Protection Monitors At HIAS Refugee Trust of Kenya

HIAS Refugee Trust of Kenya (HRTK) – Kenya Office

Vacancy Notice – Open to Refugees only

Job Title: Protection Monitors (10 positions)

Report to: Project Officer

Liaises with: Gender and GBV Program Manager

Duration : 1 Year Contract with possibility of renewal subject to availability of funding and performance

Location : Nairobi

Introduction :

HIAS is an international non-profit organization that stands for a world in which refugees find welcome, safety, and opportunity. HIAS’ operation in Kenya was established in 2002 with the mission to serve the most vulnerable refugees through community-based protection including psychosocial support, Gender Based Violence (GBV) Prevention and Response, resilience building and the provision of durable solutions.

Organizationally, HIAS is guided by its Refugee Rights Framework. This rights-based approach, based on international human rights and humanitarian and refugee law and practice, provides a programming framework for HIAS’ focus on refugee protection. HIAS’ programming impact seeks to ensure that forcibly displaced people become contributors to society through the realization of their legal and civil rights and social and economic rights, to include 1) the right to protection from harm, violence and discrimination, 2) the right to recovery from the shock of displacement, and 3) the right to economic self-sufficiency and inclusion.

The overall goal of HIAS’ global GBV Prevention and Response programming is for forcibly displaced refugee women, girls, sexual and gender minorities to pursue their potential and to access their human and legal rights, free from violence and oppression. This means HIAS GBV programming works to ensure;

(1) Forcibly displaced women, girls, sexual and gender minorities face a reduced risk of GBV,

(2) Survivors of sexual and physical violence have access to coordinated psychosocial, health, and legal services,

(3) Family, community, and institutions support refugee women, girls, sexual and gender minorities in accessing and using their rights.

HIAS Kenya seeks to recruit 10 protection monitors to contribute to a project, whose goal is: ‘Improved access to, and uptake of, Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) refugees of reproductive age in Nairobi’. The project seeks to contribute to:

· Improved enabling environment among LGBTQ refugees in Nairobi

· Enhanced capacity of LGBTQ refugees to address their Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) issues

· Enhanced capacity for LGBTQ community based organizations (CBOs) to advocate for their SRHR in Nairobi

The protection monitors will be drawn from the areas surrounding the 3 HIAS site /outreach offices. These include Isinya, Rongai, Matasia, Kasarani, Githurai, Gikambura, Njiru, Kawangware, Mwiki, Eastleigh etc.

Key duties and responsibilities:

· Assist in the mobilization of community members for the project roll-out and close-out meetings, relevant trainings and community-based discussions on Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH)

· Assist in mobilization for registration and enrolment of sexual and gender minority refugees and asylum seekers into the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), provision of cash-based transport allowance to LGBTQ led CBOs for access to SRH services, provision of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and hygiene packs to the LGBTQ refugee and asylum seeker community

· Participate in relevant trainings relating to SRHR as guided by HIAS project team

· Support in collection of accurate data and dissemination of information to the sexual and gender minority community as guided by HIAS

· Work with peer educators to monitor and document interventions regarding SRHR and HIV/AIDs within the sexual and gender minority refugee community and report findings in follow up meetings with designated HIAS staff

· Facilitate access to, and referrals for, appropriate LGBTQ-friendly medical/health services for the sexual and gender minority refugees and asylum seekers that is inclusive of counselling, HIV testing and administration of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)

· Assist in creating and establishing sustainable community networks with sexual and gender minority refugees and asylum seekers within the urban area

· Create and support with the collaborative opportunities that sexual and gender minority refugees and asylum seekers can benefit from

· Link the sexual and gender minority refugee and asylum seeker community to community-based psychosocial support from designated CBOs

Required qualification:

· O – Level education certificate

Demonstrated experiences:

· Not less than three months’ work experience, preferably with an NGO. Experience in the field of refugee protection and assistance to sexual and gender minorities from the refugee community is an added advantage

Required skills and competencies:

· Must be part of the sexual and gender minority community.

· Must not be in leadership or management, including the boards, in any refugee-led CBO.

· Must have basic literacy and numeracy skills.

· Demonstrated experience on working with gender issues and/or SRHR.

· Should be well integrated to the dynamics, needs and challenges of members of the sexual and gender minority community.

· Ability to work with members of the community with little or no supervision.

· Good/basic working knowledge and experience of navigating STI/HIV care services.

· Demonstrated experience on SRHR.

· Strong communication and interpersonal skills.

· Basic computer literacy.

· Strong training skills in community development and working with refugees.

Language:

· Proficiency in English or Kiswahili and either, Luganda, Kinyamulenge, French, Somali, Amharic, Tigrinya, Oromo and Kinyarwanda or any other major language spoken within the refugee community.

· Proficiency in English is MANDATORY and will be an added advantage