Education Officer (Child Protection) at Search For Common Ground’s International

Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Duration: 12 months

Our Program in Nigeria

• We launched our programs in Nigeria in 2004. Now in 2017, the country program has offices in Abuja, Jos, Maiduguri, and Yola. We work with partners in target states of the country to support peaceful resolution of conflict. Each program is adapted to specific local context and conflicts, and all apply common ground tools from our toolbox.
• Search has established a permanent presence in Abuja as an operational base and all our Nigeria offices are currently supporting a host of programs with activities that include capacity building, dialogues, peace architecture, media programming, participatory theatre and collaborative joint activities.

About the Project

• In the past decade, states in the North East region of Nigeria have faced frequent attacks by Boko Haram militants leading to widespread displacement, violations of national laws, international humanitarian and human rights laws, and a deepening humanitarian crisis. Children, who are the most vulnerable members of society, have suffered the worst impacts as pre-existing problems of access to social protection, education and healthcare increase, new threats emerge, and the systems to protect children fails.
• This project aims to ensure that children verified and separated from CJTF receive a comprehensive child protection package including counseling, psychosocial support and socio-economic reintegration, and that their communities understand the importance of their separation and reintegration. Search will work closely with the children, their families and communities, and CJTF to address the psychosocial and economic needs of the children and to influence the attitudes of communities and CJTF so they understand the negative impact of associating with armed groups on children and prevent the CJTF from using children. By increasing resilience of children associated with CJTF and increasing their employability, this project will facilitate lasting reintegration of these children and amplify positive narratives around their role in communities as productive civilian actors and agents for peace.

Job Description
We are searching for…

• An Education Officer whose primary aim is to support implementation of the education support components of the project. More specifically, providing and coordinating support to the children separated from CJTF to resume school and continue their formal education.
• S/he will be responsible for identifying the targeted children, ensuring their school enrollment and support from their parents/ guardians and communities, coordinating the distribution of education materials and school fees to the selected children.
• S/he will work under the direct supervision of the Child Protection Project Manager and work closely with the other project team members. This position is based in Maiduguri with frequent visits to the different working local government areas (LGAs) in Borno.

Your Contribution
The roles and responsibilities include:

• Under the supervision of the Child Protection Project Manager, and in coordination with UNICEF identify and prepare the list of children separated from CJTF and from selected communities to resume school education;
• Work closely with the families, communities on the identification, selection and verification of severely marginalized children to bring them under the project as beneficiaries;
• Mobilize community support and the support from the respective parents and guardians to ensure school enrollment of the selected children;
• Coordinate with Search’s procurement and administration team to ensure the purchases of the necessary education support materials;
• Distribute the education support materials to the selected children with proper documentation;
• Follow up with the selected beneficiaries at their schools to ensure that they are being taught and are adjusting well to the environment and the community;
• Closely work with psychosocial and trauma support professionals to provide life skills and career guidance support for children transitioning from ‘education’ to ‘life’;
• Contribute to developing the project work plans, implementation plan and strategies;
• Contribute to the periodic project reports by providing necessary program documentation, success/ impact stories, and monitoring data;
• Any other duties as required and necessary.

Requirements
You meet the following qualifications:

• A Bachelor's degree in one of the fields of education, arts, child psychology or another relevant field.
• A minimum of 2 years of professional experience in working in the field of education and with children is required.
• Experience working with children from diverse background.
• Familiar with the principles of the best interest of child and other child protection related principles and approaches.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills;
• Highly organized and systematic with excellent attention to detail.
• Excellent cross-cultural communication and working skills, enjoys a multicultural work environment;

Competencies
You are expected to be:

• Accountability: Being accountable and passing on accountability for one's own actions and those of colleagues and the organization.
• Attention to detail:  The ability to process detailed information effectively and consistently
• Collaboration: The ability to work effectively with others in order to achieve a shared goal - even when the object at stake is of no direct personal interest possibilities.
• Creativity: The ability to come up with original and innovative ideas and solutions, to adopt points of view outside the usual parameters.
• Focus on Quality: Setting high quality standards and striving for continuous improvement and quality assurance.
• Learning Ability: The ability to absorb new information readily and to put it into practice effectively
• Adaptability: The ability to remain fully functional by adapting to changing circumstances (environment, procedures and people).