Gender, Protection and Safeguarding Advisor At Concern Worldwide

About the role:

This is a 12-months role with unaccompanied terms based in Bangui, CAR, with a salary of Grade 4 (€44,133 – €49,038). You will be expected to travel at least 50% of your time to Concern’s programme areas.

You will report directly to the Concern Worldwide CAR Programme Director (PD). You will work closely with the Country Director (CD), Country Management Team and Concern headquarters advisors on equality, protection and conflict. You will also work/engage closely with Programme Managers and Officers within Concern and liaise with implementing partner staff, government officials, and international and national partners.

You will provide technical supervision to the national staff Gender and Protection officer (GPO) and coordinate the Safeguarding Focal Points activities.

Your purpose:

The Gender, Protection and Safeguarding Advisor will provide technical support to programme teams to enhance programme quality by developing contextually appropriate approaches to ensure Concern’s programmes in CAR are safe and sensitive to gender, conflict, inclusion, environment and other power dynamics. The post holder will work with different departments and teams across the organisation and in programming in order to build and strengthen staff capacity.

They will ensure considerations for the protection of programme participants and the environment are systematically incorporated in Concern’s programmes in CAR. The Gender, Protection and Safeguarding Advisor will take learning needs into account and develop and conduct capacity building for staff. They will contribute to Concern’s organisational approach to equality, diversity and inclusion and contribute to equality initiatives programmatically and internally. They will be responsible for the existing Gender Strategy launch, its implementation, periodic review and evaluation. They will be responsible for coordinating the headquarters experts’ visits for equality and conflict assessment, among others.

Together with the Programme Director, they will ensure that the goals of the Country Strategic Plan, and crosscutting issues, including gender, conflict, inclusion, environment and protection, are taken into account in proposals and programme implementation. In collaboration with the Senior Management Team, they will ensure that safeguarding policies and procedures are clearly communicated, understood and observed by all.

You will be responsible for:

Strategic orientation

• Lead on Concern CAR’s Gender Strategy implementation, monitoring and review (as necessary) through the implementation of the action plan across programs and coordination of the Steering Committee and Gender Focal Points
• Participate in country-level strategic planning initiatives and other duties as determined by line management, especially in the elaboration of the Country Strategic Plan and Program Strategy to ensure it includes the Gender Strategy and is gender sensitive
• Support the design and implementation of new strategies, policies and procedures related to other cross-cutting issues, including conflict and the environment

Technical support and coordination

• Engage with Concern’s technical advisers, programme quality team and programme managers to provide technical support on integrating gender and protection principles and recommend adjustments or new activities as required
• Provide technical support to programme staff and compile and develop additional tools and guidance materials to strengthen the integration of protection principles and gender-sensitive and transformative approaches into programmes
• Provide inputs to Concern’s strategic planning and budgeting processes in relation to gender, environment, protection and conflict.
• Support Concern’s Gender Focal Points to foster an appropriate working culture sensitive to gender and organise events to enhance employee understanding of equality and inclusion issues
• Stay informed on global and Concern-specific trends and initiatives on gender, protection and conflict, through engagement with Concern HQ technical advisors.

Project development, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning

• Collaborate with the M&E team in country and in HQ to ensure gender and protection perspectives and related indicators are included in the monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning systems of all projects
• Lead detailed gender and protection-related research and analysis with field teams – including a rapid protection and conflict analysis at the inception of new programming, contributing to the design of gender transformational programming where possible
• Work with the Bangui based programme coordination team in Bangui to capture gender equality, protection and conflict-related learnings and success stories that can be communicated internally and externally.
• Provide technical input to proposal development and pursue opportunities for targeted gender and protection activities and projects Review donor reports and ensure they capture a sufficient level of disaggregated data.

Capacity Building, human resources and supervision

• Strengthen staff capacity on gender equality, protection and safeguarding to advance knowledge, attitudes and skills through the development and delivery of trainings and awareness raising activities.
• Support the HR department in the realization of gender, safeguarding and protection induction of each new staff member
• Coordinate country visits of HQ advisors for equality and conflict assessment, among others, and external trainers, such as Sonke
• Proactively share lessons learned on challenges and successes to promote gender equality through our programmes with other countries where Concern operates in the region
• Provide technical supervision, support and coaching to Gender, Protection and Social cohesion program staff through calls, visits and close follow up and provide technical guidance to other partners
• Support managers and HR teams in reviewing, and revising where necessary, the organisation’s workplace, policies and recruitment procedures to address and advance safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion with their teams and offices, including the internship program

Partnership

• Represent Concern Worldwide in meetings, fora, working groups and networks (including the global Protection cluster, the GBV sub-cluster, the Gender and Humanitarian Action Working Group) to increase networking and sharing of experiences
• Support the coordination of the Menstrual Hygiene Working Group (of which Concern CAR is the lead) with the Grants and Partnership Manager and the WaSH Program Manager
• Build relationships with other stakeholders and leading actors in gender and protection in CAR to foster learning and sharing of good practices
• Lead in providing technical support to local partners in developing effective safeguarding policies and procedures, gender project strategies and ensuring protection is mainstreamed in all phases
• Coordinate with potential international or government partners on these areas

Safeguarding and Accountability

• Adhere fully to the commitments and rules of Concern’s Programme Participant Protection Policy and Code of Conduct (P4 and CoC), including the respect of confidentiality and the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS)
• Lead on the dissemination and understanding of the Concern Code of Conduct and its associated policies as well as international norms regarding safeguarding and PSEA
• Coordinate the Safeguarding Focal Points’ work, especially internal workshops and awareness raising activities
• Support HR department in conducting safeguarding induction of each new staff member
• Support Logistic department in conducting safeguarding briefings of all partners and service providers
• Support the Compliance and Internal Auditor in conducting any investigation, especially in relation with gender power dynamics and safeguarding cases
• Provide technical support and training as needed to help the management team, staff and partners to reach a good understanding of Concern’s safeguarding policies and reporting mechanisms.
• Actively promote meaningful community participation and consultation at all stages of the project cycle (planning, implementation, M&E)
• Support the MEAL department to ensure that the Complaints and Response Mechanism (CRM) is known by programme participants and communities, is functional and accessible, that feedback and complaints are welcomed and addressed;

Your skills and experience will include:

Essential:

• A degree in a social science discipline/gender studies/human rights/humanitarian studies or other relevant academic field
• At least three years of working in development/humanitarian contexts at different levels, including significant field experience at the community level engaging in gender and protection or social cohesion activities
• Experience of working in areas affected by conflict
• Demonstrated understanding and knowledge of gender, humanitarian protection, safeguarding and other locally significant socio-cultural factors in emergency and recovery contexts
• Experience with facilitation, capacity strengthening and partnership building through formal and informal training
• Capacity and experience to build and advise a productive, committed team of staff and empower them through support for professional growth and development
• Ability to take the initiative and work independently
• Strong leadership and soft power skills
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Fluency in French and English, both oral and written
• Strong computer skills, particularly Microsoft Office
• Good organisational and planning skills/experience
• Ability to work in a challenging, stressful and dynamic environment with unexpected challenges.
• Willing to travel frequently to programme areas, including longer stays in remote and/or volatile areas
• Excellent writing skills

Desirable:

• Cultural sensitivity, patience, flexibility and ability to work well in a multi-sectoral and multi-cultural team and to work closely, understand and support local partners.
• Understanding of conflict sensitivity in the context of humanitarian and development programmes
• Professional knowledge of quality standards and guidelines (e.g. IASC Guidelines on Integrating GBV Interventions, IASC Guidelines on protection mainstreaming, Minimum Inter-Agency Standards for Protection, CHS, Red Cross Code of Conduct, SPHERE); able to support colleagues in their use.
• Experience in developing M&E tools, logframes, and M&E plans and of conducting M&E activities
• Specific experience in supporting EU/ECHO, USAID/BHA or Irish Aid projects
• Experience of working in CAR and cultural sensitivity to the context
• Experience with environment studies, carbon footprint assessment and strategy