The Organisation

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.

We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.

Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.

We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.

ROLE PROFILE

Title:                                            Child protection in Emergencies Specialist

Functional Area:                       Disaster Risk Management

Reports to:                                 Emergency Response Manager

Location:                                   Far North, Cameroon

Travel required            70% time:          field-based in emergency response Country Office/Regional Office.

Effective Date:                                      February 2020

Role PURPOSE

The Child protection in Emergencies (CPiE) Specialist provides technical support to Plan International Cameroon responding to medium and large-scale emergencies to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate child protection programs.

Working in 50 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas, Plan International aims to reach as many children as possible, particularly those who are excluded or marginalized with high quality programs that deliver long lasting benefits by increasing its income, working in partnership with others and operating effectively. Plan International is committed to responding to children affected by emergencies in the countries of our operation.

Given the current humanitarian crisis in the Far-North Region of Cameroon, Plan International is engaged in providing life-saving humanitarian assistance, protection, education and psychosocial support. Its operations are implemented in key sectors of Protection (Child protection and SGBV), Education, Food Assistance and Nutrition, Livelihood, WASH and NFIs in coordination with all other humanitarian institutions.

The CPiE specialist oversees Plan International’s child protection sub-sector programme, and is responsible for the strategic direction of the CPiE response programme, with emphasis on leading a transition from humanitarian child protection programmes to longer-term system strengthening work in 2020 and onwards.

The post-holder will assist vulnerable children, adolescents and their communities affected by conflict and displacement to receive quality humanitarian assistance to prevent and response to protection issues. The holders’ main tasks include, but are not limited to: design of child protection assessments, response analysis, response design/revision, staff capacity building and technical support to implementation of the Child protection component of Plan International’s emergency response in the Far North of Cameroon.

Key responsibilities of the post-holder include: quality assurance of new and ongoing CPiE projects, sub-cluster representation and technical support to implementation, monitoring & evaluation of projects. S/he will ensure technical quality and minimum standards are met in all CPiE projects.

The post-holder is part of a regional Lake Chad learning community and is expected to contribute to the identification of best practices, lessons learned and learning sharing to strengthen the implementation of the Lake Chad Programme and ensure adherence to quality standards in the response of Plan International Cameroon.

Dimensions of the Role

• The post-holder will be responsible for conducting assessments, context- and response analysis, response design and revision, with emphasis on leading a transition from humanitarian child protection programmes to longer-term system strengthening work. This includes but is not limited to developing plans to ensure sustainability of community-based child protection mechanisms and strengthening government case management and alternative care services.
• S/he will provide technical support to project managers responsible for implementation, monitoring and evaluation of child protection projects.
• S/he will be responsible for the overall technical oversight of the child protection interventions.
• S/he will represent Plan International Cameroon externally and internally within inter-agency, humanitarian and government coordination mechanisms in the Far-North.
• S/he will contribute to the advocacy and influencing activities to promote and advance the CPiE interventions in line with Plan International Cameroon and the Lake Chad Programme priorities.
• S/he will ensure mainstreaming of child protection in other sector programmes.
• S/he will ensure that the CPiE teams in the Far North of Cameroon are technically well equipped to implement the activities in line with minimum standards through tailored capacity building initiatives conducted for the staff, as part of the regional Lake Chad CPiE capacity building initiative.
• S/he will actively contribute to the production and sharing of evidence and learning from Plan International Cameroon with the broader the Lake Chad CPiE Programme.

Accountabilities

Assessment and Program Design

• Lead on child protection needs assessments coordinating with Plan’s other programmatic areas and Child protection Working Groups based in the Far North, ensuring assessment findings are documented and disseminated, in particular for the areas including, but not limited to Mayo-Tsanaga, Mayo Sava, Logone & Chari, Diamaré, Mayo Kani, Mayo Danay, Diamare Divisions.
• Ensure that the different capacities, vulnerabilities and coping mechanisms of children and adolescents of different ages are considered and analysed through case studies and other evidences.
• Maintain a high level of context awareness and analysis to share with the response and the Lake Chad CPiE peers to ensure multi-country and cross-border interventions are consistent and relevant.
• Share good practices and lessons learned with the Lake Chad CPiE Learning Community.
• Support implementation of Plan International’s Lake Chad M&E resources to contribute to quality data collection on child protection outcomes at national and regional level.
• In collaboration with national and international Education and Child protection Actors, map current institutional response capacities in the area – including conducting a child protection specific 4Ws (What, When, Where and Who).
• Provide technical assistance to CPiE project teams in designing sustainability plans and plan for longer-term programming including system strengthening as part of nexus approach of the Lake Chad Strategy.
• Ensure Plan International’s guidelines and child protection in emergency minimum standards are considered, documented, and shared with the Lake Chad CPiE Learning Community.
• Ensures all work has a strong gender, protection, resilience, and conflict sensitivity focus into the program design in line with Plan International’s Global Strategy.

Program Implementation

• Ensure the effective planning, implementation and coordination of child protection programming that address the key CPiE needs of children and adolescents in the Far North of Cameroon.
• Contribute to the development of staffing plans to implement CPiE program activities and work with the HR team to recruit in line with approved grants.
• Ensure that CPiE interventions are aligned with the Child protection Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Action and other existing global guidelines and tools for CPiE and SGBViE.
• Carry out frequent project sites visits in all targeted areas to monitor the implementation of child protection activities on the ground, identify opportunities and constraints and any adjustments needed including additional staffing or staff training or other (about 50% of the time).

Capacity Building

• Conduct frontline teams CPiE capacity needs assessment on annual basis.
• Develop capacity building plans and provide training, coaching and mentorship to program staff and partners.
• Coordinate and/or implement trainings and briefings of Plan staff, partners and other key stakeholders on child protection and related issues such as gender equality and inclusion, amongst others.
• Contribute and actively participate to the capacity building initiatives of the Lake Chad CPiE Learning Community.

Monitoring and Evaluation, Reporting and Accountability

• Build capacity of CP and M&E staff to collect quantitative and qualitative data, ensuring all data is disaggregated by sex, age and disability, especially for case management service.
• Document key learning from the child protection response and produce evidences to share within the activities of the Lake Chad CPiE Learning Community.
• Contribute to quality and timely reports on CPiE projects in compliance with internal and donor requirements.
• Work closely with the Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) team to use and disseminate the child protection Lake Chad M&E framework.
• Establish accountability activities for child protection, ensuring that feedback from all relevant stakeholders is considered throughout all phases of the response.

Coordination and Resource Mobilization

• Provide regular updates to Emergency Response Manager (Team Leader) and emergency team on progress, priorities and constraints in Child protection projects implementation – verbally and in writing on an agreed frequency.
• Brief updates and reports on sectoral activities/strategies to donors and other stakeholders.
• Build and maintain relationships with relevant government departments, UN agencies and NGOs.
• Support national staff to take a co-leadership role in the Child protection Working Group and/or technical working groups.
• Maintain relationships with key donors and build a diversified portfolio of CPiE funding.
• Support development and submission of quality proposals in response to identified opportunities.

Influencing

• Support country offices to develop case studies and reports of program innovation and successes.
• Contribute to relevant global advocacy and policy objectives with documented learning and evidence.
• Assess in-country resources, human, material and financial for response with relevant staff and agencies and assist in capacity building of national staff.
• Identify potential partnerships to implement Child protection projects recommendations, assess potential partners where available or make recommendations on how to fill gaps.

Human Resources and Administration

• Coordinate and/or implement training and briefing of Plan International staff, partners, and other key stakeholders on child protection in emergency and/or related issues.

Communication

• Work with Plan’s communication team to support the dissemination of articles, success stories, presentations and media interviews highlighting Plan International Cameroon’s and Lake Chad Programme’s work in CPiE.

Dealing with Problems:

• The post-holder will make rapid assessments of situations and then make judgements for the organisation on strategic choices and action often with incomplete information.
• The job requires decisions to be made on the basis of assumption and experience, as little hard information will be available.  Decisions need to be context specific and there will often be no precedents to draw upon.
• Management judgement will be required to negotiate and influence local Plan teams to take steps to respond in ways that may be new or worrisome in contexts that are stressful to all involved
• Decisions may affect the lives of thousands of disaster affected children, millions of dollars, security of staff, and the profile of Plan across the humanitarian sector and across media.
• Excellent risk-assessment and management is required to support decisions that may require overcoming attitudinal, systemic and physical barriers

General

1. Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.

Key relationships

Key Internal Contacts

• Plan International Cameroon Emergency Response Manager (line manager)
• Other members of the Emergency Response team: Education in Emergency Specialist (EiE), Livelihoods specialist and the country office Business Development / Grant Manager.
• Lake Chad Unit (dotted technical line)
• Plan International CPiE Network’s members

Key External Contacts

Other agencies and actors responding to the emergency, in particular those working in the CPIE sector.

Reporting lines

Reports to Emergency Response Manager.

Technical expertise, skills and knowledge

Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours Required to Achieve Role’s Objectives:

• People Skills: Ability to work independently and as a team player who demonstrates leadership and is able to support and train local and international staff and also able to work with disaster affected communities in a sensitive and participatory manner.
• Communication Skills: Well developed written and oral communication skills. Able to communicate clearly and sensitively with internal and external stakeholders as a representative of Plan. This includes effective negotiation and representation skills.
• Integrity: Works with trustworthiness and integrity and has a clear commitment to Plan's core values and humanitarian principles.
• Resilience/Adaptability and flexibility: Ability to operate effectively under extreme circumstances including stress, high security risks and harsh living conditions. Works and lives with a flexible, adaptable and resilient manner.
• Awareness and sensitivity of self and others: Demonstrates awareness and sensitivity to gender and diversity. Have experience and the ability to live and work in diverse cultural contexts in a culturally appropriate manner. Has a capacity to make accurate self-assessment particularly in high stress and high security contexts.
• Work style: Is well planned and organized even within a fluid working environment and has a capacity for initiative and decision making with competent analytical and problem solving skills.
• Knowledge and skills: Knowledge of CPIE, Sphere and the Red Cross/ NGO Code of Conduct. Requires general finance, administration, information management and telecommunication skills and proficiency in information technology/ computer skills. Knowledge of Plan policies and procedures a plus.
• Strong humanitarian aid experience.
• Fluency in French and English. At least Fluency in French and work capability in English is required.
• Multiple language skills desirable.

Knowledge

• Minimum of 3 years (of which at least 2 in the field) of progressively responsible professional experience in child protection in emergencies (including psychosocial support, case management, community engagement, mobile approach in protection intervention, case based intervention in protection intervention…) work, humanitarian affairs, human rights, and related fields.
• Demonstrable technical expertise in implementing community-based child protection responses.
• Experience with participatory approaches to child protection in emergency, emergency preparedness, crisis/emergency relief management, or other related area.
• Experience of conducting child protection assessments in emergency contexts.
• Experience of training on child protection technical areas with a variety of audiences.
• Minimum of one successful assignment in an emergency situation/context;
• Have a good knowledge and understanding of DO NO HARM principles and established international child protection standards (especially UNCRC)
• University degree in social work, a social science or another related field with good knowledge of Protection Principles and Emergency Response

Skills

• Demonstrated ability to network and liaise with major Child protection donors including SIDA, GFFO, Irish Aid, UNICEF.
• Excellent project design, participatory monitoring and evaluation skills
• Excellent communication skills: well-argued plans for response that can be justified and delivered, persuasive of others.
• Ability to work independently and as a team player who demonstrates leadership and is able to support and train local and international staff and also able to work with disaster affected communities in a sensitive and participatory manner.
• Excellent negotiation, representation, skills and the ability to work comfortably with an ethnically diverse staff in a very sensitive environment.
• Ability to operate at advanced levels of authority and manage significant activities, budgets, and resources to produce and take responsibility for results
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work cooperatively.
• Proven ability to solve problems independently without direct supervision.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Strong organizational and work prioritization skills and attention to detail
• Good facilitation skills and ability to deliver induction briefing/training.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, the ability to communicate clearly and effectively at all levels, and to maintain this under pressure.
• Ability to work with limited supervision from line manager.

Behaviours: 

• Commitment and adherence to humanitarian values and standards
• Willing to make rapid decisions even with inadequate information but ready to reflect and adjust course of action if necessary
• Focussed and striving for the delivery of programme
• Cross-culturally agile
• Aware of own strengths, weaknesses and pro-active in using feedback and self-development
• Aware of impact on others and uses impact to create positive climate at work
• Works with trustworthiness and integrity and has a clear commitment to PLAN's core values and humanitarian principles
• Resilience/Adaptability and flexibility: Ability to operate effectively under extreme circumstances including stress, high security risks and harsh living conditions. Works and lives with a flexible, adaptable and resilient manner.
• Awareness and sensitivity of self and others: Demonstrates awareness and sensitivity to gender and diversity. Have experience and the ability to live and work in diverse cultural contexts in a culturally appropriate manner. Has a capacity to make accurate self-assessment particularly in high stress and high security contexts.
• Patient, adaptable, flexible, able to improvise and remain responsive under pressure.
• Preparedness to live and work in uncertain security environments.
• Experience working in conflict or emergency-affected areas (or other situations where insecurity and corruption can be big issues)
• Commitment to and skills in capacity building – together with the ability to assess and coach others.

Plan International’s Values in Practice

We are open and accountable

1. Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
2. Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
3. Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
4. Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
5. Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people

We strive for lasting impact

1. Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
2. Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
3. Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
4. Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.

We work well together

1. Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
2. Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
3. Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
4. Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.

We are inclusive and empowering

1. We empower our staff to give their best and develop their potential
2. We respect all people, appreciate differences and challenge equality in our programs and our workplace
3. We support children, girls and young people to increase their confidence and to change their own lives.

Physical Environment

• Extensive travel, sometimes to hazardous environments and at short notice.
• Periods of intense work which will require extended working hours.
• Prepared to live and work in insecure environments.
• Working in multiple locations and on the move.

Level of contact with children

High level: Frequent interaction with children

Location: Maroua

Type of Role: Child Protection In Emergency Specialist

Reports to: Emergency Response Manager

Closing Date: 8 March 2020

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.

A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International's Safeguarding Children and Young People policy.

As an international child centred community development organisation, Plan International is fully committed to promoting the realisation of children's rights including their right to protection from violence and abuse. That means we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with.

Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. We must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk. 

Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for. Our organisation is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.

We will provide equality of opportunity and will not tolerate discrimination on any grounds. We foster an organisational culture that embraces and exemplifies our commitment to gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion while supporting staff to adopt good practice, positive attitudes and principles of gender equality and inclusion.