Child Protection Officer Gdynia (Readvertised)

Danish Refugee Council, one of the world’s leading humanitarian NGOs, is currently looking for a highly qualified Child Protection Officer for the Blue Dot in Gdynia. The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading protection agency with a mandate to promote and protect durable solutions to conflict and displacement-affected populations on the basis of humanitarian principles and human rights. DRC is implementing a multi-sector response to support Ukraine refugees, IDPs, and host populations both within Ukraine and in the neighboring countries of Poland, Romania and Moldova, and wider Europe. Since late February 2022, nearly 4 million Ukrainians and third-country nationals have crossed the border to Poland.

As part of its neighboring country response, DRC is establishing an operational presence in Poland to support displaced populations through a partnership with civil society organizations and national NGOs, duty bearers, and other actors.   DRC Poland will be responsible for the management of four Blue Dots supported by UNHCR and UNICEF in Gdynia, Lublin, Warsaw, and Wrocław. In each location, the Blue Dot services will be provided in collaboration with local/national NGOs. In each location, a designated area lead is responsible for the coordination of the Blue Dot services. With the support of the Protection Team Leader, the Child Protection Officer will be responsible for the implementation of Child Protection Activities in the Blue Dot in Gdynia including mobile and outreach activities in pomorskie voivodship.

 

About the Job

Under the leadership of the DRC Community Center Protection Team Leader and with the support of the country Protection team, you will, as Child Protection Officer, be responsible for the overall coordination of the rollout and implementation of the Community Center child protection activities in Gdynia and any related outreach activities in pomorskie voivodship conducted by DRC and partners. Your main duties and responsibilities will be:

• Identify children at heightened risk and/or in need of protection services at the Community Center through mobile activities and community-based child protection mechanisms.
• Ensure timely referral and follow-up, documenting all cases referred by DRC to other service providers, as per DRC standards for referrals and data protection, specifically DRC’s child safeguarding policy.
• Provide counseling, awareness, guidance, and emotional support when needed, in line with international standards and best practices.
• Lead group awareness sessions on child protection issues.
• Assess protection needs and community capacities to identify risks and vulnerabilities, including those related to gender and age. In collaboration with the Protection team and community members develop and implement concrete strategies/initiatives to reduce these risks.
• Take into account the Covid-19 pandemic, including associated restrictions and recommendations coming from relevant authorities when designing and implementing activities, ensuring child and personal safety.
• Working in close coordination with the team members to ensure protection activities are in line with overall projects and targets for protection activities are met.
• Assist and work in close collaboration with DRC personnel and/or other stakeholders working on non-formal/formal education activities with children.
• Draft activity reports and provide inputs to donor reporting.
• Contribute and support effective monitoring, evaluation, and learning processes and initiatives, ensure effective data and information management, and contribute to regular reporting on protection activities.

 

About You

To be successful in this role, we expect you to have a minimum of 2 years of proven experience working with vulnerable children and child protection programs. Moreover, we also expect the following:

• A Master's degree in psychology, pedagogy, social work, social sciences, or a related field.
• Strong knowledge of interviewing and communication techniques with children.
• Knowledge of Polish formal child protection mechanisms.
• Knowledge of IASC guidelines on mental health and psychosocial support in crisis situations.
• Understanding of the psychosocial support needs of refugee and refugee children.
• Ability to work in a multicultural context as a flexible and respectful team player.
• Problem-solving, analytical, and writing skills, with the ability to produce reports for internal and external use.
• Experience working in refugee/displacement programs will be an advantage.
• Advanced proficiency in Polish allowing for cooperation with Polish entities.
• Advanced proficiency in Ukrainian or Russian.
• Advanced proficiency in English.   

 

We Offer

Contract Type: National Staff Contract

Contract length: 12 months, with possible extension depending on the availability of funding

Band: Non-Management, H

Geographic scope: Gdynia

Start date: ASAP

We offer a competitive salary and benefits in accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for National Staff.

 

Application Process

All applicants must upload a cover letter and an updated CV in English. Applications sent by email will not be considered.

Candidates must already have the right to live and work in Poland or be EU/EFTA/Ukrainian citizens.

Closing date for applications: November 13th, 2022

 Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we, therefore, encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

For further information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult our website drc.ngo.