Bangladesh: Women's Protection & Empowerment Coordinator

Requisition ID: req631

Job Title: Women's Protection & Empowerment Coordinator

Sector: Gender

Employment Category: Fixed Term

Location: Bangladesh

Job Description

BACKGROUND/IRC SUMMARY The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. More than 600,000 people have crossed the border from Myanmar to Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh since 25 August, and that number is still growing. The new arrivals arriving in Bangladesh are in urgent need of emergency shelter, food, access to clean water and sanitation, healthcare, protection and mental health support. The crisis is exacerbating, perpetuating and reinforcing already existing sex-based inequality and discrimination against women and girls, with women and girls experiencing increasingly high levels of risk and violence, including sexual violence, exploitation, intimate partner violence and trafficking. Life-saving, quality and age appropriate women-, girl- and survivor-centered support and services are vital.

JOB SUMMARY The Emergency Women's Protection & Empowerment (WPE) Coordinator will provide leadership, oversight, technical support across all WPE programming components, and will conduct regular technical visits to WPE teams working in all program areas to ensure that interventions are technically sound, in-line international best practices, and are appropriately meeting the needs and priorities of women and girls, and female survivors in target communities. This position is responsible for programmatic resource development and advocacy related to IRC's WPE emergency response, and overall strategic direction of the WPE program, including the transition from emergency to longer-term programming. The Emergency WPE Coordinator supervises the WPE Managers.

MAJOR RESPONSABILITIES Technical Oversight and Support

• Lead on, and provide technical oversight, advice and guidance on, all aspects of the emergency WPE programming ensuring high quality in-line with best practice and international standards, including-

o Comprehensive and integrated centres for women and girls to access life-saving care and support in safe spaces, with a range of services including, GBV case management, counselling, advocacy, psychosocial support, risk reduction activities, community outreach and engagement, and SHR services (including clinical management of rape), with a larger center offering BEmONC services;

o Establishment/development of specialised adolescent girls protection and empowerment programming, grounded in evidence-based methodologies, responding to the huge risks and realities of violence faced by adolescent girls, and is in-line with their needs and priorities;

o Close collaboration and vocal advocacy with the GBV sub-sector coordination group and GBV actors on ensuring crisis response services for women and girls meet minimum standards of practice as outlined in IASC guidelines, to standardise and strengthen the response and increase safe access and confident uptake of quality services and support.

• Ensure that ethical and sound data collection and information management systems are in place for appropriate GBV analysis, planning, evaluation, and advocacy;

• Ensure regular collaboration and communication with the emergency Health technical lead to ensure all joint programming components between WPE and Heath are highly functional and grounded in best practice across both sectors.

Staff Supervision & Development

• Supervise and provide technical ongoing support, capacity development and mentoring to the national WPE Manager(s), to enable them to successfully perform in their position, and supporting them to do the same with the national staff they supervise, including (but not limited to):

o Internationals standards of practice around violence against women and girls (VAWG), guiding principles, women-, girl- and survivor-centred support and services, and specifically on

o Specialised areas of programming including - feminist, social worker and trauma-informed case management and psychosocial support for women and girls as per IASC guidelines; adolescent girls protection and empowerment

• Develop and ensure opportunities for the female WPE staff to regularly meet, self-organise and build strong, supportive peer networks and solidarity with each other, creating a community of feminist-grounded VAWG practice between them;

• Maintain open and professional relations with all team members, promoting a strong, respectful team spirit, ensuring effective communication, and opportunities for debriefing

• Ensure staff well-being and care is prioritised and is an integral part of work;

• When required, lead on the recruitment of new WPE program staff, consultants or other external support, in coordination with HR.

Finance, Budget and Grant Management

• Overall responsible for WPE program budgets. Monitor budget spending in line with the spending plans, budget vs actual analyses, and develop remedial plans where necessary to ensure budgets are optimally utilized;
• Ensure adherence to grant work plans, spending plans and monitoring and evaluation plans;
• Work closely and coordinate with IRC Operations, Finance and Grant departments to ensure compliance with grant requirements;
• Support development and maintenance of effective and efficient oversight, support, quality control and reporting systems and processes;
• Ensure high-quality and timeliness of IRC and donor reports on activities, indicators and achievements.

Coordination, Representation and Advocacy

• Proactively participate in, and contribute to, coordination meetings and working groups, specifically the GBV sub-sector coordination group and other related task forces;
• Proactively build strong working alliances with other international and national actors/organisations working on VAWG-related advocacy;
• Proactively develop and maintain effective working relationships with other key stakeholders, including donors, government actors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, and other relevant actors; maintaining IRC as a key contributor to addressing VAWG and WPE issues in the crisis;
• Proactively seek to establish and develop partnerships and collaborate with the Bangladeshi women's movement, women and feminist-centred organisations and initiatives to strengthen the response for women and girls and enhance their voices.

Program Development

• Lead the development of the strategy for the WPE program, ensuring processes that incorporates input from WPE field teams, other IRC sectors, senior IRC management, and key external stakeholders;
• Contribute to the development of the overall country program strategic direction;
• Lead proposal development activities (narrative and budget) through planning and program design with relevant field-based staff, to ensure technical standards are taken into considering before submission;
• Coordinate with other IRC sectors (i.e., child protection, health) to provide relevant input and support enhancing the protection and empowerment of women and girls.

Other

• Consistently and proactively monitor/assess the safety and security of field teams, promptly reporting concerns or incidents to IRC management and liaising with other external parties as required to maintain/enhance the security environment;
• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor to enable and develop IRC programs.

Key Working Relationships

• Position Reports to: Emergency Field Director
• Position directly supervises: 2 x Snr WPE Managers; 1 x WPE Manager
• Indirect Reporting:
• Other Internal and/or external contacts:
• Internal: Health team; VPRU; EPRU

• External: UN agencies, INGOs, NGOs, community groups and other partners

  Requirements

• Advanced degree in women' studies, social work, social sciences, human rights, humanities, or other relevant field or the equivalent in professional work;

• Four or more years' experience in VAWG programming or GBV with a specific focus on women and girls;

• Experience in directly supporting women and girl survivors of male violence;

• Deep understanding of the impact and dynamics of men's violence against women and girls, and solid grounding in radical feminist, women and girl-centred, anti-oppressive practice;

• Previous experience in emergency preparedness and response;

• Demonstrated coordination, networking and relationship building skills with key partners including government, donors, INGOs, national and local organisations, UN agencies;

• Demonstrated experience in successfully leading, building and strengthening a program team of 20 + staff in a dynamic, challenging and changing context;

• Demonstrated experience in supervising, mentoring and building capacity of national staff;

• Strong experience, knowledge and skills in participatory methods and community development;

• Demonstrated experience in facilitating practical workshops and learning on this issues outlined in the areas of responsibility for this position (listed above);

• Strong ability to respect differences of culture, opinion and lived experiences while upholding rights-based principles and women's protection and empowerment;

• Excellent interpersonal skills, positive and professional attitude, ability to lead and work well in a team setting and with multiple partners;

• Strengths in listening, empathy, flexibility, and creativity;

• Fluency in English Language - essential.

  Working Environment: Housing will be in shared guest houses with individual rooms and/or hotels in the region, electricity, basic amenities, and internet connection. Travel will expected around the region, by air and by road.

  The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in 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.

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