WPE Case Management Officer ( KUMBA)

IRC has been present in Cameroon since January 2016 when the organization launched an assessment in response to increasing concerns for people affected by violence linked to Boko Haram.  In March 2016, IRC opened its first field office in Maroua followed in February 2017 by a second field office in Kousseri. As a result to the ongoing crises in the North and South West, IRC opened another branch in the South West region in January 2018 and another field office in North West region in November 2019. IRC  Delivers lifesaving programming to increase access to water and improving hygiene practices in vulnerable displaced and host communities, cash programming to enable poor families to meet basic needs and improve food security, and protection programming, including meeting specific needs of women and girls. 

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Cameroon adding to the above mentioned insecurity context for populations. On March 5, 2020 Cameroon announced its first confirmed cases of COVID-19. On March 18, the government took special measures to reduce the spread of the outbreak. Despite these measures, cases continue to rise. [1]As a result of this outbreak, Communities are more vulnerable and have increased humanitarian needs according to the Cameroon Humanitarian Needs Overview 2020 (revised in June and July 2020).

In the face of this growing humanitarian needs, IRC is scaling up its activities in the South West and North West Regions and seeks to employ a WPE Case Management Officer for its South West Region operations.

IRC is recruiting Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) Officer who is a member of the Protection Mobile Team, operating in the South West and North West Regions. The role of the GBV Case Management Officer will be to ensure quality implementation of emergency GBV prevention and response activities and COVID-19 preventive measures in order to facilitate access to services. The WPE Officer will work under the supervision of the WPE Manager and collaborate closely with other IRC sectors such as health, PRoL, ERD and WASH.

The WPE Case Management Officer oversees and monitors the quality implementation of the GBV prevention and response activities of the WPE Assistants and Community Mobilizers providing psychosocial care for survivors of GBV, sensitization and awareness raising on GBV, works mainly in the context of the emergency response to gender-based violence/and COVID-19 prevention measures in the IDP/host/returnee communities. The WPE Case Management Officer – oversees individual (through the case management process) and group-based psychosocial activities for survivors of GBV. The WPE Officer also oversees information collection and advocacy related to health gaps and services. This position supervises GBV Psychosocial Assistants and Community Mobilizers.

Technical Quality

• Provide technical expertise in GBV for the effective implementation of the GBV program.
• Oversee the provision of basic case management and psychosocial activities for survivors of GBV;
• Oversee activities to reinforce referrals for survivors of GBV;
• Reinforce referral mechanisms, and the safety, security and confidentiality of survivors accessing referral services;
• Support the identification of GBV focal points in health centers and liaise with health actors for the training of medical and non-medical staff in health centers;
• Provide staff mentoring and reinforce adherence to GBV guiding principles and best practices throughout IRC’s WPE work;
• Reinforce adherence to the GBV guiding principles throughout all WPE activities;
• Ensure response work with clients, including case management and psychosocial interventions, adheres to best-practice principles when working with survivors of GBV.
• Staff Supervision & Development
• Directly supervise GBV Psychosocial Assistant and Community Mobilizers Assistants
• Mentor and support staff professional development and foster a positive team spirit to encourage innovative and quality programming.
• Identify training needs for GBV Psychosocial Assistant and support organization and facilitation of training to meet those needs, in collaboration with the WPE Program Manager and WPE Coordinator.

Grant Planning & Implementation

• Prepare and maintain/update detailed work plan(s) that support and achieve activities.
• Develop implementation, procurement and spending plan with timelines and update on monthly bases;
• Work in partnership with health facilities to provide safe space for GBV psychosocial support activities in the area of intervention.
• Initiates opportunities for new developments to achieve results.
• Provide capacity building of WPE Assistants and community mobilizers as well as health service providers.
• Provide direct support and ongoing mentoring to GBV Psychosocial Assistants and Community Mobilizer Assistants as they provide services to survivors of GBV. This will include assessment of client needs; basic, crisis counseling (and in some contexts further individual counseling); development of action plans with clients; support to clients in pursuing services and support.
• Provide direct support and ongoing mentoring to GBV Caseworkers as they provide services to child and adolescent survivors of GBV. This will include case management as well as best interest determination, age appropriate engagement and decision-making by survivors, and Do No Harm analysis.
• Develop and implement a series of age-appropriate and specialized group emotional services to be provided to vulnerable women and girls, with an emphasis on meeting the needs of survivors of GBV.
• Ensure the existence of a confidential space for case management and individual counselling.
• Oversee and provide guidance for age appropriate and relevant psychosocial activities for women and adolescent girls.

Coordination & Representation

• Identify concerns related to and support adherence to GBV referral protocols by all relevant stakeholders.
• Support the identification of GBV focal points in health centers and liaise with health actors for the training of medical and non-medical staff in health centers.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with relevant stakeholders including community leaders and other implementing partners.
• Ensure coordination of programming with any other sectors or external stakeholders as per portfolio of projects
• Work closely and coordinate with the IRC Support Services to carry out program activities. This includes participation on need assessments, review programming and M&E meetings

Reporting and Data management

• Ensure ethical and confidential data collection during monitoring and evaluation.
• Monitor the progress of the program and identify any delays that have been or may be expected
• Ensure that activities are fully documented, including regular and systematic collection of data required.
• Establish and implement a training evaluation system as pre-post tests to measure participants' learning level.
• Complete monthly activity reports, according to guidance provided by the WPE Officer.
• Produce / contribute to the writing of the reports required by IRC and the lessor (progress of activities, monitoring of indicators, etc.)
• Comply with the IRC security procedures and report the security information provided to him to ensure a safe and secure environment for the implementation of the program.

Monitoring

• Prepare and submit weekly, monthly and three-month work plans in a timely manner, and incorporate supervisor feedback as requested;
• Compile monthly activity report for submission to the WPE Coordinator;
• Ensure that all relevant financial documentation is accurately completed and submitted, as required by IRC policies.

Other functions

• Ensure all activities are carried out in accordance with IRC Operational policies;
• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs.

General

• Commit to respect the IRC Way (IRC Ethics).
• Commit to ensuring optimal implementation of these policies in its framework.
• Be available to perform any other punctual task deemed useful by his direct superior or the IRC.
• Produce programmatic activity reports at the end of each month

Line Management

• Directly supervised by the WPE Manager.