Protection Assistant (Social Protection) at Danish Refugee Council (DRC)

Contract Type: National Contract

The Position

• The Protection Assistant (Social Protection), under the supervision of the Protection Team Leader and Livelihoods Manager, is responsible for the day to day implementation of the various social protection activities in the Yobe State under his/her responsibility
• The social protection aspect will include consumption smoothing, protection from risk, and reducing poverty and vulnerability
• The Social protection assistants will serve protective functions like social assistance for the vulnerable; promote through life skills and vocational and agricultural skills training for the women and youth; and transformative to address concerns of social inequity and exclusion through awareness campaigns, stigma reduction campaigns and policies and laws to protect vulnerable groups.

The Overall Purpose of the Role
The core objectives of the role are:

• The Protection Assistant (Social Protection) will support the successful implementation of the social protection component of the Building Resilience in Complex Crises (BRICC) program; Support needs and programmatic information and data needs on social protection interventions through assessments, regular post distribution monitoring and field supervision visits and consultations with beneficiary households; Identify, mobilize and raise awareness about protection concerns, social protection objectives and activities to the communities including local authorities, and act as a link between the DRC and the beneficiaries; and Participate in regular internal and external coordination for the program when required to do so
• He/she will also support the Officer in providing capacity building to key stakeholders, and in collecting and managing project data ensuring the highest standards of data and information protection and confidentiality.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate community mobilization towards social protection activities
• Work with Community Resilience Groups (CRGs) to ensure the targeting, identification, and registration of the most vulnerable beneficiaries to benefit from the social protection activities including cash transfers, vocational skills training, savings, and lending groups, etc. It should be done in a transparent way that guarantees protection and gender sensitivity with the active participation of women, men and minority members of communities
• Identify and intervene on social protection cases in the communities with technical support from their line manager
• Ensure the organization and the implementation of all social protection activities at field level in accordance with the agreed work plan and in line with international standards including accountability, fairness, and transparency during cash or voucher disbursement activities
• Work closely with community structures to follow up on the implementation of planned activities with support from the Armed Violence Reduction and Livelihoods teams
• Support in the implementation of capacity building training including those to be held at the community level
• Directly implement in the field the activities defined in the program in close collaboration with the project team members and stakeholders
• Contribute to developing and implementing a detailed work plan for the program at the community level
• Coordinate with AVR, livelihood teams to provide detailed updates of activities within your designated field site and submit weekly, monthly ad hoc activity reports including success stories, case studies, etc.
• Support the preparation of documentation required for the implementation of social protection activities
• Ensure that the right payment approaches and infrastructure are used to pay the beneficiaries of the social protection interventions of the project
• Contribute to organizational and sector-wide learning through documentation of lessons learned and best practices on the social protection component of the program
• Supervise and collect information to ensure that the surveillance of the social protection situation in the area of implementation of the program is achieving the expected results
• Support the M&E team in conducting needs and programmatic assessments in targeted locations and the analysis of beneficiary data collection through the various tools that the department uses
• Coordinate closely with the protection, AVR and livelihoods interventions in the community to ensure that they are being implemented in synergy
• Participate in and inform longer-term discussions with the program team regarding program implementation strategy
• Contribute to the development of tools to monitor and improve the quality of social protection programming
• Contribute to the development of community mobilization strategies for targeting and registration of beneficiaries for the social protection interventions
• Engage with communities directly and create awareness on DRC’s work, human rights, child protection, SGBV, and other social protection-related topics and strengthening
• Conduct community meetings, FGDs, and other direct community activities as part of social protection monitoring
• Collaborate and facilitate a good working relationship between the State, LGA, UN, INGOs, CBOs, community-level stakeholders and target beneficiaries
• Represent DRC program (social protection interventions) in coordination meetings and forums at State and LGA level
• Identify social protection trends and bring this to the attention of the line manager for action planning
• Support Protection Team Leader, Livelihoods Manager with itinerary planning for field visits including donor visits
• Liaise with security officers in DRC to keep up to date on the security situation of the field base at all times
• Carry out any delegated activities as assigned by DRC management at the field level.

Experience and Technical Competencies
Essentials:

• Degree or Diploma in Community Development, Psychology, Sociology, and other Social Sciences relevant.

Skills and Experience:

• 2 years work experience in a humanitarian organization with vulnerable affected populations or significant experience in DRC Protection social or outreach worker; Food Security or Livelihoods
• Knowledge of social protection norms, principles, and activities
• Excellent communication skills (oral and writing)
• Professional fluency in English and the local languages
• Ability and willingness to maintain a regular presence at project sites (remote / field sites) and to work during irregular working hours and in insecure environments
• Strong interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills – self-motivated individuals, able to take initiative and propose solutions, resilient, positive, and able to work independently
• Must have basic level computer skills.

Desirables:

• Knowledge of social protection interventions
• Knowledge of North-East Nigeria States languages including Hausa and Kanuri added advantage.

Education (include certificates, licenses et.)

• Diploma or B.A / B.Sc. in a relevant field (Sociology, Social Work, Psychology, Education, Counseling, Human Rights, Development Studies, etc.)
• Alternatively: experience as DRC Protection field worker

Key Stakeholders: (Internal and External):

• Livelihoods Manager
• Protection Coordinator
• Protection Manager
• Protection Team Leader, Officer, Assistants, and field teams
• Livelihoods Team Leader, Officer, and Assistants
• AVR Supervisor and Facilitators
• Local stakeholders
• PIM Specialist.

Conditions

• Availability: ASAP.

Salary and Conditions

• In accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment;
• The income will be subject to statutory deductions as per applicable Nigerian laws. The employee is responsible for tax returns.