Protection Legal Aid Coordinator

Contract

This is a DRC - National contract. More about DRC - National contracts.

Protection Legal Aid Coordinator

Danish Refugee Council, one of the world’s leading humanitarian NGOs, is currently looking for a qualified and motivated qualified and motivated Protection Legal Aid Coordinator.

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading protection agency with a mandate to promote and protect durable solutions to conflict and displacement affected populations based on humanitarian principles and human rights. DRC is implementing a multi-sector response to support Ukraine refugees, IDPs, and host populations both within Ukraine and the neighboring countries of Poland, Romania and Moldova, and wider Europe.

Due to the ongoing conflict that began in February 2022, DRC opened offices in Poland, Moldova, and Romania to provide support to the displaced population in partnership with civil society organizations and national NGOs, duty bearers, and other actors. DRC continues to implement in these three countries through partnerships, technical assistance and capacity exchange, and direct implementation in some cases.

About the Job

Protection Legal Aid Coordinator will focus and ensure compliance to DRC procedures and guidelines relevant to protection and free legal aid delivery. The role contributes to the development of field strategies, which are translated into action plans and day-to-day tasks, as well as for coordination of free legal aid tasks, coordinating these activities with protection and free legal aid actors, involving local administration and coordination forums, INGO/NGO legal aid actors, as well as internal DRC and neighboring countries legal aid responders.

The Protection Legal Aid Coordinator reports directly to the Protection Manager, coordinating its efforts and receiving technical inputs from the DRC Project Lead – Legal Aid Analyst.

Responsibilities:

Project Coordination and Implementation:

• Provide needs-based support to DRC’s collaborators and partners on the implementation of and reporting on agreed legal aid interventions, including (but not limited to) the ones relevant to application to Temporary Protection (TP) or other forms national and international protection for refugees, asylum seekers and forcibly displaced population in Moldova
• Ensure the provision of legal counselling and assistance to the displaced population on various topics of the Moldovan and Ukrainian legislation relevant to the displacement as well as conduct info-sessions and awareness-raising campaigns on the relevant legal issues
• Take active part in development of awareness-raising materials necessary for further dissemination among the displaced population
• In close consultation with DRC’s protection team and with the support of the Project Lead - Legal Analyst and Protection Manager identify opportunities and areas of added value for the consolidation of bilateral or multilateral partnerships into a Legal Aid Programme especially related to provision of legal aid support to hard-to-reach population, legal awareness raising, advocacy, legal analyses and referrals
• Document progress of project interventions, achievements and areas of support/adaptation in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, duty bearers and partners, including local administration offices in different rayons in Moldova
• Ensure links between partners’ interventions and DRC legal aid programme in Ukraine and neighboring countries relevant to the implementation of EU Temporary Protection Directive and other forms of support.
• Provide contribution in the form of meaningful partnerships and inputs to the DRC Digital Legal Aid Platform by DRC Moldova, especially related to the monitoring of legislation in Moldova and its application
• Support the development and design of the information and analytical materials to be published and disseminated through means of the DRC Digital Legal Aid Platform
• Develop activities aimed at knowledge exchange between lawyers/paralegals and human rights defenders from Moldova and other relevant countries
• Facilitate training, on thematic legal issues, when necessary, for lawyers, local government and CSO actors at field and national levels as well as trainings for DRC PMR staff
• Based on partners' inputs and DRC programmatic data/information, consolidate overviews of trends related to protection risks, legal aid needs and barriers to accessing services including legal aid
• Consolidate inputs from different coordination legal aid forums, meetings and partners for periodical reporting and provide needs-based support in reporting of legal aid interventions
• Represent the team in various forums while upholding the commitment to neutrality and non-discrimination (upon the authorization of the Project Lead – Legal Analyst and Legal Manager)
• Advocate for the needs and rights of vulnerable populations, using research findings and legal analysis to inform and influence policy discussions and decisions
• Support the team in carrying out monitoring and evaluation exercises

Accountability and reporting

• Ensure compliance with internal and external reporting requirements and provide meaningful inputs

Program development and strategy

• Contribute to the representation of the DRC and take active participation in sectoral and cross-border legal aid working groups and other relevant coordination mechanisms;
• Oversee knowledge sharing among partners, DRC Moldova and DRC in neighboring countries/wider Europe, document programmatic learning and ensure that monitoring and evaluation results are understood and used to improve programs;
• Contribute legal input for proposals and reports to donors and authorities;
• Contribute to the development and growth of the DRC Protection programme and feed into country-wide strategy development;
• Perform other duties as required by the Protection Manager and Country Program Managment.

About You

To be successful in this role we expect you to have a minimum of 2 years of proven field experience in INGO/NGO projects, ideally including working with partners, incl. local administration and communities’ structures, as well as proven experience in the area of legal aid, protection, and/or human rights. Moreover, we also expect the following:

• Commitment to learning and implementing organizational policies and procedures;
• Experience in producing quality technical material (training material, project tools, proposals, reporting documents, etc.);
• Experience working with Monitoring and Evaluation;
• Excellent skill in MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Education:

Minimum a Bachelor's degree in law (strongly preferred), political or social science, or another relevant field.

Languages:

• Full proficiency in the knowledge of Romanian;
• Advanced knowledge of English and Russian English.

Key stakeholders: (internal and external)

• Protection team
• DRC Moldova and DRC Ukraine and Neighboring countries protection and legal aid staff;
• Implementing Partners (formal and informal) delivering free legal aid;
• Regional Refugee Coordination Mechanism Partners in relevance to Protection and Legal Aid response.

Ministry of Internal Affairs and General Inspectorate for Migration.

We Offer

Contract length: 4 months with the possibility of extension depending on funding;

Band: Non-Management, G;

Duty base: Chisinau

Start date: ASAP

We offer a competitive salary and benefits in accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for National Staff.

Application Process

All applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated CV in English.

Applications sent by email will not be considered.

Applicants must already have the legal right to live and work in Moldova without visa sponsorship.

Closing date for applications: November 7th, 2023.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and we, therefore, encourage you to apply as soon as possible. For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website drc.ngo.

DRC as an employer By working in DRC, you will be joining a global workforce of around 8000 employees in 40 countries.

We pride ourselves on our:

• Professionalism, impact & expertise

• Humanitarian approach & the work we do

• Purpose, meaningfulness & own contribution

• Culture, values & strong leadership

Fair compensation & continuous development DRC’s capacity to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees, IDP’s and other persons of concern depends on the ability of our staff to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. DRC conducts thorough and comprehensive background checks as part of the recruitment process.

If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please visit https://drc.ngo/about-us/job-and-career/support-for-job-seekers/.

Danish Refugee Council is an equal opportunity employer.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and positive work environment based on mutual respect for all employees.

All applicants are considered for employment without attention to race, age, ability, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other factor. At DRC we celebrate diversity and appreciate our employees for the people they are and their unique skills, backgrounds, and perspectives.

We encourage all interested candidates to apply!