Economic Reintegration Specialist at Search for Common Ground (SFCG)

Location: Maiduguri, Nigeria

Position Summary

• An Economic Reintegration Specialist whose primary objective is to assist selected child participants to prepare for transition into the community by delivery of the Age and Gender Appropriate Transformative Dialogues as part of the SFCG Common Ground Reintegration Program.
• S/he will develop and work closely with the children’s families/guardians to ensure that they are involved in the selection process, understand the project and prepare communication and information materials to promote awareness in targeted communities through the proper channels, engaging relevant stakeholders and community leaders and securing their support, prior to beginning activities in the communities.
• This position requires an experienced conflict transformation, peace building or development expert, conversant with project management cycles and relevant experience in disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration in child protection related areas in a UN system agency or organization.
• S/he will work under the direct supervision of the Country Director and closely with the DMEL Manager and other senior managers. The position holder will supervise State Coordinators, Project Coordinators/Officers, and interns. This position is located in Maiduguri with frequent visits to other states.

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.

Key Responsibilities
Roles and Responsibilities include:

• Develop and work closely with the children’s families/guardians to ensure that they are involved in the selection process and understand the project.
• Prepare communication and information materials to promote awareness in targeted communities through the proper channels, engaging relevant stakeholders and community leaders and securing their support, prior to beginning activities in the communities.
• Develop a service relationship to provide outreach and engagement with potential participants in a wide variety of community settings through transformative dialogue
• Ensure that all participation are voluntary, provided in partnership with the participant, and driven by individual choice.
• Provide coaching/counseling in whatever areas necessary to achieve skills that allow the child participants to meet and sustain the quality of life improvements provided by the program
• Assist partners to identify, cultivate and sustain relationships necessary to create a community support network and decrease the likelihood of recidivism.
• Complete documentation and maintain partners’ files in accordance with program policies and funding source requirements.
• Support the development of capacity building programs for child participants.
• Participate and/or Represent Search with donors and in appropriate inter-agency discussions and planning on child protection related issues
• Provides substantive support to consultative and other meetings (e.g. conferences, workshops) to include proposing agenda topics, identifying participants, preparation of documents and presentations; assists in the planning of high level visits.
• Supports resource mobilization efforts and ensures coordination with donors, including the private sector.
• Coordinates the mobilization of networks of local partners and communities (e.g. NGOs, community-based organizations, private sector enterprises and local communal authorities) and facilitates their participation in the planning and implementation of child protection programs and related activities.
• In consultation with relevant parties, develops targeted training programmes for the child participant capacity building.
• Support the implementation of strategic communications’ activities aimed at awareness-raising and information sharing.
• Supervises field office personnel working on the Child Protection activities.

Qualifications
Education:

• An advanced university Degree in one of the following fields is required: International Development, Human Rights, Psychology, Sociology, International Law, or another relevant Social Science field.

Required Experience:

• A minimum of five years of professional experience in social development planning and management in child protection related areas is required.
• Experience in emergency response is essential
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in programme development in child protection related areas in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Experience in both development and humanitarian contexts is considered as an added advantage

Other Relevant Requirements:

• Highly organized and systematic with excellent attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and oral.
• Excellent cross-cultural communication and working skills, enjoys a multicultural work environment;