Child Protection Assistants at Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS)

 Supervisor:  Education Officer

Country of Assignment: Nigeria 

Regional Directorate: West Africa

Place of Assignment: Taraba 

 Supervisor’s Seat: Taraba

Job Summary

The Child Protection Assistant is responsible for implementing community-based child protection program in Taraba with frequent travel to the IDP sites.

The Child Protection Assistant will be responsible for prevention and response activities of the child protection program that include working with the community, psychosocial support activities and case management.

Job Description

• Assist the child protection team in the assessment of the living conditions of children in the camp and participate in the development of appropriate response to the needs of children.
• Facilitate the involvement of children and the community (leaders and parents) in the Safe Healing and Learning Space (SHLS) and document the progress made.
• Support (the incentive workers) team leaders and social workers in the monitoring, verification and documentation of cases of children. 
• Follow-up the preparation and implementation of case action plan and home visit conducted by the social workers.
• Carry out data entry into the Child Protection Information System (CP IMS) data base.
• Assist the child protection officer in facilitating and organizing appropriate care arrangement, and suitable alternative care system with close supervision and attention to the individual needs of children.
• Through working with the child protection committees identify potential foster families for unaccompanied and separated children in collaboration with social workers and community leaders.
• Organize and facilitate positive parenting skills training (Family Make the Difference) weekly sessions.
• Assist the child rights clubs to demonstrate to the community and the concerning bodies about protection concerns that children are facing while living in the camp and promote the participation of children in all matters affecting their lives.
• Organize and lead psychosocial support activities at SHLS.
• Work closely with the child protection officer in the celebration of international events days and other awareness raising sessions.
• Participate and assist the child protection officer, UNHCR, other partners and the team leaders in conducting the Best Interest Assessment to ensure the needs of children are addressed.
• Assist and participate in the preparation of budget, work and spending plans, and PR tracking to monitor the proper utilization of the budget and timely implementation of activities.
• Adhere and fully abide by the child protection code of conduct.
• Perform other duties assigned by the supervisor.

Job Requirements

• Have a University Degree, B.Sc (ED) or BA in Education, Political Science, Public Administration, Psychology, Communications or Social Science.
• Have at least a minimum of two (2) years of progressively verifiable experience in the same field of development and humanitarian work and NGOs.
• Relative experience in community engagement, child protection and child rights programming in development context.
• Experience in organizing capacity building programs as it relates to adolescents, youths and women.
• Desirable experience working with children on protection, health and education will be an added advantage.

Job Qualities

• Adhere to JRS values and abide by the code of conduct and other policies.
• Ability to communicate effectively to a wide range of audiences at community level.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively as a member of a team.
• Strong report writing, documentation skills and effective use of MS Office tools.
• Fluent English skills (written and verbal) and a knowledge of a local language.
• Proven work experience in multicultural and stressful environments.