Technical Officer - Gender and Child Protection at Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an International non-governmental organization supporting relief and development work in over 99 countries around the world. CRS programs assist persons based on need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. CRS works through local church and non-church partners to implement its programs, therefore, strengthening and building the capacity of these partner organizations is fundamental to programs in every country in which CRS operates. CRS re-established presence in Nigeria in 2000 and currently focuses on agriculture, health and emergency programming.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Technical Officer - Gender and Child Protection

Job Ref Code: TOGCP11117
Location: Benue
Project: Health Programs/SMILE Project
Position Band: C-1
Job Type: 6 Month Temporary Hire
Reports to: Technical Specialist - Gender and Child Protection

Project Background/Description

• CRS Nigeria leads the USAID-supported SMILE (Sustainable Mechanisms for Improving Livelihoods and Household Empowerment) consortium consisting of ActionAid Nigeria and Westat designed to scale-up care and support services for orphans and vulnerable children in FCT, Benue, Kogi, Edo, and Nasarawa by strengthening the capacity of government, civil society organizations (CSOs) and communities.
• SMILE seeks to improve the wellbeing of 600,000 OVC and 150,000 caregivers and will be implemented through an umbrella grants mechanism (UGM) whereby CSOs receive sub-grants to support capacity strengthening and program implementation at the community level.
• The project will also strengthen the Nigerian Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) response by strengthening the organizational systems and technical capacity of the five SMWASDs and targeted Local Government Areas (LGA).
• The purpose of this position is to support the development, implementation and integration of gender-sensitive interventions and child protection approaches into the SMILE project.
• Guided by the SMILE Technical Specialist- Gender and Child Protection, s/he will collaborate closely with the SMILE team to implement an integrated and holistic community based response to child protection issues and gender-based barriers to accessing services including HIV prevention, care and support, economic empowerment, education and food security.

General Function

• The Technical Officer, Gender and Child Protection (SMILE) shall work as a member of the SMILE technical team to achieve the gender and child protection related strategic objectives of the project.
• S/he shall adhere to high standards of programmatic and management quality to support community level delivery of SMILE services for beneficiaries.
• Under the guidance of the SMILE Technical Specialist -Gender and Child Protection, S/he will provide technical support, ensuring CSOs embrace quality gender-sensitive and child-sensitive approaches and interventions.

Specific Responsibilities
Technical:

• Support the development of technical strategies and implementation of SMILE Gender Integration, Child Protection, Adolescent Programming and Early Childhood Development (ECD) activities
• Support CSOs to implement individual and community-level gender-sensitive activities addressing gender norms that propagate gender-based violence, as well as serve as barriers to accessing HIV services
• Support SMILE CSO partners, community volunteers and adolescent girls club mentors’ in providing access to full range of adolescent girl centered SMILE services for beneficiaries.
• Support CSO participation in state-level Child Protection activities
• Work closely with Child Protection Networks and other relevant platforms on child protection activities including the Violence Against Children, the domestication of Child Rights laws and the establishment/reactivation of child-friendly judiciary systems
• Contribute to efforts towards ensuring that project gender and child protection activities and approaches used by CSOs are in line with relevant government policies; contribute to the review and development of new policies, as appropriate.
• Participate in the development of technical briefs and presentations on gender and child protection to communicate program results and influencing key stakeholders.
• Contribute to the documentation and dissemination of project efforts, achievements, lessons learned and innovations within SMILE and to the larger Nigerian and global technical community, as appropriate.

Supervision and Mentoring:

• Support the incorporation of gender and child protection activities into CSO work plans
• Support the capacity development for partner CSOs, community volunteers, child protection committees and other key stakeholders on gender integration and child protection
• Provide regular supportive supervision to CSO staff to ensure achievement of expected results in respect to SMILE gender, child protection, ECD and Adolescent Girl interventions.
• Support CSO staff professional development, including identifying capacity building needs for CSO staff, providing mentoring and training and linking staff to appropriate external opportunities to in line with project needs.
• Facilitate the use of monitoring data during quarterly participatory reflection events and other fora with partners and other stakeholders to inform project decisions.
• Support the monitoring and evaluation of program performance on gender-related goals and objectives and contribute content for internal and external reporting.

Representation:

• Represent the SMILE consortium in external technical meetings, conferences and workshops related to gender and child protection
• Liaise and collaborate with implementing partners and government agencies including National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), the Federal/State Ministries of Women Affairs and Social Development, the Development Partners Gender Group, the PEPFAR Nigeria Gender TWG, UNICEF, the Violence against Children TWG, the Child Protection Systems Strengthening Learning Group, other learning institutions and civil society actors to promote synergy and exchange information relating to gender integration and child protection
• Participate in CRS agency-wide gender and child protection activities

Key Working Relationships:

• Internal: Chief of Party; Deputy Chief of Party/Technical Director; Program Director; Organizational Development Director, M&E Director; Senior Program Managers; SMILE Technical Specialist (Gender and Child Protection).
• External: SMILE Consortium team members; SMILE CSO partners; National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), the Federal/State Ministries of Women Affairs and Social Development, the Development Partners Gender Group, the PEPFAR Nigeria Gender TWG, UNICEF, the Violence against Children TWG, the Child Protection Systems Strengthening Learning Group, other implementing partners and other stakeholders.

Qualifications and Skills

• Master's Degree or equivalent in Law, Development Studies, Gender Studies, Sociology, Anthropology or related discipline with 1-2 years working experience in gender integration and child protection
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Law, Development Studies, Gender Studies, Sociology, Anthropology or related discipline with at least 3 years working experience in gender integration and child protection
• Ability to work effectively with government and civil society partners and communities as well as transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through workshops, training and meetings using participatory methods and adult learning principles.
• Good understanding of principles and practices of gender integration and child protection integration
• Familiarity with OVC programming and principles.
• Excellent English oral and written communication skills required.
• Excellent analytic, organizational and computer skills; skilled in MS Office including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results:

• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning

Travel:

• Travel up to 40% of the time.

Application Closing Date
13th November, 2017.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should download the "Application Form Below" and send with a detailed 3-page resume in a single file word document to: [email protected] The "Job Title, Reference Code for the position and the State being applied for" should be stated as the subject of the email.

Click here to download Application Form (MS Word)

Note

• This job description is not an exhaustive list, rather it is intended to be indicative of the skills, efforts, duties and responsibilities associated with the position.
• “CRS is an equal - opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, etc. Qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply”.