations with relevant donors, local authorities, partners, project stakeholders and other organizations working in the target areas;

• Proactively participate in protection and relevant inter-sectoral coordination meeting at field level, contributing to the development of guidelines, standards, tools and strategies

• Attend the relevant cluster meetings and ensure timely reporting of highlights to PM & HoM;

• Overall communication style needs to be conflict sensitive, moderated, soft and constructively engaging;

• Ensure to copy PM in all communications with staff (except on the case management and follow-up with individual case workers) and external stakeholders;

• All donor communication on the project must pass over the PM and HoM;

• Ensure systematic information and update sharing with the HOM and other programme staff;

• Coordinate with other INTERSOS projects/sectors in Kandahar for effective and efficient referral of cases between INTERSOS projects/sectors;

Perform any other related duties as required;

5. Required profile and experience

Education

Hold an advanced degree in social science or any related field

Professional experience

• Minimum 3 years relevant working experience in humanitarian project management with INGO, specifically protection projects

• Proven experience in coordination, case management supervision (CP, SGBV and/or PwSN)

• Demonstrated experience in research and research paper/report development

• Demonstrated experience in staff supervision and remote management

• Strong experience in training and capacity building and development of local staff and partners in protection related subjects

• Strong experience with monitoring tools and systems

• Strong experience in working with communities

• Prior experience in working in complex emergency setting, involving internal displacement

Professional requirements

• Deep technical understanding of protection programming, in particular individual case management and collective PSS

• Readiness to commit and adhere to the values, mission and vision of INTERSOS

• Demonstrable experience in establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with donors and government counterparts

• Experience with donor compliance and reporting

• Strong representation and negotiation skills

• Demonstrated leadership and interpersonal skills

• Excellent computer skills (proven computer literacy, in particular Excel knowledge is a must)

• Readiness and ability to move around in Afghanistan

• Readiness to commit and adhere to the values, mission and vision of INTERSOS

Languages

Excellent written and spoken English – Pashto would be asset

Personal requirements

• Strong team spirit, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment

• Excellent analytical skills, observation and analysis capacity

• Attention to detail and structured way of approaching tasks (very organized)

• Ability to plan ahead and output oriented (pro-active)

• Able to ensure quick quality delivery in stressful environment (stress-resilient)

• Ability to adhere to deadlines and respect line management

• Very strong interpersonal skills: strong communication and diplomatic skills

• Practical and problem-solver

• Ability to deal with heavy work pressure

For further information and to apply, follow the link below:

https://www.intersos.org/en/work-with-us/#intersosorg-vacancies/vacancy-details/5ae1f9fa222bae74b4eb3f67/

In case you encounter difficulties applying through INTERSOS' platform, you can also apply by sending your CV, motivation letter and 2 references via email to recruitment@intersos.org , with subject line: "**SR-28-526 Protection Officer - Afghanistan**".

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for the first interview.