Role PURPOSE

 

Plan International is an independent child rights and humanitarian organisation committed to children living a life free of poverty, violence and injustice.

We actively unite children, communities and other people who share our mission to make positive lasting changes in children’s and young people’s lives. We support children to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to claim their rights to a fulfilling life, today and in the future. We place a specific focus on girls and women, who are most often left behind.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for more than 75 years and are now active in more than 70 countries.

The role holder will have a complex and diverse purposes ranging from technical responsibilities in the area of emergency child protection and youth up to and including managing a dynamic team involved in similar grassroots responsibilities. S/he is responsible for the overall management, coordination & networking as well as technical roles in the refugee camps in and surrounding host communities in Gambella regional state.

 

Dimensions of the Role

 

This position combines the managerial and technical aspects of child protection and youth programming. It is responsible for assessment, response analysis, design, coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the child protection and youth programming components of the Gambella refugee response. Plan International’s emergency responses. S/he is expected to strengthen the capacities of Plan International’s staff. S/he will need to co-ordinate with other sector Response team members and management, to ensure a rapid, proportionate and effective response. S/he will need to ensure response to immediate child protection issues with simultaneous consideration of longer term needs and possible scenarios. The Specialist will need to take a very active role in technical co-ordination, support and engagement with other stakeholders and technical agencies relevant to the sector

 

Accountabilities

 

The CPIE & YIE Specialist will have the below detailed roles and responsibilities;

Assessment

·         Ensure/lead on initial rapid and in-depth assessment of current situation using the Inter-agency Child protection and youth Assessment resource Toolkit, in collaboration with partners and affected population; ensure assessment finding are documented, determine priorities and immediate activities and resources.

·         Set up systems for situation monitoring with regards to child protection and youth in areas affected by emergency which may be inaccessible at certain periods.

·         Identify potential partnerships to implement recommendations or make recommendations on how to fill gaps at inter agency coordination level.

 

Program Design:

·         In coordination with child protection, youth and other sector related actors, develop a realistic evidence‐based, child protection and youth program plan with interventions based on the outcomes of assessments and the context.

·         Ensure the mainstreaming of gender, disability, education, peaceful co-existence, sanitation and hygiene among others, is factored into the program design, as well as child protection mainstreaming into other critical sectors such as Education, Health, Food, GBV,

·         Ensure Plan International’s guidelines and the inter agency Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action and youth are considered.

·         Develop a child protection and youth Program/response concept papers/notes and proposals in respect to donor requirements and organizational needs that contribute to Plan International Ethiopia’s overall Gambella and Assosa response strategy.

 

Response Management and Implementation

·         Ensure that effective planning, implementation and coordination of inclusive child protection and youth programming that address the key child protection and youth needs and barriers identified as well as child protection mainstreaming.

·         Work closely with and supervise/guide the Coordinators to ensure that implementation of relevant activities is planned and implemented in a phased and prioritized manner in full consultation and co-ordination with all relevant agencies both governmental and non-governmental.

·         Provide technical guidance and direction to ensure effective planning, implementation and monitoring of agreed child protection and youth Programme plans.

·         Develop capacity building plans and provide training, support and mentorship to child protection and youth programming staff and partners.

·         Make frequent field visits to all affected areas to monitor the implementation of activities, identify opportunities and constraints and any adjustments needed including additional staffing or staff training or other.

·         Ensure donor compliance in terms of implementation, finance, reporting and all other relevant commitments.

 

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning

·         Design and develop appropriate monitoring, evaluation and learning systems for child protection and youth interventions in collaboration with the MEAL team at country office, and ensure collection of quantitative and qualitative data and to document key learning from the child protection response.

·         Evaluate the implementation of Plan International’s child protection and youth activities and draft recommendations for improved program design as well as disseminate learnings to staff, partners and other stakeholders as appropriate.

·         Draft child protection and youth interventions reports to serve as standalone deliverables or to be included in larger emergency response reports for both donor and internal purposes.

·         Ensure early and rigorous implementation of quality and accountability mechanisms, as well as feedback from the affected population and other relevant stakeholders is considered throughout the response.

 

 

Information, supervision and Co-ordination

·         Provide regular updates to management and the emergency team on progress, priorities and constraints – verbally (meetings) and in writing (reports) on an agreed frequency.

·         Engage and follow up with relevant implementation Coordinators to ensure programme effectiveness.

·         Represent Plan International in inter agency coordination forums as well as governmental forums as required and agreed with the Team Leader.

·         Ensure the supervision of all supervisees in accordance with Plan International HR, Programme and other relevant manuals and guidance

 

1.             Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

 

Dealing with Problems:

The role holder is responsible for a program targeting to benefit vulnerable girls and boys, adolescent and youth who have been hardly hit by conflict, and socio-economic disruptions living in a refugee community with various levels of problems. This entails managing the program in a way that analyse and understand the nature and depth of the problem to respond to the need of beneficiaries.

The role holder is expected to have the capacity to creatively manage the program implementation, coordinate all the relevant stakeholders to realize quality and timely prevention and response.  The role requires preparing sound plans, implementations, conducting M&E, developing tools that measure mid-and final level impacts, etc. most importantly, the role holder is responsible to make sure that programming strictly follows global, regional and local standards, SOP, principles and guidelines in the prevention and response effort.

The role holder is responsible to create conducive working relationships with prime partners, other stakeholders and PIE program team to enable smooth and quality project implementation. Hence, the position require a professional discipline and preparedness to investigate cases, analyse, & thinking creatively in the process.

 

 

 

Key relationships

 

·         The role holder is responsible to have day to day contact and relationship with the ERM, CPIE & YIE team, operation, Finance, Logistics, HR and other functions specifically in Gambella in the process of planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the project.

·         Responsible to create working relationship with prime partners and other stakeholders, more importantly beneficiary community in the target camps.

·         The role holder will establish and maintain frequent relationships with program specialists at PIE CO and with the donor whenever required and according to pre-agreed schedule for review and reporting.

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

 

Essential

• Fluent in English with strong writing skills.
• University degree in Social work/ community development/ social science/ development studies.  (Master level will be an advantage).
• At least, 5 years of program management experience of which at least two years of experience in the field level emergency response program lead.
• Demonstrated experience in activities with communities and/or international development in INGOs working environment.
• Experience in people management.
• Documentation and report writing skills.

 

Desirable

• Specifically design and management experience with refugee response and Host communities, Education in Emergency, Child protection systems, Social inclusion, Girls’ and Child’s Rights, adolescents and Gender Equality (Previous experience with two or more of these sectors will be an advantage).
• Knowledge of existing policies and technical understanding of Gender Equality approach, Education in Emergency, Child Protection and Social inclusion.
• Familiarity with Monitoring, evaluation and lesson learning systems and tools.

·         Experience in projects involving multiple partners and/or stakeholders

 

 

Competencies

 

·         Strong project management skills, including overseeing effective delivery and reporting, financial management, human resource management, leadership and team building skills.

·         Strong analytical, coordination and communication skills.

·         Ability to inspire, motivate, influence and coach staff and other people for independent action and learning.

·         Ability to hold staff accountable for delivery on agreed commitments and to coordinate with different colleagues, partners and stakeholders.

 

Behaviours 

·         Commitment and adherence to humanitarian values and standards,

·         Willing to make rapid decisions even with inadequate information but ready to reflect and adjust course of action if necessary;

·         Cross-culturally agile, aware of own strengths, weaknesses and pro-active in using feedback and self-development

·         Works with trustworthiness and integrity and has a clear commitment to Plan International’s core values and humanitarian principles

·         Ability to operate effectively under extreme circumstances including stress, high security risks and harsh living conditions.

·         Patient, adaptable, flexible, able to improvise and remain responsive under pressure.

·         Experience working in conflict or emergency-affected areas

·         Commitment to and skills in capacity building – together with the ability to assess and coach/mentor others.

 

 

Level of contact with children

 

·         Mid contact: Occasional interaction with children

 

 

Plan International’s Values in Practice

We are open and accountable

1.             Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.

2.             Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.

3.             Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.

4.             Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.

5.             Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people

We strive for lasting impact

1.             Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.

2.             Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.

3.             Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.

4.             Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together

1.             Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.

2.             Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.

3.             Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.

4.             Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

 

We are inclusive and empowering

 

5.             Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.

6.             Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.

7.             Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.

8.             Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

 

Physical Environment

 

·         Gambella is an environmentally challenging area to work due to the extensive heat and the volatile security situation. Assosa is a similar working environment in terms of the security. Moreover, due to the short nature of the program management period and competing priorities, it could sometimes be challenging to realize timely availability of staff members. The CPIE & YIE is also required to work overtime and weekends giving the challenging physical environment.