Women's Protection Coordinator

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is recognized globally as a leader in preventing and responding to violence against women. Our comprehensive approach supports the pursuit of the IRC’s broader vision: a world where women and girls live free from violence as valued and respected members of their community.

BACKGROUND TO IRC’S WOMEN’S PROTECTION & EMPOWERMENT IN SIERRA LEONE

The IRC has been implementing specific programs to promote and protect the rights of women and girls affected by GBV in Sierra Leone since 2001. Currently the program works in Freetown and the Eastern Region of Sierra Leone in three districts, Kono, Kenema and Kailahun. The Ebola outbreak that began in Guinea in December 2013, spreading most significantly to Liberia and Sierra Leone, continues to have a huge impact on women and girls. As in all emergencies, the Ebola crisis has exacerbated the already existing inequalities and vulnerabilities of women and girls to violence, and the demands of the crisis have devastated the support services and systems that previously helped to mitigate risk and provided women and girls with some levels of protection from GBV, including abuse, exploitation and violence.

RATIONALE

In December 2014, a Protection Consortium was initiated to support the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs (MSWGCA) to integrate an inclusive and holistic approach to protection for vulnerable individuals and groups across Sierra Leone in response to the Ebola outbreak. A part of this robust protection response, is to ensure the recognition of the intersections of gender, disability, and age that run through and across all the protection areas, impacting on individual and groups lives in multiple, diverse and complex ways. The IRC is the lead agency of the Protection Consortium working with Concern Worldwide, Save the Children, GOAL, Action Contre la Faim (ACF), Plan Sierra Leone, and Handicap International.

SCOPE OF WORK

The IRC is seeking a Women’s Protection Coordinator to lead the management, coordination, technical oversight of the women’s protection/VAWG component of the Protection Consortium, as part of its initial five month emergency protection project that has potential to transition into a longer-term program. They will work alongside the other Consortium partners to provide a quality program across protection areas, including child protection, VAWG/GBV, disabilities, psychosocial support, and nutrition. They will provide technical support and guidance to Women’s Protection Officers working at the regional and district levels, to Mobile Rapid Response Protection teams, to Consortium partners, and to local partners working on women’s protection / VAWG. They will work closely and collaboratively with Concern Worldwide, who are the other GBV technical partner in the Consortium.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Program Management and Technical Leadership

• Provide managerial oversight for smooth implementation of the project’s women’s protection/VAWG components of the Consortium
• Ensure the women’s protection/VAWG components are well integrated throughout all the Consortium’s activities, according to the proposal; Ensuring technical oversight and guidance and ensuring quality programming according to international protection standards for women and girls
• Ensure timely support to the Consortium’s grants unit on financial and narrative reporting to meet deadlines
• Provide technical support to Consortium staff, teams and partners on all women’s protection/VAWG areas
• Participate in technical review and planning meetings with the consortium partners’ advisors/other coordinators
• Supervise and provide technical oversight on the implementation of M&E plans and use of tools for the women’s protection/VAWG components, working closely with the Protection Consortium Coordinator and the Consortium M&E Manager

HR and Staff Development

• Lead on the recruitment of staff for the women’s protection/VAWG component of the Consortium, in coordination with HR, WPE Coordinator, senior management, and the WPE Technical Unit, if necessary
• Directly supervise Women’s Protection Officers at three regional hubs (Western, Northern and Eastern regions), and Women’s Protection Support Officers at a further three district
• Maintain professional and supportive relationships with team members promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions
• Ensure staff and local partner participation in all the relevant protection mainstreaming and VAWG training and ongoing capacity building opportunities, including the provision of practice mentoring, to enable staff and partners to develop a strong understanding and technical competency for protection, protection mainstreaming and VAWG and are practicing it

Representation and Coordination

• Build and maintain productive working relationships with a wide network of partners and stakeholders.
• Serve as a lead technical representative for women’s protection / VAWG in the Consortium, to donors, the MSWGCA, UNICEF, other UN agencies and NGOs, Consortium partners, and all other protection stakeholders
• Regularly attend the Gender/PSS/Child Protection Pillar meetings, the Gender technical working sub-groups, at appropriate levels, and ensure field level feedback directly from the women and girls and the protection teams are bought to relevant stakeholders to continue to push for quality standards and inclusion of the protection needs, priorities and concerns of women and girls into their programming and strategies

REQUIREMENTS:

• Advanced University degree in social sciences, gender, human rights, international development, or related field
• Minimum of 3-4 years previous experience working in women’s protection programming in a developing context; Strong knowledge and experience of working directly on violence against women and girls/gender-based violence; Experience in the context of an emergency and/or recovery phase is a plus.
• Strong knowledge of international standards of GBV in Humanitarian Settings, Protection and/or Protection mainstreaming
• Clear understanding of how power, inequality, violence, and oppression impact upon the lives of women and girls and those working with them
• Strong ability to respect differences of culture, opinion and lived experiences while upholding rights-based principles and women’s protection and empowerment
• Demonstrated ability to implement projects with rigorous deliverables and timelines in accordance with set timeframes and donor regulations while maintaining high quality and with multiple implementing partners.
• Knowledge of key DFID regulations and experience with DFID funding is a plus.
• Experience in the context of an emergency and/or recovery phase is a plus.
• Strengths in listening, empathy, and creativity; Flexibility to adapt to changing requirements.
• Proven ability in collaborating closely with multi-level stakeholders, including Government, donors, and implementing partners.
• Proven leadership, sound judgment and decision-making skills.
• Excellent written and oral English.