Cameroon: Protection and Rule of Law Coordinator

Apr 18, 2018 | International Rescue Committee
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The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. IRC leads the way from harm to home.

Country Program Overview:

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 a field office in Maroua in the Far North, followed by a second field office in Kousseri in February 2017, delivering 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.  IRC Cameroon’s Protection and Rule of Law program has grown since its inception in May 2017, now covering all geographical areas of IRC’s operations in the Far North of Cameroon. With funds from European and American donors, the IRC has an ambition to deliver quality humanitarian and recovery programs to meet the needs of vulnerable displaced and host families.

Job Overview/Summary: The Protection and Rule of Law Coordinator leads the IRC’s efforts to meet conflict-affected people’s safety and protection needs, reducing risk and responding to cases of violence, coercion and deprivation, as well as mainstreaming protection throughout the IRC’s response in Cameroon. Protection is a signature part of the IRC’s strategy in Cameroon. The Protection and Rule of Law Coordinator will define and manage a clear direction, drive forward implementation and ensure robust and effective management and oversight to best meet the needs and aspirations of local communities and accountability to stakeholders.

Major Responsibilities

Program Strategy and Business Development

  • Provide strategic direction, leadership and overall technical and management support to the Protection Rule of Law (PRoL) programming, ensuring it is needs-based, context-appropriate, responsive, coherent, collaborative, and operationally feasible.
  • Contribute to the delivery of IRC’s Strategic Action Plan outcomes for Safety and Power.
  • Proactively grow the PRoL portfolio in line with the Strategic Action Plan, through development of concept notes and proposals to existing and new donors.
  • Promote joint work across the two protection streams of Women’s Protection and Empowerment and PRoL as well as the Economic Recovery and Development sector and Environmental Health to enhance the quality of programming and a holistic approach to addressing the protection needs of the target populations.
  • Promote and assist the other IRC’s programming sectors with the integration of protection (protection mainstreaming).
  • Identify, monitor and report unmet needs.  Explore the potential of the IRC to address those needs within the parameters of the Strategic Action Plan, sector priorities and IRC’s ‘cash first’ approach.
  • Ensure alignment and coherence with relevant IRC country, regional and global strategies.

Program Management and Quality

  • Ensure projects and activities are of high technical quality, meet humanitarian standards, mainstream protection, align with IRC’s Outcomes and Evidence Framework, and respond to community and monitoring feedback.
  • Recruit qualified team members, when needed, and support and supervise the teams to achieve program goals and maximize national ownership and leadership.
  • Proactively identify, assess, monitor and implement measures to reduce or control risks that may impact program delivery, quality or compliance.
  • In collaboration with program, finance, HR and Supply Chain departments, provide oversight on implementation, integration and donor compliance.
  • Lead assessments and context-appropriate research aimed at generating a strong evidence base for IRC protection programming, as well as informing IRC advocacy.
  • Liaise with Technical Advisors to ensure relevant support, tools and resources are being provided and integrated into programming.
  • Liaise with the M&E Manager to support M&E activities for the PRoL program, map lessons learnt and identify opportunities for evaluations and quality improvement.

Staff Management & Development

  • Coach, train, and mentor staff with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing professional development guidance
  • Supervise and mentor staff, including communicating clear expectations, and in partnership with the direct line supervisor, setting performance objectives, providing regular and timely performance feedback, and contribute to the annual and mid-year performance reviews.
  • Provide constructive feedback and counsel on appropriate career paths and professional development.
  • Promote and monitor staff care and well-being; approve and manage all leave requests to ensure adequate coverage.
  • Offer leadership support for successful adherence by staff to IRC’s Global HR Operating Policies and Procedures.
  • Adhere to and act in accordance with the IRC Global HR Policies and Procedures, and communicates through word and example a high standard of compliance with all applicable policies and regulations.

Grant Monitoring & Reporting

  • Undertake regular field monitoring visits to assess progress and identify technical quality issues and/or other implementation issues, provide solutions and implement modifications as required.
  • Ensure that proper M&E systems are in place.
  • Ensure that all internal and external reporting requirements are met, that reports are of a high quality and are submitted on time.

Representation, coordination and advocacy

  • Engage and maintain effective working relationships with stakeholders and protection coordination structures in Cameroon, including NGO, UN, and technical and government actors.
  • Identify advocacy opportunities together with the Deputy Director for Programs and based on information coming from the field.
  • Together with the DDP, work closely with IRC’s advocacy and media teams, and the Violence Response and Prevention Technical Unit for the launch and dissemination of research reports and findings.
  • Together with the DDP, contribute to the advocacy efforts of IRC Cameroon and the West Africa Region through analysis of the policy environment and trends.
  • Support the greater sharing and use of research and learning within IRC’s program sectors, including by contributing to program development and design, to ensure interventions are responsive to needs and informed by a sound understanding of the environment(s) in Cameroon.

Key Working Relationships

  • Position Reports to: Deputy Director of Programs
  • Position technically supervises: PRoL Managers in Maroua and Kousseri
  • Indirect Technical Reporting: PRoL teams’ staff
  • Other Internal and/or external contacts:
  • Internal:  Other program sector coordinators, PRoL Technical Advisor, Field Coordinator, Supply Chain Coordinator, Finance Controller, Deputy Director for Operations, HR Coordinator, Grants Manager and M&E Manager.
  • External: Protection Working Groups, INGOs, UN agencies

Job Requirements

  • Advanced degree in humanitarian assistance, social work, human rights, international law, social science or related field.
  • Five years’ experience implementing Protection and Rule of Law programming in an emergency or complex emergency context and demonstrable understanding of the relevance of international humanitarian law and human rights law to humanitarian action
  • Professional practical experience in program implementation in the field of protection monitoring, community-based protection and/or access to justice in conflict-affected areas; applied experience in case management is an asset
  • Ability to manage up and across and to influence others to mainstream protection across units
  • Strong team and people leadership, management, organizational and development skills
  • Strong program and budget management skills including planning and reporting across multiple grants
  • Strong written and oral communication skills, effective in representation and liaison with external parties
  • Works well in and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure effectively and productively
  • Fluent in spoken and written French and English

Working Environment

Security in the Far North of Cameroon (Maroua & Kousseri) is level III (orange) and the IRC has a curfew in place. Lodging is in a shared IRC guesthouse.

Professional Standards

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.