Country: Serbia
Closing date: 18 Mar 2016
Background/IRC Summary : Founded in 1933, the International Rescue Committee is a prominent international organization working in relief, rehabilitation, protection, post-conflict development, resettlement services and advocacy for those uprooted or affected by violent conflict and oppression.
While refugees and migrants have been entering Europe for years, due to a change in migration patterns since mid-2015, the number of people entering Europe, mainly via Greece but also through other border crossings has surged. According to the most recent UNHCR figures, there have been 866,484 arrivals by sea to Europe in 2015. Of these, the majority are considered refugees. From Greece, refugees and migrants continue onwards, moving through the Balkans to final destinations in Europe, with often varying movements due to border closures and restrictions. Currently, Governments in the Balkans continue to allow border crossing of Syrian, Iraqis and Afghan nationals. Other nationals are stranded at borders leading to some concentrations of people with associated concerns over the risks associated with these restrictions.
The Emergency Protection program will ensure that crisis-affected populations have an improved access to life-saving and humanitarian services, rights and entitlements. This will be achieved through an integrated approach to protection, which includes information sharing, awareness-raising on rights and entitlements, advocacy, specialized programming for the most vulnerable groups, including women and children case identification and case referral, as well as risk reduction actions to reduce protection issues for affected populations.
Job overview/summary: The IRC has established a Country Office in Belgrade, Serbia and implements program addressing urgent humanitarian and protection needs of ongoing arrivals of refugees and migrants to Europe by supporting partner-led coordinated responses in Serbia. The Protection Coordinator will be responsible for providing strategic direction to the IRC’s women’s protection and empowerment, child protection and protection/rule of law programming in Serbia and coordinating with the Regional Protection Coordinator on a cohesive approach and participating, if and when necessary, in Rapid Response Mechanism missions. The Protection Coordinator will oversee technical support, capacity building of national partners and local authorities to strengthen state protective systems, on-going protection assessments and be responsible for the overall quality implementation of all aspects of an integrated protection response to ensure that it effectively meets the needs of women, girls, boys and other vulnerable groups. Working closely with the IRC technical teams, the Protection Coordinator will provide expertise to partners in the areas of Women’s Protection and Empowerment and Child Protection.
Who this position reports to: The Protection Coordinator will report to the Regional Protection Coordinator and Country Director, and will have access to technical guidance from specialist in Protection/Rule of Law, Child Protection and Women’s Protection and Empowerment programming housed in a HQ-based Technical Unit.
Major Responsibilities
Program Quality
- Provide strategic direction and technical support to partners for an integrated emergency protection approach which meets the needs of refugees and migrants, and specifically those of women, children, and other vulnerable groups in Serbia.
- Lead/conduct integrated protection assessments as appropriate and specific assessments on women and children to identify gaps and necessary supports. Liaise with authorities, national stakeholders, UN Agencies, and INGOs to continuously review emergency protection needs, priority areas and narrow down exact location for increased partnership and/or program implementation.
- Lead and coordinate protection program design processes and plans with partners to ensure flexible and responsive emergency protection programs which meet the specific needs of women, children, and other vulnerable groups within the refugee/migrant population.
- Identify and coordinate use of safe spaces designed specifically for women and girls AND children.
- Coordinate trainings to provide ongoing capacity building, mentoring and technical support to IRC partners and staff on specialized women’s protection programming and protection mainstreaming. Support and build capacity of local authorities to support child protection response and systems building as appropriate, GBV prevention and response, emergency response and contingency planning.
- Support and train health sectors in providing safe and confidential Clinical Care for Sexual Assault Survivors in coordination with the Health Coordinator.
Ensure staff and partner practice with clients adheres to best-practice principles particularly when working with survivors of trauma.
Coordinate and analyze trends emerging from the protection program and ensure that this analysis informs programming and advocacy, in accordance with best practice and ethical standards. Propose and discuss key strategic changes and areas of work with the Regional Protection Coordinator.
Assess the viability of and train on use of GBV-IMS for Serbia and the region.
Coordinate the overall implementation of IRC partnership projects and provide guidance to partners/field staff to assess progress towards goals and objectives and assist in finding solutions to identified challenges. Review activities with technical advisors in key programmatic areas (Child Protection, Protection/Rule of Law, and Women’s Protection and Empowerment) if required and when appropriate.
Assess case management, direct service provision, and specialized psycho-social support activities throughout project and advise as needed.
Grant monitoring and reporting
- Support the identification of potential funding opportunities, liaising where appropriate with donors.
- Participate/lead in proposal development and writing.
- Support the establishment of a reporting system with partners and the M&E Protection Manager, with regular field visits as required.
- Ensure quality IRC and donor reports as per schedules on grant activities, indicators and achievements are produced.
- Determine resources required for partners to improve services.
External coordination, representation and advocacy
- In coordination with the Regional Protection Coordinator and the Country Director, support the development of an advocacy strategy to ensure the needs of women, children, and other vulnerable populations are taken into account in policies and procedures by the European Union, donor governments, UN and other stakeholders.
- Identify and advocate on key protection concerns and share patterns and trends in Serbia.
- Develop and maintain effective and productive working relationships with key stakeholders – including INGOs, UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations, coordination structures and national and local authorities – representing IRC’s position and long-term strategy.
Staff Supervision & Development
- Provide technical supervision and support to partners and the M&E Protection Manager
- With the support of the Regional Protection Coordinator, maintain open and professional relations with Europe-response IRC protection staff by liaising with IRC partners across the region to develop a safe transnational referral system.
- Coach, train, and mentor staff with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing professional development guidance
- Supervise and mentor direct-report staff, including communicating clear expectations, setting performance objectives, providing regular and timely performance feedback, and leading documented semi-annual performance reviews.
- Provide constructive feedback and counsel on appropriate career paths and professional development.
- Promote and monitor staff care and well-being; approve and manage all leave requests to ensure adequate coverage.
- Offer leadership support for successful adherence by staff to IRC’s Global HR Operating Policies and Procedures.
Professional Standards
- All IRC staff are required to adhere to The IRC Way: Standards for Professional Conduct and the IRC employment policies.
Other
- Other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC Regional Protection Manager and Country Director.
Requirements:
Advanced university degree in social work, public health, global health, international relations, and/or other relevant field;
- Minimum of 3 - 5 years of international experience implementing protection-related programming in complex environments.
- Prior experience working in a humanitarian response and working with refugees.
- Prior experience in managing child protection and /or women’s protection and empowerment projects.
Knowledge of GBV Guidelines and IASC Guidelines on Child Protection.
Experience in coordinating the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of emergency projects across multiple countries. Strong strategic planning and proposal writing skills
Demonstrated experience in providing technical oversight to women’s protection or child protection programs implemented by partner organizations
Experience of remote management of programs.
Experience analyzing trends on the protection environment, and using this analysis to inform programming and advocacy.
Experience using the GBV-IMS
Strong leadership, staff management and capacity building skills
Excellent written and oral communication skills, cultural sensitivity, flexibility, ability to improvise, excellent relationship-building, effective in representation and liaison with external actors, team player and comfortable in a multi-cultural environment
Ability to work under pressure and to handle sensitive situations diplomatically
Willingness and ability to travel across Europe
Fluency in English required. Knowledge of Arabic/Farsi/Serbian a plus
Working Environment:
This position will be based out of the Country Office in Belgrade, Serbia. This position will require frequent travel throughout Serbia. The post is unaccompanied and housing will be provided by IRC for this position.
How to apply:
Please follow this link to apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=a2F0cmluYW1pbGxlci4yNTIyMC4zODMwQGlyYy5hcGxpdHJhay5jb20