Protection Cluster Co-Facilitator

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

In Côte d’Ivoire, IRC has been implementing widespread protection, child protection and GBV programs for many years and is an active member of the dedicated clusters and sub clusters. Specifically, the IRC has gained strong experience in country in IDP return and reintegration issues, support to and reintegration of war affected children as well as GBV work through prevention, response, women’s empowerment, advocacy, and research activities.     

Terms of Reference

Scope:

The successful candidate will work as co-facilitator within the UNHCR chaired protection cluster to respond to the needs of populations in Cote d’Ivoire affected by post-electoral violence. The position will be based in Abidjan with travel to the field as needed. The candidate will also represent IRC and be an active participant in the GBV and Child Protection sub-clusters. This position will report to the Deputy Director of Programs.

Duration of Position: 10 months

Responsibilities: the successful candidate will be responsible for the following roles within the protection cluster alongside the leadership of UNHCR.

Establishment and maintenance of the Cote d’Ivoire protection cluster mechanism

• Co-facilitate the Cote d’Ivoire national protection cluster in Abidjan ensuring coordination on protection issues with relevant humanitarian, government and nongovernmental counterparts.
• Actively participate in the GBV and child protection sub cluster, and link closely with the IRC staff in charge of the social cohesion working group, the advocacy working group, and the regional clusters in Man and Abidjan.
• Ensure that information flow from regional sub clusters to the national cluster is adequate.
• Work with the UNHCR and UNFPA as needed to convene and facilitate thematic working group meetings, ensuring consensus on key decisions and action points
• Ensure that information flow from existing cluster working groups is adequate.
• Support the roll out of the cluster mechanism at field level in close coordination with sub cluster leads and other relevant partners.
• Assist in securing commitments from humanitarian partners in responding to needs and filling gaps, ensuring an appropriate distribution of responsibilities within the sectoral group, with clearly defined focal points for specific issues where necessary
• Promote the complimentarity of different humanitarian actors’ actions.
• Promote emergency response actions in strategic discussions while considering the need for early recovery planning as well as prevention and risk reduction concerns.
• Ensure that sectoral coordination mechanisms are adapted over time to reflect the capacities of local actors and the engagement of development partners.
• Represent the interests of the sectoral group in discussions with the Humanitarian Coordinator and other stakeholders on prioritization, resource mobilization and advocacy.

Guide joint needs assessment and analysis

• Coordinate with cluster member staff to ensure effective and coherent sectoral needs assessment and analysis.
• Work to update comprehensive protection assessment tools in partnership with cluster members, sub groups and other early recovery clusters as relevant.
• Promote the use of common protection tools across existing clusters, ensuring that relevant protection expertise is included into interagency tools.

Facilitate cluster planning and strategy development

• Assist in identifying gaps in sector response, cluster progress and strategy development
• Play an active role in developing or updating agreed response strategies (e.g. the IDP return strategy) and action plans for the sector and ensuring that these are adequately reflected in overall country strategies.
• Assist in the development of protection cluster strategies and contingency plan.
• Ensure that lessons learned from past activities are analyzed and documented and revise cluster strategies accordingly.
• Collaborate in preparation of meeting agendas and minutes in coordination with the cluster lead when required and facilitate cluster meetings in absence of the cluster lead.
• Support the cluster lead in the follow-up of meeting recommendations and action points.

Protection information collection and analysis

• Coordinate the flow of information from regional clusters, ensuring feedback is given to the field and that information is accurately documented and analysed.
• Take the lead on collecting information from field clusters and present it at national cluster level.
• Ensure the ethical documentation and storage of protection information within the clusters and promote best practice and ethical standards among cluster members.

Ensure adequate resource mobilization

• Along with the cluster lead, coordinate the elaboration of the protection section of humanitarian appeals to come (CAP 2012, etc.)
• Advocate for resource mobilization based on cluster output to support priority activities.
• Encourage protection cluster members to mobilize resources for their activities through their usual channels, in accordance with identified priorities.

Ensure application of standards

• Encourage that cluster members are aware of relevant policy guidelines and technical standards according to international human rights law.
• Emphasize that responses must be in line with existing policy guidance, technical standards, and relevant human rights and government legal obligations.

Monitoring and reporting

• Ensure that adequate monitoring mechanisms are in place to review impact of the protection cluster activities and progress against implementation plans.
• Support adequate reporting and effective information sharing, with regard for age and sex disaggregation

Ensure inclusion of national and international NGO partners

• Emphasize inclusion of national and international NGO partners for the sector.
• Prioritize adequate representation of varying NGO mandates and program priorities.

Advocacy

• Identify core advocacy concerns with cluster partners.
• Support the development of a cluster advocacy strategy through the Advocacy Working Group and in conjunction with key implementing partners.
• Identify broader advocacy initiatives targeting other clusters, the humanitarian community, the government, donors, and others and encourage their implementation.

Capacity building and surge support

• Support the capacity development of the cluster through technical guidance and the development of tools in coordination with the global protection cluster.
• Work with partners to develop and/or revise training materials to improve protection capacity among INGO, NGO and government partners.
• Ensure that partners have access to training and resource materials relevant to their functions and planned projects.

Representation

• Represent the protection cluster at relevant inter-agency, government, donor and other forums (eg. the land issue working group), in partnership with the designated UNHCR lead.

Requirements

• Post graduate degree in international law, social sciences or related field
• Minimum of 4 years proven experience working on protection or rule of law related issues in humanitarian environments, including provision of technical advice to field teams.
• Excellent understanding of protection issues in emergency situations and detailed knowledge of humanitarian principles, guidelines and laws.
• Excellent leadership, coordination, planning and analytical skills.
• Ability to facilitate meetings effectively.
• Excellent advocacy and representation skills including the development of strong interpersonal relationships to facilitate communication within the cluster.
• Able to work under pressure and good at timely decision making.
• Excellent written and spoken French.
• Self motivated and excellent observant of protection issues in the country.
• Previous experience of working within the cluster system critical.
• Proven ability to live and work in an unstable, insecure environment

Please apply online: www.ircjobs.org or http://tbe.taleo.net/NA2/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=IRC&cws=1&rid=7410 .