PROGRAM DESCRIPTION (BACKGROUND)

International Medical Corps is currently implementing a multi-sectoral program in seven states in Sudan. These states include Blue Nile, Central Darfur, South Darfur, West Darfur, South Kordofan, Sennar and Khartoum. Sectors supported include health, nutrition, WASH and protection. The approach includes direct support to static health facilities, deployment of mobile teams offering integrated services and implementation of community -based activities through partnership with national non-government organizations. In its continuing effort to ensure accountability and inclusive programming, the AIP specialist is expected to lead actions in mainstreaming accountability standards and train national counterparts.

JOB DESCRIPTION *

JOB SUMMARY

The Specialist, Accountable and Inclusive Programming (AIP) is responsible for ensuring accountability mechanisms are in place at the country level, and that they are being implemented across all programs to fulfill IMC’s minimum accountability standards, especially with regard to community engagement (including information sharing, beneficiaries’ meaningful participation, and feedback and complaints handling). This position is also responsible for ensuring protection mainstreaming mechanisms are implemented across all programs, ensuring that IMC programs are safe, accountable, and inclusive, and that these programs adhere to the four main principles of Protection Mainstreaming in all programs: 1) prioritize safety and dignity and avoid causing harm, 2) provide meaningful access, 3) ensure accountability, and 4) support participation and empowerment.

With the support of Senior Management, this position will be the primary staff member responsible for designing, implementing, and managing the country’s Community Based Feedback and Response Mechanisms (CBFRM) process, leading the development of a country-level community information sharing strategy/plan, and facilitating complementary community engagement activities, which provide meaningful opportunities for members of the affected population to make informed decisions about the assistance they receive. Additionally, this position will oversee reporting on feedback and complaints and manage the country office’s CBFRM database. The Specialist will also spearhead the country team’s protection risk assessment process, and guide protection mainstreaming. Efforts to ensure that accountability to affected populations (AAP) and protection are mainstreamed across all stages of the program cycle will be done in collaboration with staff carrying out safeguarding initiatives across the organization.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential function with or without reasonable accommodation.

MAIN TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Policies, Guidance, and Procedures
• Serve as an expert source of information on and analysis of safe, accountable, and inclusive programming (SAIP) issues, particularly relating to safeguarding, accountability to affected populations, and protection mainstreaming.
• Develop strategies on SAIP related practices and standards, which are essential to mainstreaming protection and AAP within IMC programming (collaborating with safeguarding, program, technical, M/E, HR, and other departments as appropriate). This may include contextualization efforts to help country management and program teams better understand what risks communities face while accessing IMC programs in the country, and what “inclusivity” means in this context.
• Contribute to the creation of a positive image and overall credibility of the organization, notably through the application of the Code of Conduct and Ethics, Safeguarding Policy, humanitarian principles, and the 9 Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) commitments.
• Ensure accountability processes are fully in line with IMC AAP commitments, including IASC CAAP, CHS, and the Sphere Humanitarian Charter.
• Support the Senior Management team for reporting on AAP and CHS commitments.
• Communicate recommendations to country offices and relevant management/key staff on ways to better support safeguarding, protection mainstreaming, and AAP.
• In collaboration with HQ, draft documents and briefing memos for IMC leadership on SAIP for policy inputs, responses to coordination bodies requests, internal briefing documents, and public communications materials.
• Help plan country level strategies and responses to SAIP issues, and assist with decisions that significantly affect IMC safeguarding, protection mainstreaming, and AAP related policies and guidance documents.

Safe, Accountable, and Inclusive Programming Initiatives
• In coordination with program teams, assess vulnerabilities and community power structures to ensure strong and open relationships with key community stakeholders from a cross-section of the community, especially vulnerable and marginalized populations.
• Develop guidance to support country teams to establish/improve community-based communication plans to ensure systematic information sharing/communication with affected communities throughout the programming cycle, ensuring that affected populations can make informed decisions about the assistance they receive and be able to hold humanitarian actors to account from programmatic commitments, the expected behavior of humanitarian actors, and rights and entitlements inherent in humanitarian action.
• Develop information sharing/communications plans and tools for disseminating messages to crisis-affected communities in simple, easily understood terms, and accessible and preferred languages and formats.
• Work with program and technical teams to ensure SAIP messages are integrated into existing community-based information sharing processes (e.g., IEC campaigns, community heath promotions).
• Coordinate routine solicitation and collection of beneficiary feedback regarding IMC’s activities and stated commitments.
• Carry out regular checks as part of monitoring to ensure information shared with communities accessible, easily understood, and relevant,, and update as necessary.
• Support the development of SAIP information products, guidance notes, technical standards, and data analysis.
• Support programs and operations to adopt approaches to ensure protection mainstreaming.
• Work with Internal Audit and country level compliance teams to monitor systematic implementation and integration of SAIP practices and processes.

Project Design and Planning
• Identify the budget and resources needed for SAIP activities, and ensure SAIP is resourced in all new proposals.
• Support the M/E team in ensuring that needs assessments and planning are inclusive of data collection from vulnerable and marginalized groups or appropriate key informants (women, children, older people, people living with disabilities, and other marginalized ethnic/social groups).
• Support country offices to conduct protection risk assessments for affected populations, ensuring that program teams properly identify risks and generate mitigating measures. Ensure that program teams maintain an updated Protection Mainstreaming Action Plan.
• Make context specific recommendations on ways to improve response strategy and programming to support and promote beneficiary safety, safeguarding, and AAP in responses.
• Act as the main reference point within the country for Protection Mainstreaming matters. Train staff involved in the design, implementation, and monitoring of projects on how to use the Protection Risk Assessment tool when needed.
• Identify the potential for and enhance Protection Mainstreaming efforts beyond Protection Risk Assessment within programs when possible.
• Support the completion of complementary AAP analysis/assessments, including, but not limited to: stakeholder analysis, communication needs assessment, periodic community consultations.
• Support the implementation of gender analyses and gender assessments.

Project Implementation
• Ensure that AAP data is collected routinely throughout the project cycle (not just at project mid and endpoints, enabling corrective action).
• Ensure tools and systems are in place for learning and decision making on the needs of vulnerable groups, including disaggregation of all data, development of mainstreamed and specific indicators, specific research questions, and targeted recommendations in reports.
• Provide technical feedback on the SAIP aspects of country reports, technical proposal narratives and corresponding budgets, focusing on the quality, relevance, and effectiveness of programs as they relate to beneficiary safety and accountability.

Community Based Feedback and Response Mechanism
• Develop and maintain local CBFRM, a systematic process to capture, monitor, resolve, and respond to feedback and complaints from crisis-affected communities.
• Collaborate with the M/E country lead on the implementation of methodologies to consult communities on their preferences based on the operational context.
• Design and oversee implementation of CBFRM channels with input from affected communities to ensure they are safe, include preferrable options, and are accessible to all (including women and men, boys and girls, older people, people living with disabilities, and other marginalized groups).
• Ensure feedback is received regularly from the field offices through various channels (feedback boxes, WhatsApp, email/phone hotline, help desks, etc.) and is entered promptly into the CBFRM database.
• Oversee the processing of all feedback/complaints and coordinate closely with program and senior management staff to ensure that beneficiary complaints and feedback are properly addressed.
• Conduct periodic compliance checks of CBFRM log and documents to ensure adherence to IMC procedures.
• Work with the Safeguarding and Management teams to develop Safeguarding specific language to be integrated into organizational communications with communities about safe, accountable, and inclusive programming, what to expect from the organization’s staff, and IMC’s Safeguarding Policy.

Data Management Systems
• Contribute to the development and testing of IMC central CBFRM database software to improve processes related to data organization, analysis, and reporting.
• Facilitate CBFRM database troubleshooting and user requests.
• Conduct routine quality checks of CBFRM database entries to ensure timely and accurate recording of community feedback and complaints, re-educating subordinates as needed.
• Ensure central CBFRM database is maintained, and data is analyzed for trends and disseminating findings.
• Design relevant database for tracking and documenting AAP activities (e.g., trainings community sensitization and consultations).

Capacity Development and Training
• Deliver basic and intermediate level training to staff (handling of feedback and complaints, information sharing, use of tools and core concepts as they pertain to SAIP and the CHS).
• Plan, manage, and deliver required CBFRM training to IMC staff and volunteers.
• Review and revise AAP training strategy to ensure building capacity of relevant country staff and integration of AAP best practices.

Perform other duties as assigned. The duties and responsibilities listed in this document are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and not necessarily all inclusive.

JOB REQUIREMENTS *

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Typically, a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, public health, or international development, with experience or background in accountability to affected populations, protection mainstreaming, and/or safeguarding. Equivalent combination of relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.
• 7+ years of applied experience with a humanitarian organization and/or working with refugees/IDPs in humanitarian settings, and 5+ years of work specific to AAP and/or protection mainstreaming
• Understand key concepts and commitments regarding AAP, e.g., IASC CAAP, Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), protection mainstreaming/protection risk assessments, and safeguarding.
• Knowledge of quality management and accountability initiatives, codes of conduct, principles and standards commonly used in the aid sector, in particular:
o The International Red Cross Movement and NGO Code of Conduct in Disaster Relief
o The Sphere Project’s Humanitarian Charter and Protection Principles
o The Minimum Standards for Age and Disability Inclusion in Humanitarian Action
o The Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action
o The Secretary-General’s Bulletin on Special Measures for Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse the International Red Cross Movement and NGO Code of Conduct in Disaster Relief
• Strong training facilitation/presentation skills and/or experience with carrying out community level information education communication (IEC) campaigns.
• Demonstrated knowledge of accountability mechanisms.
• Should be highly computer literate, with demonstrated experience with database development or management, and advanced skills in Microsoft Applications, including Word and Excel.
• Demonstrated analytical and writing skills with attention to detail.
• Excellent inter-personal, communication and listening skills, with ability to work with people from various groups and backgrounds.
• Self-driven and able to deliver results with minimum supervision.
• Demonstrated understanding of data protection and confidentiality as part of data collection and management practices, and ability to respect and maintain confidentiality.
• High-level English proficiency (Speaking – Reading – Writing).
• High-level proficiency in COUNTRY-SPECIFIC LANGUAGE (Speaking – Reading – Writing).

ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL OR LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

Familiarity of the Arabic language an advantage

Code of Conduct

As applicable to this position, an individual must promote and encourage a culture of compliance and ethics throughout the organization and maintain a clear understanding of International Medical Corps’ and donor compliance and ethics standards and adheres to those standards. Staff are also responsible for preventing violations to our Code of Conduct and Ethics, which may involve Conflicts of Interest, Fraud, Corruption or Harassment. If you see, hear or are made aware of any violations to the Code of Conduct and Ethics or Safeguarding Policy, you have an obligation to report. If this is a supervisory position, one must set an example of ethical behavior through one’s own conduct and oversight of the work of others; ensure that those who report to you have sufficient knowledge and resources to follow the standards outlined in the Code of Conduct & Ethics; monitor compliance of the people you supervise; enforce the Code of Conduct & Ethics and International Medical Corps’ policies, including the Safeguarding Policy and the Protection from Harassment, Bullying and Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace Policy, consistently and fairly; support employees who in good faith raise questions or concerns.

Safeguarding

It is all staff shared responsibility and obligation to safeguard and protect populations with whom we work, including adults who may be particularly vulnerable and children. This includes safeguarding from the following conduct by our staff or partners: sexual exploitation and abuse; exploitation, neglect, or abuse of children, adults at risk, or LGBTI individuals; and any form of trafficking in persons.

Equal Opportunities

International Medical Corps is proud to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, age, disability or status as a veteran.

Misconduct Disclosure Scheme

All offers of employment at International Medical Corps are subject to satisfactory references and background checks. International Medical Corps participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme from the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR). In accordance with this, we will request information from an applicant’s previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.