The purpose of the Child Protection Area of Responsibility (AOR) Coordinator position is to guarantee leadership and coordination of Child Protection actors, and to work in coordination and consultation with the Whole of Syria and other stakeholders to ensure a strategic, coherent, effective and efficient Child Protection response in NES.
In support of, and collaboration with sector partners, the Child Protection Coordinator will lead the development and implementation of a sound strategy that responds to the Child Protection needs in the short and medium terms. This function has a specific and dedicated focus on the needs of foreign women and children in NES.
Summary of key functions/accountabilities:
Coordination mechanisms
•Lead child protection coordination within the existing Protection coordination structure through promoting and facilitating active participation from key actors.
•Work with the NES INGO Protection Working Group (PWG), the NES Forum and other key actors to identify opportunities to integrate child protection into programming, avoid duplication and gaps, optimize coverage and ensure complementarity of partner actions.
•Establish results-oriented, two-way communication channels between protection coordination platforms (including Whole of Syria and NES) to promote, upgrade and strengthen a more standardized child protection response across all affected areas.
Needs assessment, analysis and strategy development
•Work with child protection actors to assess needs; coordinate and oversee inter-agency child protection needs assessments; map out priority protection gaps and identify key resources and assets, including existing child protection systems (both formal and informal).
•Facilitate the development of an agreed interagency child protection response strategy based on identified needs that can be met through collective and complementary service delivery.
•Collaborate with the NES INGO PWG and other stakeholders to ensure that key child protection concerns are reflected in all strategy documents and humanitarian initiatives.
•Together with the NES INGO PWG coordinator, contribute to HNO, HRP, and other HPC processes and tasks on CP issues as part of WOS.
Quality of child protection responses and capacity development
•Ensure that Child Protection partners are aware of, and comply with, agreed sector standards and SOPs in service delivery including for case management
•Work closely with the NES PWG Coordinator to finalise the service mapping and referral pathways.
•Promote and support capacity building of the local authorities, civil society and partners based on the mapping and understanding of available capacity.
Monitoring and reporting
•Facilitate processes to monitor the achievement of agreed interagency goals against strategies and action plans, including accurate 4Ws reporting.
•Provide analysis of progress over time to inform decision making and share important information with relevant stakeholders.
•Ensure adequate Child Protection outcome reporting and effective information sharing to demonstrate that gaps in service coverage and quality have been closed.
Intersectoral coordination and advocacy
•Ensure effective links with Whole of Syria and other coordination platforms in NES including coordination with UN actors based in Qamishli and represent the interests of the Child Protection AOR in discussions with relevant stakeholders on prioritization, resource mobilization and advocacy.
•Represent CP AOR at the NES Inter Sector Working Group and contribute to jointly identifying critical issues that require multisectoral responses, and plan the relevant synergistic interventions, including advocacy, with the other clusters concerned.
•Identify core Child Protection advocacy concerns, including resource requirements, and develop/contribute key messages for broader advocacy initiatives.
•Where critical gaps in addressing Child Protection priorities are identified, lobby implementing humanitarian partners to address the gaps, and advocate for the adequate provision of resources and safe access.
Tasks specific to children with alleged ties to UN-listed terrorist groups
In addition to the above, the below tasks are also to be covered by the coordinator (50% of time):
•Work with the NES INGO PWG and other key actors to strengthen the response to the affected group, including mobilization of new actors to support child protection interventions.
•Develop a joint workplan specific to the needs of this group of children, including but not limited to, provision of quality alternative interim care and solutions in children’s best interests.
•Support advocacy efforts to promote adherence to global guidance and approaches on return and repatriation etc including with local influencers.
•Ensure availability of up-to-date data on the caseload and mechanism for sharing is in place.
•Other tasks as required.
Key Working Relationships:
Position Reports to: Deputy Country Director (NES)
Indirect/Technical Reporting: WoS Protection Coordinator
Position directly Supervises: N/A
Key Internal Contacts: IRC NES TEAM, DCD/Iraq CD, Regional team, WoS Protection Coordinator
Key External Contacts: UNICEF, NES INGOS, NES UNOCHA, NES INGO Forum, WOS
