Focus Group Facilitator/Notetaker at Center for Community and Health Development International (CHAD INT'L)

Employment Type: Contract
To complement our effort, CHAD therefore seeking to recruit competent enumerators and notetakers to conduct focused group discussions to assess the situation of children in CHAD project locations across 5 LGAs (Bama, Ngala, Dikwa, Gwoza, and Monguno) of Borno state.

   Job overview

Facilitator

All FGDs with children will be facilitated by someone who has suitable experience and confidence in facilitating consultations with children, and who is skilled in communicating with children. They will have direct contact with the community members/ beneficiaries or the residents of the project site and have a great bearing on the quality of data collected. Assessment will take a focus group format with main focus on child Protection.

The role of the note-taker/ Observer is twofold:
To record content (what was said, by who) and process (such as who did the most of the talking, or whether children became especially animated or angry or whether they had difficult answering a question etc.).

Your main duties and responsibilities will be:

• Receive enumeration materials and equipment from the Child Protection Specialist and Technical Adviser or the project officer.
• Under the supervision of child protection supervisor, organize and conduct assessment (including technical assessments) on community/neighborhood level child protection related issues.
• Transcribe record Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and interviews wherever relevant.
• Identify protection cases and ensure timely referral to appropriate service providers
• Report the number of FGD conducted and any unusual situation to the supervisor
• Ensure that all the questionnaires and equipment are accounted for
• Turn over all the literature and tools used in the survey to the supervisor
• Follow confidentiality and security procedure to ensure respondent privacy is protected.

Additional information:

All facilitators and note-takers are expected to:

• Be knowledgeable of social, emotional and cognitive development process of children and be able to assess these, and adapt the plan for the session, or rephrase question to adjust to the needs of the children in the Focus Group Discussion.
• Be sensitive of children’s emotions, and show interest and respect for the children’s opinions, knowledge and skills
• Be patience and not dominate or try to provide answers for children (although prompt where necessary by giving examples)
•  Listen to all views, and avoid judging or condemning
• Be able to use suitable language, games, art, songs, visual or animation techniques in order to facilitate communicate with children
• Be able to create a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere that encourages children to speak out and participate, but at the same time not feel pressurized into speaking if they do not want to;
• Be able to manage the dynamics of groups of children, to ensure that all children are able to participate and give space to share their views without fearing ridicule or judgment;
• Know the language, local dialect and expressions used by the children, according to their age or make sure that the translator is properly briefed and able to provide appropriate translation;
•  Be able to adopt the right communication techniques with children with disabilities or special needs, or work with another adult or child who provides communication support to ensure that all children can participate;
•  Guide for conducting FGDs with children – April 2019 16
• Know dress and behavioural codes which are relevant to the context. This includes the use of example body language and eye contact;
• Be aware of the socio-cultural context in which the children live and have some understanding of their background / experiences. This includes understanding gender and age dynamics in the society;
•  Recognize child safeguarding concerns and know how to respond to these, and understand ethical issues regarding working with children;
•  Recognize that we are all members of a social group, age, gender etc. and have our own potential bias. Children may be particularly influenced by the image that the facilitator projects which may influence their answers. This is a particularly important issue when we are facilitating groups with children who come from a different background or culture.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• University degree in statistics, Psychology, Counselling or Social Sciences.
• At least 3 years of work experience in community-focused Group Discussion and/or Protection programming/activities. 
• Previous knowledge in multi-sectoral household or child assessment
• Creative thinking skill.
• Experience with NGO would be an asset
• Excellent coordination and communication skills
• Good oral and written communication skills
• Good knowledge of Words, Excel and PowerPoint
• Ability to work under pressure and in a high-risk security environment

Language Requirement:

Excellent ability to communicate in the English language (speak, read and write) is mandatory. Strong knowledge of either Hausa, Kanuri, Shuwa and other native languages in Borno State will be of high advantage.