Safeguarding Officer

BACKGROUND

Founded in 1979, Action Against Hunger is a global humanitarian organization that takes decisive action against the causes and effects of hunger.

Our mission is to save the lives of severely malnourished children while helping communities become self-sufficient. Recognized as a world leader in the fight against malnutrition, Action Against Hunger has pursued its vision of a world without hunger for almost four decades, combating hunger in emergency situations of conflict, natural disaster, and chronic food insecurity. With more than 8,000 staff in nearly 50 countries, our programs in nutrition, food security, livelihoods, water, sanitation, and hygiene, reach more than 20 million people each year.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Action Against Hunger Canada supports humanitarian response programming across multiple country offices in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Our programs target populations affected by, or at risk of, malnutrition and its underlying causes through emergency nutrition, WASH, and health approaches. Action Against Hunger prioritizes humanitarian programming in which people affected by crises feel safe and respected and can access the protection and assistance they need without fear of exploitation or abuse, and in which our staff feel supported, respected and empowered to deliver such assistance in working environments free from exploitation and abuse. The Action Against Hunger country offices are required to commit to compliance with Safeguarding obligations including Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) core standards. This Safeguarding Officer position will provide technical guidance to Country Offices to assess levels of Safeguarding compliance and support the development of capacity plans to strengthen systems and practices as necessary.

The ideal candidate will have:

· A strong understanding of Safeguarding, PSEA, gender and protection programming;

· Knowledge of international standards for Safeguarding, PSEA and GBV ;

· Experience with design, implementation and monitoring of humanitarian programming;

· A strong ability to apply creative and out of the box thinking to generate lasting change;

· Proven communication skills and abilities to manage relations with a diversity of stakeholders.

The role will specifically aim to strengthen Action Against Hunger’s capacities to ensure consistent, systematic policies, systems and practice is in place to prevent, mitigate and respond to Safeguarding violations across our programs and operations.

This position will focus on the following:

1. Conducting country office Safeguarding assessments to establish baselines measuring compliance with core standards

2. Development of Safeguarding capacity plans and technical support requirements for country offices to operationalize policies and protocols

3. Provision of technical assistance to ensure Safeguarding considerations are integrated across all programs and operations.

SPECIFIC ACCOUNTABILITIES

The Safeguarding Officer will work under the direct supervision of the Head of Humanitarian Affairs, with Technical support from the Senior Safeguarding Advisor. The role will be expected to coordinate closely and collaborate with members of the International Gender Unit, Country Office Senior Management Teams, Technical Coordinators, Human Resource teams and partners. The responsibilities of the Safeguarding Officer include:

1. TECHNICAL SAFEGUARDING SUPPORT

· Support the PSEA assessment exercise across Global Affairs Canada funded country offices to provide analysis of existing Safeguarding systems and the current state of implementation.

· Assist country offices with development of capacity development and action plan for identified areas for improvement necessary to meet Safeguarding commitments that will be revisited throughout project implementation.

· Provide technical support to country offices to apply consistent, systematic adoption of existing policies and procedures and guidance to operationalize them.

· Coordinate with country office Safeguarding Leads to adapt and tailor Safeguarding tools, resources and materials to their specific contextual realities.

· Support the consistent, systematic roll out of safe and accessible feedback and complaint reporting mechanisms (FCRMs).

· Coordinate with the International Gender Unit to ensure consistent establishment of GBV mapping and referral mechanisms for assistance prioritizing a survivor centered approach.

2. CAPACITIES DEVELOPMENT AND COORDINATION

· Provide technical guidance for specific country office requests for capacity building on Safeguarding initiatives.

· Support country offices in their efforts to integrate Safeguarding across all aspects of programming and operations including provision of guidance on application of consistent protection risk assessment tools.

· Support the coordination of requests for Safeguarding assistance including the development of tracking database to monitor trends across country offices, status and resolution of requests.

· Ensure consistent technical training of and support to country office Safeguarding Leads.

· Support country offices with technical guidance to manage Safeguarding complaints when raised following Action Against Hunger’s standard guidelines and protocols.

· Liaise with relevant units across the Action Against Hunger International network to coordinate on joint initiatives relevant to Safeguarding to ensure consistency of approaches.

3. AWARENESS-RAISING AND COMMUNICATIONS

· Support the development of communications materials, sensitization tools and training modules to be adapted by country offices and field locations.

· Respond to requests for input to the development of awareness-raising materials ensuring the inclusion of consistent Safeguarding content and messaging.

4. MONITORING, EVALUATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY

· Contribute to the development and implementation of a monitoring framework measuring progress on compliance with Safeguarding commitments.

· Monitor the implementation of Country Office Safeguarding plans, including field visits as requested.

· Provide inputs for reporting on progress on Safeguarding initiatives, both internally within the Action Against Hunger network and externally.

5. REPRESENTATION AND COMMUNICATION

· Maintain timely and professional communications with various internal stakeholders and working groups.

· Participate in relevant Safeguarding forums and relevant inter agency networks when requested.

· Contribute to reporting processes to Action Against Hunger’s donor and partners as required.

6. GENERAL

· Attend planning sessions, team meetings and annual performance reviews as required.

· Pro-active exchange and collaboration with Action Against Hunger Canada team members and across the International Network.

· Ensure an on-going process of personal and professional development and learning.

· Other relevant duties as assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

· Advanced degree in social work, international development, or related field.

· Minimum of 3 years with relevant program and Safeguarding experience with an international organization in a humanitarian setting.

· Demonstrated experience prioritizing Safeguarding and PSEA programming in previous positions.

· Capable of transferring skills and knowledge across a range of capacities, including safe program design, implementation, risk assessment and analysis, and advisory functions.

Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes

· Fluency in English and French and/or Spanish in both oral and written communications.

· Demonstrated commitment to Gender Equality and solid understanding of the complexity of Safeguarding, PSEA and GBV in humanitarian contexts.

· Knowledge of international standards and best practice related to Safeguarding, PSEA, GBV and Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) commitments.

· Solid understanding and commitment to humanitarian principles including the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS).

· Proven track record of working in teams, with ability to lead initiatives with multiple partners and stakeholders.

· Experience conducting trainings, orientations, awareness raising and refresher sessions with diverse teams.

· Strong verbal and written communication skills including demonstration of cultural awareness, diplomacy and tact.

· Ability to work independently and under tight deadlines, and to multi-task.

· Positive attitude and strong analytical, interpersonal and coordination skills.

· Strong organizational and planning skills, results oriented.

· Excellent knowledge of MS Office Applications.

· Experience working in multicultural contexts an asset.

· Skills in design and facilitation of trainings.

· Previous development of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials in humanitarian and development programming for behavior change.

· Experience of Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities approaches and techniques.