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Protection Cluster Co-Coordinator

Sanaa

  • Organization: DRC - Danish Refugee Council
  • Location: Sanaa
  • Grade: Mid level - Mid level
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Protection Officer (Refugee)
    • Managerial positions
  • Closing Date: Closed

Background 
DRC has been providing relief and development services in the Horn of Africa since 1997. Using a human rights framework, the DRC East Africa and Yemen (EAY) operation focuses mainly on people who are affected by displacement, including refugees, internally displaced, and migrants in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, Tanzania and Yemen. The EAY Regional office also supports non-operational initiatives, focusing on mixed migration issues, civil society engagement, and advocacy and policy initiatives related to displacement.  
 
The Yemen operation falls under the EAY Regional Office based in Nairobi. DRC began working in Yemen in 2008 in response to the mixed migration flows from the Horn of Africa. Since then, DRC expanded its sectors of intervention and is now providing humanitarian assistance in ten governorates throughout the country. There are currently over 150 staff working in the Sana’a main office, two hub offices in Aden and Hodeida, and six field offices. Current programme sectors include protection (mixed migration, IDP, child), food security, WASH, shelter, and livelihoods. DDG Yemen started activities in January 2012 with two projects delivering Mine Risk Education (MRE) and Conflict Management Education (CME) in southern Yemen. DDG is currently embarking on three main areas of intervention that are Mine Risk Education and supporting the capacity development and deployment of stand-by Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams from the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC). Through quality surveys and data and information management, DDG will also support YEMAC in the development of a more accurate threat and response maps. 
 
Purposes 
The Protection Cluster Co-Coordinator will work with UNHCR – as the Cluster Lead Agency for Protection – and the designated Senior Protection Cluster Coordinator to 
a) Strengthen effective management of the cluster, particularly at the level of thematic / technical working groups and sub-national clusters; 
b) Improve the capacities and representation of NNGOs and other key stakeholders, including civil society organizations;  
c) Reinforce the centrality of protection in the humanitarian response, including through protection mainstreaming 
d) Improve the accountability of the humanitarian response and, e) strengthen the analysis of protection concerns and risks and information collection in general.  
 
The Co-Coordinator will work on a day-to-day basis with the Senior Protection Cluster Coordinator to support the management of the Protection Cluster at the national level in Sana’a and the sub-national protection clusters located in Ibb, Hudaydah, Sa’ada and Aden in order to ensure that the Cluster, as well as the broader humanitarian effort, are responsive to the needs of the conflict- and displacement-affected population. In contrast to the UNHCR Cluster Lead, the DRC Co-Coordinator will place greater focus on supporting the work of the Cluster’s sub-national and technical-level bodies, namely to ensure that the coordination effort translates into concrete improvements to the lives of the Cluster’s beneficiaries. 
 
Responsibility 
 
Coordination of the Protection Cluster  
  • As agreed with the Senior Protection Cluster Coordinator, coordinate and lead thematic / technical working groups on protection programming, ensuring strategic direction, guidance and tools for effective protection assistance and service delivery on activities including protection monitoring, psychosocial support, legal assistance, cash assistance and community-based protection.  
  • Support sub-national protection clusters in the development of hub and governorate-specific tools and work plans and ensure a coordinated protection response to meet the needs of the cluster’s populations of concern; 
  • Support the capacities and participation of partners, especially the national actors, in the Cluster coordination by engaging them bilaterally and multilaterally, providing them technical support upon request and sharing with them guidance and direction on protection programming and strategy;  
  • In coordination with the Senior Protection Cluster Coordinator, work with other cluster coordinators and agencies in the promotion and implementation of protection mainstreaming commitments.  
  • Support the establishment and maintenance of effective protection information management mechanisms and tools, with, among others, the Cluster’s Information Management Officer, to provide quality analysis of protection trends and issues; 
  • Co-Chair the Protection Cluster meetings, including the Strategic Advisory Group as well as, together with or in his or her absence, represent the Senior Protection Cluster Coordinator in other cluster and inter-cluster meetings, as needed. 
  • Support the UNHCR Lead with respect to engagement in OCHA-led processes, e.g. Yemen Humanitarian Pooled Fund, Humanitarian Needs Overview, Humanitarian Response Plan and contingency planning, and other national coordination mechanisms and working groups set up in Yemen. 
  • Secure commitments from humanitarian partners in responding to needs and filling gaps, ensuring an appropriate distribution of responsibilities within the protection cluster, with clearly defined focal points for specific issues and/or sites where necessary; 
  • Support the UNHCR Lead in providing legal and technical support in drafting strategies, position and policies for the Protection Cluster and the humanitarian community; 
  • Co-represent the interests of the Protection Cluster and its members in discussions with stakeholders on prioritization, resource mobilization and advocacy; 
  • Otherwise support timely and coordinated action to meet the protection needs of the cluster’s populations of concern; 
 
Centrality of protection / Promotion of protection mainstreaming 
  • Ensure the integration of protection considerations in sectorial needs assessments, analysis, planning, monitoring and response; ensure gender-sensitive programming and promote gender equality; 
  • Ensure that the needs, contributions and capacities of women, girls, men and boys of all background are reflected in partners’ programming. 
  • Promote and support training of humanitarian partners and other cluster members to improve mainstreaming of protection into sectorial responses through implementation of concrete protection mainstreaming commitments; help to ensure that protection and non-protection actors incorporate protection mainstreaming indicators, having worked with other clusters to determine the indicators that are most appropriate for their sectors and to encourage other clusters to use these indicators to monitor partners’ mainstreaming efforts at the cluster level. 
  • Support the development and/or harmonization of vulnerability criteria for targeted assistance.  
  • Otherwise work closely with other cluster leads to ensure the centrality of protection within key processes, tools and approaches.  
 
Training and capacity-building 
  • Support cluster members and humanitarian partners in programming for protection, including through technical guidance and support on areas ranging from protection monitoring, psychosocial support, cash assistance and community-based protection.   
  • Promote and support training of humanitarian partners and other cluster members to improve mainstreaming of protection into sectorial responses; 
  • As the situation allows, support the capacities of a national NGO to eventually assume coordination responsibilities within the Protection Cluster.  
 
Monitoring, reporting and analysis 
  • Support proper reporting on the protection activities and functioning of information management system for the protection cluster; 
  • Support efforts to harmonize protection monitoring tools, reporting/vulnerability assessment formats in consultation with cluster member organizations; 
  • Support adequate reporting and effective information sharing, with due regard for age and sex disaggregation; 
  • Streamline methods to share information including reports with partners, as well as to be submitted to OCHA and UNHCR (including weekly updates, bulletin, website, etc.) 
 
Advocacy and resource mobilization 
  • Identify core advocacy concerns for the Protection Cluster through consultative processes, including resource requirements; 
  • Contribute key messages to broader advocacy initiatives of the HCT and other relevant actors and support local interventions when violations of international standards and principles occur; 
  • Ensure the Protection Cluster’s adherence to international humanitarian and international human rights laws and instruments, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, and other relevant instruments. 
 
About you  
To be successful in this role, we expect you to be a positive, mature leader with a proven track record of developing effective initiatives, programmes, and impact.  You thrive in managing a wide range of responsibilities, and can effectively communicate and lead the country team. You are an effective people manager and enjoy working with teams of committed staff to build collaboration and capacity within the Yemen programmes and building strong relationships with the regional team. 
  
In this position, you are expected to demonstrate each of DRC’ five core competencies:  
• Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results through the country team both to position DRC and ensure excellence in all deliverables.  
• Collaborating: You lead initiatives at country operation level by involving relevant parties and encouraging feedback.  
• Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.  
• Communicating: You listen to beneficiaries, staff and other stakeholders; and you communicate concisely and persuasively 
• Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with DRC’s vision and values and set a very clear standard for your country team members.  
  
Moreover, we also expect the following:   
 
Qualifications 
 
Essential qualifications:  
  • Post graduate degree in international law, political or social sciences; 
  • Excellent understanding of protection issues in emergency situations and detailed knowledge of protection and humanitarian principles, guidelines and laws, as well as the humanitarian architecture; 
  • Prior experience coordinating and managing protection programmes with NGOs, preferably in activities such as protection monitoring, psychosocial support, cash assistance, legal assistance or community-based protection; 
  • Excellent leadership, coordination, communication, capacity building, planning and analytical skills; 
  • Excellent advocacy and representation skills including the development of strong interpersonal relationships to facilitate communication within the cluster; 
  • Self-motivated and excellent understanding of protection issues in the country; 
  • Flexible personality and team-first attitude; 
  • Fluency in English (spoken and written) is a must (proficiency in Arabic is highly desirable) 
 
Essential experience:  
  • Minimum of 5 years proven experience working on protection or rule of law related issues in humanitarian environments, including provision of technical advice to field teams. 
  • Previous experience working within the cluster system; 
  • Development of policy, strategies and humanitarian responses in the sector of field protection; 
  • Prior experience in multi-agency needs assessments. 
 
Preferred experience:  
  • Prior work in protection cluster coordination; 
  • Proven experience with protection monitoring, as well as documentation and analysis, with sub-cluster specific approaches (e.g. GBV, CP), and with setting up community protection networks. 
  • Previous experience in the Middle East, ideally Yemen; 
  • Experience in other sectors such as CCCM, early recovery, livelihoods, and/or social cohesion; 
  • Experience working for or with UNHCR; 
  • Good experience in training and liaising with national NGO and partners; 
  • Experience with donors such as ECHO, OFDA, BPRM, UNHCR, UNICEF. 
DRC encourages all qualified candidates to apply, irrespective of nationality, race, gender or age. 
 
 
Conditions 
 
Availability: As soon as possible 
  
Duty station: Sana’a  
 
Reporting: This position reports to Head of Programs  
 
Duration: 1year with possibility of extension, subject to funding.  
 
Contract: Level A14 this is an unaccompanied post.  Salary, benefits and other conditions are offered in accordance with DRC’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates; please refer to www.drc.dk under Vacancies.  For national candidates, competitive salary and benefits are offered in accordance with the Yemen National staff salary scale and terms of employment. 
 
Commitments 
DRC has a Humanitarian Accountability Framework, outlining its global accountability commitments. All staff are required to contribute to the achievement of this framework.  
 
Application  
Qualified candidates are invited to access the full job description and the requirements for this position under vacancies at www.drc.dk.  Please submit applications online using this link by 20th February 2018 
 
 
If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please contact job@drc.dk  
 
 
This vacancy is now closed.
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