Officer, Protection, Gender and Inclusion

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world's largest volunteer-based humanitarian network, with 190 member National Societies. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, our work is guided by seven fundamental principles; humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.     

The Secretariat of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (“the IFRC”) works to a Business Model and has a Business Delivery Plan with key commitments that sharpen its focus, clarity, and efficiency and accountability results.  The Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva, has five decentralized regional offices: one of which is the Americas, guided by the Secretariat strategies for implementation and areas of focus that builds on the vision of strategy 2020.  The Americas’ region is organized in two main hemispheres: a group of support services departments and geographical configurations of (i) Country Cluster Support Teams and (ii) Country Office(s), as well as the Deputy Regional Director, each of them led by the Regional Director; and another hemisphere: six building blocks composed by (i) Partnerships and Resource Development, (ii) Policy, Strategy and Knowledge; (iii) Communication, (iv) Disaster and Crisis: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery, (v) Health and Care, (vi) Logistics, each of them led by the Deputy Regional Director.

Protection, Gender and Inclusion (PGI) refers to all efforts by Red Cross people to ensure the dignity, access, participation and safety of all individuals involved in our work. ARO is committed to the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action. The IFRC Minimum Standard Commitments to Gender and Diversity in Emergency Programming, require all programs to ensure dignity, access participation and safety for all.

The basis for the IFRC’s gender and diversity work is its humanitarian mandate to prevent and alleviate human suffering without discrimination and to protect human dignity. The IFRC Strategic Frame-work outlines a major outcome as ‘contributed to reduced gender- and diversity-based inequality, discrimination, and violence through the active promotion of fundamental principles and humanitarian values’. From the PGI area, the IFRC Secretariat is committed to promoting the mainstreaming of protection, gender and inclusion in all programs and operations. From the programme "Programmatic Partnership" which is an innovative and ambitious three-year partnership between the IFRC, many of our member National Societies (National Societies of the European Union – UNNS- and Host National Societies -HNS-), and the European Union, the aim is to strongly promote protection in all the actions of this programmatic alliance, in all the National Societies that implement it. For the Americas region, where 5 National Societies implement this program, seek to maintain a closer technical support from the secretariat truth a PGI regional officer to ensure that the actions can meet the minimum standards of protection, gender, and inclusion as well as a protection approach to cross the activities. The position will be based in Americas Regional Office in Panama (working from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama or Ecuador).  The PGI Regional Coordinator is the line manager of the Protection, Gender Officer.

Job Purpose

The Protection, Gender and Inclusion Officer (PGI) will provide technical support and guidance to Lima CCST office and Central America CCST, with special focus on those involved on interventions in Programmatic Partnership, social crisis or disasters and will provide assistance in institutional gender strengthening, the development of National Societies’ Gender Strategies and policies, ensure that tools for the  projects are Gender sensitive and inclusive, promote strategies and program approaches to prevent, mitigate and respond to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and supervise and support local and regional consultants and trainings on PGI. In order to fulfil these duties, the PGI SO will work closely with head of operations, technical and project staff based on Panama as well as the CSST.  

Job Duties and Responsibilities

•    Support the NS who implement the Programmatic Partnership in the mainstreaming PGI into all the activities to ensure that all are implemented in accordance with Movement policies and guidelines relevant to PGI international standards and best practices (i.e. IFRC Minimum Standards on Protection, Gender and Inclusion) and in partnership where needed. 

•    Assist in to build assessments on overall conditions and main protection, gender and inclusion issues and needs including identifying gaps in services and risks to dignity and safety of women, girls, men and boys. More specifically assessing “PGI” issues in the PP. 

•    Provide technical assistance, consultancy and guidance to the  UN National Societies and Host NS staff to integrate PGI gender and diversity into IFRC in the PP in accordance with the Minimum Standard Commitments to Gender and Diversity. 

•    Encourage, guide and support the implementation of GBV and SGBV prevention, mitigation and response activities amongst National Societies through the reinforcement, adaptation and improvement of secure referral mechanisms. 

•    Collaborate with Community Engagement and Accountability team (IFRC and HNS) to promote the utilize of community practices, groups and information sharing methods in order to design effective information dissemination tools, that will be implement in the PP to ensure the access into the programme. 

•    Promote the implementation and follow-up of the PGI action plan for the Program, which has been developed based on the PGI scorecard in each of the National Societies that implement the program in coordination with the CCSTs, UNNS and HNS. 

•    Systematize behavioural change stories during the implementation of the program, evidencing the coordinated work between the pillars of the program from a protection, gender, diversity and inclusion approach.

•    Conduct/Support NS institutional capacity building and training initiatives, gender assessments and strategy development.

•    Promote safeguarding in line with the global safeguarding plan and the IFRC's safeguarding framework and Americas Action Plan in coordination with others IFRC areas and the

•    Participating in technical advisory group meetings for the Programme and providing technical inputs as required in collaboration with sectorial areas of focus focal points, CSST and Reference IFRC´s Reference Centres. 

•    Contribute to the development of workplans, conduct/support training, monitoring including field visits where required.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

Lateral relations and general tasks

• Promote integrated ways of working and ensure that all technical support is underpinned by organizational development and community needs centered approaches.
• Ensure an effective working relationship with others units..
• Maintain effective working relationship with GAC Project Management Team members based in Ottawa, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.
• Ensure that the team provides technical support to each other when required.
• Ensure a good working relationship with all components of the Movement
• To promote a culture of Movement cooperation and coordination in order to maximize the quality and effectiveness in the delivery of disaster and crisis management and community resilience support to the national societies, as well as to support effective monitoring and evaluation to measure progress and improve learning and performance

Education

Required:

University degree in management and/or social sciences or related fields
Basic Training Course: successful completion and selection

Preferred:

Relevant post graduate degree

Experience

Required:

+5 of experience working on protection issues, preferably programming related to prevention and responsive to sexual and gender-based violence in emergencies
Wide experience providing technical support to ensure that protection, gender and inclusion are mainstreamed in humanitarian programs throughout the project cycle.
Experience in Program design and/or tender-writing

Preferred:
Experience of working with Red Cross/Red Crescent

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required:

Demonstrated success in project/programme planning, budgeting, management, reporting and evaluation
Self-supported in computing systems
Ability to work in a team, excellent communication and management skills
Ability to work in a cross-functional environment
Available to travel to other countries
Valid international driving licence (manual gears)
Political and cultural sensitivity
Skills in training and developing staff
Ability to adapt leadership style according to the situation

LANGUAGES

Fluently spoken and written English
Fluently spoken and written Spanish

Competencies, Values and Comments

VALUES: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; AccountabilityCORE COMPETENCIES: Communication; Collaboration and Teamwork; Judgement and Decision Making; National Societies and Customer Relations; Creativity and Innovation; Building Trust
FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: Building Alliances; coordination; Empowering Others