Protection Coordinator – RCA At INTERSOS

INTERSOS is a non-profit, non-governmental humanitarian organization whose objective is to assist victims of natural disasters and armed conflicts. INTERSOS bases its action on the values ​​of solidarity, justice, human dignity, equal rights and opportunities for all peoples, respect for diversity, coexistence, and attention to the most vulnerable social groups.

Terms of reference

Job title : Protection Coordinator

Code: SR-46-9620

Country: CAR

Duty station : Bangui with frequent field visits

Start date : 01/01/2025

Contract duration : 6 months

Under the supervision of: Head of Mission

Functional supervision: HQ Protection Advisor

Dependents: Protection Specialist/Protection Referent

Duty station: No family

General context of the project

According to OCHA (October 15, 2024) the key figures are as follows: out of a population of 6.1 million, 2.8 M are in need. Out of 1.9M targeted to receive assistance in 2024, 1.2M have been reached, i.e. 63%.

2.5 million people are food insecure. According to the latest UNHCR data as of 30 August, there are a total of 35,701 refugees in the CAR, of whom 29,043 are actually Sudanese refugees and 6,158 Central Africans who have returned spontaneously. 83% are women and children.

The largest concentration remains the Korsi site in Birao with 14,447 people while 14,596 Sudanese refugees are scattered in the provinces of Vakaga, Bamingui Bangoran, Haute Kotto, Ouaka, Mbomou and Haut Mbomou

While displaced persons and refugees are often the most visible faces of the crisis in CAR, GBV has taken on a worrying scale. Every hour that passes in CAR, more than two people experience GBV, including rape. In the first half of this year alone, more than 11,000 cases of GBV were reported. Among the types of GBV, rape cases (32%) remain the most reported. The prolonged humanitarian crisis, which in turn is the cause of increasing stress within households, leads to the adoption of negative coping mechanisms such as resorting to sex for survival and early marriage of girls, which exacerbate GBV, mainly affecting thousands of women and girls.

General objective of the position

In collaboration with the CDM, define and coordinate the implementation of the mission protection strategy and program.

Lead and provide technical advice to protection staff ensuring that the various components of the protection programme are executed in accordance with internal guidelines and international standards and principles, in order to ensure quality and effectively achieve mission objectives, in line with INTERSOS vision and values.

Main responsibilities and tasks

Strategy definition and implementation

• Design and draft the mission protection strategy based on the context, identifying approaches
• and appropriate interventions.
• Design a theory of change or defined protection response model and ensure it is aligned with the global protection strategy
• Support community understanding through participatory community engagement and strengths-based approaches. Ensure community mapping is done and adapt the program to different scenarios
• Participate in exploratory missions, situation assessments in current and future areas of operations (providing technical inputs and recommendations for new and ongoing interventions in the country and defining operational protection priorities as necessary) and support the development of mission policy, annual plan, position papers, budget review and project proposal and donor reporting.
• Ensure an evidence-based response through research and intervention evaluations
• Draft position papers for problem-based response based on context and learning papers on challenges and best practices to ensure technical quality of protection activities
• Support the implementation and monitoring of protection activities in accordance with INTERSOS Protection Strategy and project plans, standards and protocols.
• Identify and develop niche areas of technical expertise at the mission level and share learnings and
• Best practices with other missions
• Ensure proper integration of gender, inclusion, disability and age in the protection programme
• Ensure cohesion and harmonization of protection activities and services between the different implementation sites within the mission
• Assist the Programme Coordinator and/or Project Managers in finalising project proposals ensuring that protection is integrated into the programme and that internal and donor international protection standards are respected, as well as appropriate technical language.
• Facilitate and ensure the integration of protection into other sectors
• Technical quality and capacity building
• Responsible for strengthening the capacities of the entire protection team by ensuring technical quality
• Write SOPs for protection interventions (Case Management, Protection Monitoring, Cash, Legal, MHPSS, CB[P) and ensure their compliance in all projects
• Conduct regular case audits, critical case conferences and learning events to provide guidance and ensure compliance with standards and quality.
• Develop training materials for capacity building of protection staff and ensure that staff adhere to basic protection principles and are trained to implement good quality programmes.
• Organize training and workshops for non-protection staff to build skills and knowledge on protection principles and enable them to mainstream protection across sectors.
• Develop resources and guidelines to support protection activities targeting children and adults in the areas of case management, PSS, community protection, cash, protection monitoring and holistic protection prevention and response.
• Work with the protection team and specialists to ensure that all interventions are coordinated and technical resources are available.
• Create opportunities for sharing experiences and learning within the protection team to strengthen cooperation and collaboration.

Analysis and reporting

• Periodically (quarterly) analyze the evolution of protection and INTERSOS protection intervention data in order to identify needs, problems and trends.
• Provide strategic protection analysis and periodic reporting on trends (including aspects of conflict analysis, gender equality and risk management) based on programme experience to improve policy and advocacy development, implementation and activities
• Monitor indicators, ensure that protection data is collected, archived, processed, analyzed and disseminated in an ethical manner, in accordance with internal data protection protocols. Manage the protection database by ensuring that all data is regularly encoded
• Ensure that protection reports are submitted to the CA on a monthly basis
• Assist the program coordinator and/or project managers in finalizing external reports
• Ensure protection integration, compliance with internal international and donor protection standards and appropriate technical language

Coordination and support

• Contextualize and adapt internal and global guidelines, ensuring they are deployed and known to staff
• Update and inform programme teams on the protection situation analysis
• Create opportunities for sharing experiences and learning within the protection team to strengthen cooperation and collaboration.
• Work with other coordinators to develop integrated programs in response to community needs.
• Conduct regular monitoring visits to the field and provide support tools to monitor the quality of programme implementation.

Supervision and management of personnel

• Directly supervise, coach and mentor Protection Specialists and conduct regular performance reviews (IRP)
• Review protection specialists’ work plans and define priorities with protection project managers
• Organize regular meetings with protection specialists and the protection team to discuss implementation and ensure quality
• Organize ad hoc meetings with SMTs and project managers to share challenges and priorities and develop action plans to address them.
• Plan and supervise, in close coordination with the Human Resources department, the associated processes (recruitment, training, performance evaluation, development and internal communication) of the staff under his/her responsibility in order to improve the capacities and activities of the staff and to ensure learning and development

Monitoring

• Design monitoring and evaluation tools for protection activities and interventions, provide guidance on the use of these tools and ensure their use.
• Measure the impact of activities and identify good practices
• In collaboration with the Accountability Unit, support the development of complaint handling mechanisms for beneficiaries and ensure that complaints are handled appropriately.
• In collaboration with the Accountability Unit, where applicable, monitor the implementation of Child Protection and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PESA) policies

Networking and partnerships

• Establish and maintain collaborative relationships with donors, partners, project stakeholders and other relevant organizations.
• Maintain effective relationships with the Protection, Gender-Based Violence and Sexual Violence Working Groups and related working groups at the national level.
• Ensure that protection specialists maintain productive relationships with sub-groups in the field.
• Ensure that key protection concerns are brought to the attention of relevant stakeholders in order to advocate for respect for human rights and minimum protection standards.
• Coordinate with other internal departments to ensure good collaboration
• Network with Protection Coordinators from other missions to share best practices and resources and actively participate in monthly HQ Protection meetings and internal thematic working groups
• Collaborate and support the AC Protection Advisor in the development of technical resources and guidelines.

Required profile

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (social sciences, psychology, social work, human rights, international humanitarian law or other fields related to social development and humanitarian work)
• Master’s degree (MA or LLM) in human rights, international humanitarian law or related fields desirable

Professional experience

• Minimum 8 years of experience with NGOs in developing countries, including at least 5 years in technical protection roles
• Experience in implementing key protection interventions related to case management, public safety services and community protection.

Professional requirements

• Essential computer skills (Word, Excel and Internet)
• Solid theoretical, technical and practical experience in protection

LANGUAGES

• Essential French
• English is an asset
• Local language (Sango) is also an asset

Personal requirements

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and ability to work and integrate into a multicultural team
• Ability to work under pressure, flexibility
• Problem solver, dynamic, mature, proactive
• Diplomatic skills in networking with partners, authorities and donors
• Experience in complex emergency situations involving internal displacement
• Reporting skills, experience with monitoring tools and systems, data collection and analysis
• Stress management
• Commitment to INTERSOS Principles