Protection Officer - International Consultant

Programme & Policy

Overview

Support WFP operations as Protection Officer in DRC

You have:

• Advanced university degree in social sciences, international development, gender studies, conflict studies, international relations, human rights, political science, or related field.
• At least 6 years of professional experience in addressing protection issues in humanitarian responses.
• Experience working in difficult contexts in both development and emergency response.
• Experience delivering trainings and debriefings.
• Demonstrated knowledge of protection mainstreaming and accountability to affected populations.
• In-depth knowledge of protection and protection mainstreaming tools.
• In-depth knowledge about international standards and policies related to food insecurity.
• Good analytical skills.
• Ability to maintain and establish professional relationships with various actors.
• Very good working knowledge of French and intermediate knowledge of English.

We are looking for candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. We select our candidates on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance. Currently, we are looking for a candidate to support our operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Job Title : Protection Officer

Type of contract : Consultancy

Unit/Division : Protection and accountability to affected populations

Duty station (City/Country) : Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo

Duration : 11 months

DRC is one of the largest hunger crisis in the world. Hunger and conflict fuel one another, with armed conflict and widespread displacement prevailing for the past 25 years and multiple other crises compounding DRC’s humanitarian challenges. Populations in large swathes of eastern DRC have been living with conflict and displacement for much of the past two-and-a-half decades. This very often takes the form of ever-more fragmented armed groups preying on civilians and preventing them from accessing their fields. North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri are the provinces where war and unrest have been the most protracted. Three out of every four internally displaced people live with host families, many of whom were already just scraping by before taking in strangers in need. The number of acutely food-insecure people stands at 27 million, making access to food a daily struggle for a significant part of the Congolese population. An estimated 3.4 million children are acutely malnourished. More than 900,000 Congolese nationals are refugees in neighbouring countries while DRC, already struggling with internal conflict, hosts more than half a million people notably refugees from Burundi, Central African Republic and South Sudan.

The province of Ituri, which resulted from the dismemberment of the former Orientale province in 2015 covers an area of 65,658 km2 and has a density of 65 inhabitants/ km2. Its population was estimated at 5,603,222 inhabitants in 2017 (source: DPS 2020). The context of the Ituri province is marked by a deteriorating humanitarian situation caused mainly by armed and intercommunity conflicts and intercommunity conflicts for decades. This situation of insecurity has created massive displacements of populations. In addition, the territory of Aru, located along the border with Southern Sudan, is suffering the collateral effects of the political and military crises in that country, which have led to an influx of South Sudanese refugees into the area, thus increasing the pressure on resources and pressure on resources and livelihoods. In addition, the instability in North Kivu is also adding to thenumber of displaced people in Ituri.

WFP acknowledges that it is required to prevent and respond to protection risks associated with hunger and WFP programmes in all contexts and to craft successful protection outcomes for affected populations. In turn, WFP further seeks to more effectively integrate protection considerations with its accountability to affected populations.

In practice, making protection and accountability central to WFP operations is simply good programming because it increases the quality of WFP programmes and the likelihood that they will have a positive impact. The integration of protection and accountability to affected populations requires dedicated human resources to support improving context analysis, capacity building of WFP partners and personnel on the centrality of protection and strengthening community engagement.

ACCOUNTABILITIES/RESPONSABILITIES:

1. Undertake protection risk assessments to inform WFP interventions, DRC's context analysis and better understand the barriers faced by affected populations in accessing WFP assistance, their preferences, perceptions of security and explore the link between food insecurity and protection risks.
2. Work in close cooperation with the programme and other units to integrate mitigation measures to address protection risks including PSEA and gender in the project management cycle (design, implementation and monitoring).
3. Organise and facilitate capacity strengthening initiatives and training opportunities for WFP personnel, cooperating partners, financial service providers and other stakeholders on the humanitarian principles, centrality of protection, obligations related to protection from sexual exploitation and abuse and safe and confidential referrals of protection cases.
4. Support awareness raising on WFP’s Protection Policy and Accountability Policy (2020), Protection and Accountability to Affected Population Strategy (2020), Gender Policy (2015-2020) and WFP DRC’s Protection and AAP action plan and related guidance such as standard operating procedures on protection and accountability to affected populations (AAP).
5. Continously advise cooperating partners on implementation of mitigating measures in operations and appropriate adjustments to ensure inclusion of most vulnerable and at-risk categories.
6. Represent WFP in the GBV sub-cluster, Child Protection sub-cluster, protection cluster, housing land and property taskforce and other protection related forums.
7. Support WFP colleagues to integrate protection in assessments, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting tools as outlined in the WFP DRC M&E and food security and nutrition assessment tools.
8. Support the implementation of the WFP community feedback mechanism (CFM) including supporting the training of partner CFM officers, the roll out of an online complaints form and drafting monthly reports about the cases received from community complaints committees, partner helpdesks and suggestion boxes.
9. Act as a PSEA focal point and support the design and delivery of awareness-raising sessions for affected populations, WFP partners and WFP personnel.
10. Liaise with protection partners on analysis, capacity development, referral procedures and pathways
11. Other tasks as required.

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE CONTRACT:

To be discussed during PACE and on the basis of the duration of the contract. Deliverables will include:

a. Minimum one protection risk assessment mission a month including key recommendations and oversight/follow-up of the implementation of these recommendations;

b. Minimum one capacity strengthening initiative per month including on the job mentoring of implementing partners;

c. Attendance and participation in the inter-agency coordination forums related to protection (including child protection and GBV);

d. Minimum one awareness-raising session on PSEA per month;

e. Demonstrate the ability to follow-up on mitigation measures identified when conducting protection and AAP missions including briefing notes and factsheets as required on the various locations and activities;

f. Minimum one CFM report per month outlining information received and feedback provided though the community complaints committees, partnger help and feedback desk and suggestion boxes;

e. Other reporting needs as required.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Education: Advanced university degree in one of the following disciplines: social sciences, international development, gender studies, conflict studies, international relations, human rights, political science, or another related field.

Experience:

- At least 6 years of professional experience relevant to the position in addressing protection issues in humanitarian responses;

- Experiences working in the difficult contexts, in both development and emergency response, understanding the operational aspects of local, state and national level;

- Experience in delivering trainings and debriefings;

- Deminstrated knowledge of protection mainstreaming and accountability to affected populations;

- Experience in mainstreaming protection into humanitarian programmes;

- Experience conducting protection risk assessments and draft protection analysis reports.

Knowledge and Skills:

- In-depth knowledge of protection and protection mainstreaming tools

- In-depth knowledge about international standards and policies, especially those centered around food-insecurity.

- Previous work experience with a protrection actors in a humanitarian or development setting is a plus.

- Knowledge of International Humanitarian Law, International Human Rights Law and Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is a plus.

- Good analytical skills.

- Proven knowledge and ability to effectively use basic software packages and commonly used office equipment;

- Ability to multi task while working under pressure

- Ability to maintain and establish professional working relationships with a variety of actors

- Ability to gain cooperation of others in a team through technical inputs in a broad range of operational issues.

Languages: A very good working knowledge (proficiency/Level C) of French and at least an intermediate knowledge (level B of English).

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.

Please visit the following websites for detailed information on working with WFP:

http://www.wfp.org Click on: “Our work” and “Countries” to learn more about WFP’s operations.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 5 January 2022 (Midnight Kinshasa time)

TO APPLY

Interested applicants should complete their applications online at the WFP website: http://www.wfp.org/careers. Candidates are requested to create an account in WFP E-Recruitment system before applying. Please also include your CV with a cover letter, highlighting your motivation and suitability for this vacancy, as part of an online application.

Only short-listed candidates will be invited to the written test and the interview.

All employment decisions are made on the basis of organizational needs, job requirements, merit, and individual qualifications. WFP is committed to providing an inclusive work environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse, all forms of discrimination, any kind of harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of authority. Therefore, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

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Female applicants and qualified applicants from developing countries are especially encouraged to apply

WFP has zero tolerance for discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.

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Potential interview questions

Added 4 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: wfp.org