WPE Adolescent Girl Assistant

Background/IRC Summary:  

The Syria crisis is often described as the worst humanitarian catastrophe since the end of the Cold War. Today, 13.4 million people in Syria - more than half of the country's population - are in need of humanitarian assistance with needs increasingly being exacerbated by economic decline. Of these, 6.8 million are refugees and asylum-seekers who have fled the country. This is no short-term humanitarian episode. The devastating human consequences to huge numbers of people will endure for decades. The destruction of relationships, communities, livelihoods, homes, and infrastructure will take years to repair.

IRC is offering a robust humanitarian response to the Syria crisis a rapidly expanding portfolio, supported by more than 1000+ staff in Syria Country Program. IRC is undertaking programs in Syria and the neighboring countries of Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan in the fields of health, child protection, early childhood development, education, women’s protection and empowerment, non-food items and food distribution, cash assistance, water and sanitation, protection and rule of law, and livelihood programming. Our work in these challenging settings gives rise to some of the most pressing issues facing modern humanitarian action, including questions of access, security, funding, and coordination.

Job Overview/Summary:

IRC has an established program supporting the needs of women and girls throughout Al-Hasakah and Ar-Raqqa Governorate in northeast Syria. The IRC provides direct counseling, psychosocial, and case management services to women and girls, with a particular focus on responding to the needs of survivors of gender-based violence (gender-based violence). The WPE Case Worker works in the Women’s Listening Center or women's protection Empowering safe spaces. Her role is to provide direct case management, individual counseling, and group-based psychosocial activities in the space. Her objective is to provide age-appropriate case management services to GBV survivors, including supporting them in assessing and planning for safety, assessing their own needs and developing a plan to address their individual needs, and safely implementing this plan.

Responsibilities:

• Adhere to and proactively promote the women-, girl- and survivor-centred support approach, and the GBV guiding principles.
• Consult and work with adolescent girls in the Centres to identify their needs, interests, and priorities, and what’s important to them, and where possible, adapt activities to ensure the activities offered are culturally appropriate and meet the needs of adolescent girls.
• Assist in the planning and implementation of training activities for adolescent girls participating in the center services and activities.
• Assist in the planning and implementation of activities aimed at community leaders and parents (or guardians/) of the adolescent girls accessing the Centres and safe spaces.
• Conduct, prepare, and help plan and organize activities with adolescent girls with an understanding of the age range of adolescent girls and varying risks adolescent girls face.
• Provide Psychosocial First Aid and non-judgmental support and services to adolescent girls.
• Assist with dignity kit distributions, appropriate messaging, and feedback from adolescent girls on dignity kits and other discretionary items provided.
• Know, understand, and use the internal and external referral pathways.
• Work in close, daily collaboration with relevant and available health services to ensure women and girls have safe, discrete, and confidential access to/from the WPE and health services via the agreed on safe and confidential referral procedures.
• Know, understand and be able to apply the best interest and determination for children, specifically girls.
• Share with adolescent girls the available options for their care, including what services can be provided and what services cannot be provided. 

Outreach and Community Mobilization

• Build positive, productive, trusting connections with adolescent girls, their parents/care givers, and their communities, ensuring to maintain professional boundaries and humanitarian ethics at all times.
• In collaboration with the WPE Center team, conduct community outreach and engagement activities to build community support and buy-in for the Centers in a safe and appropriate manner, and awareness activities on GBV and its health consequences, promote available services to adolescent girls, and listen to adolescent girls on barriers to accessing services with activities for women groups.
• Inform adolescent girls and their guardians about available services and material support in accordance with their needs.

Other duties and responsibilities

• Ensure supplies/resources for adolescent girls’ activities in the Centers are requested on a timely manner and are efficiently utilized.
• Track participation numbers of adolescent girls attending Center activities.
• Maintain positive and productive collaboration, coordination and relationships with the Center team, and external partners and other sectors.
• All other tasks as abd when needed.