Child Protection Coordinator Mogadishu, Somalia

Background

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has been providing relief and development services in the Horn of Africa since 1997. The Horn of Africa and Yemen regional office is based in Nairobi with country programmes in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen.  There are also non-operational region wide initiatives, focusing on advocacy and capacity building, and are supported from the Nairobi regional office. Using a protection of human rights framework, DRC has mainly focused on Somalis who are displaced by conflict.

In the Somalia programme, there are currently over 300 staff working in six main programme offices in the Somalia country programme including Hargeisa, Bossaso, Galkacyo, Mogadishu, Dollow and Beletweyne as well as eleven smaller offices.  DRC Somalia implements broad emergency and recovery programming including protection, livelihoods and food security, water and sanitation, and governance and other programmes that fall within the five main pillars of DRC HoA and Yemen three year strategy for programming which include five programme pillars: Integrated Emergency Response (IER); Integrated Protection and Empowerment (IPE); Community Driven Recovery and Development (CDRD), Turning the Tide (TtT) youth programme; and the Gain Resilience, Opportunities and Work (GROW) programme targeting rural livelihoods.

Purpose

The position is responsible for managing and implementing a project on Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) on grave violations against children program in Somalia. The position will also support development and implementation of other child protection efforts for DRC Somalia Program.

Key responsibility:

Program Management

• Responsible for management of the MRM project (includes financial accountability by staff and partners, budget and staff management, biweekly and monthly reporting). 
• Focal point for DRC Child Protection initiatives in Somalia.
• Ensure that child protection issues are adequately mainstreamed and implemented by DRC Somalia Country Program.
• Promote improved understanding of child protection issues within DRC and ensure the observance of international norms.
• Participate and contribute to DRC Protection Program working group activities

Program development and Coordination

• Assess child protection needs and identify problems/gaps and propose/prioritize timely practical actions to respond to particular child protection problems.
• Adapt and develop tools and standards for Child Protection including child protection policies and safeguards mechanisms for children.

• Identify funding gaps for program activities and provide technical assistant to the Protection Manager in writing new project proposals and initiatives.

• Participate in child protection coordination meetings in Somalia  

Capacity building and Quality Assurance 

• Ensure technical quality of child protection  responses through support to child protection field  national staff, with close consultation with the Protection Manager;
• Review child protection methodologies, training, documentation, work plans and outputs to ensure compliance with DRC, and other international standards and norms.
• Analyze and report on relevance, outcomes and impact of DRC child protection related initiatives to provide lessons learnt and to identify best-practices

Reporting Arrangements

The Child Protection Coordinator reports to the Protection Manager. The position involves extensive consultation and engagement with DRC’s program staff within the country program.

Conditions:

Availability:     preferred start date, 1 January 2015. 

Contract:           7 months, renewable contract subject to availability of funding. Other employment conditions in accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Global Expatriates recruited by the Horn of Africa Regional Office. This position is rated as A13 on the DRC salary scale available at www.drc.dk or the DRC national staff salary scale, as applicable.

Other benefits:   Housing facility, R&R as per policy, 25 annual leave days, insurance, and one return flight home.

Duty Station:     The position is based in Mogadishu, Somalia with regular travel to various program areas (Somaliland, Puntland and South & Central Somalia). This is a non-family duty station.

General Commitments:

DRC has a Humanitarian Accountability Framework, outlining its global accountability commitments. All staff are required to contribute to the achievement of this framework

Qualifications

• University degree, preferably in Sociology, Social work, Human Rights, International Law or related field. Post graduate qualification in the same field is desirable.
• Minimum three years of professional work experience and expertise in project administration, monitoring and evaluation.
• Thorough knowledge and experience of working  with UN Security Resolutions on children associated with armed forces and groups
• Expertise in best practice knowledge of child protection, gender sensitivity and child rights programming.
• Experience of working with donors and agencies as the European Commission, ECHO and UNICEF.
• Experience  and willingness in working in conflict effected context
• Practical knowledge of carrying out child protection assessments  and managing databases
• Expertise in grants management and working in partnerships with local NGOs
• Experience in child  protection assessment and community-based child protection activities
• Experience with capacity building of national staff, and in convening and facilitating trainings and workshops.
• Proven commitment to accountability and quality assurance.
• Excellent analytical and skills in report writing and proposal development.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to establish effective and working relations with local staff and other stakeholders;
• Experience living and working in a cross-cultural, multi-sector, insecure, remote environment, under team conditions;
• Ability to work well under pressure and in adverse conditions;
• Ability to work in large organization with complex systems. 
• Fluency in English language (written and spoken) essential.

General

Commitments: DRC has a Humanitarian Accountability Framework, outlining its global accountability committments. All staff are required to contribute to the achievement of this framework. For general information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult www.drc.dk

Application and CV

Interested candidates who meet the required qualifications and experience are invited to submit updated CV and cover letter explaining why they are suited for the post. Only applications that address the stipulated duties and meet the required qualifications will be considered.

We only accept applications online on www.drc.dk > about DRC >vacancies > Current vacancies > (click on the vacancy), “Child Protection Coordinator, Somalia”) then “Apply for this position” not later October 10, 2014.

If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please contact job@drc.dk