Social Worker (Short-term contract - 3 months)

About La Chaîne de l'Espoir:

La Chaîne de l’Espoir is an international NGO founded in 1994. Its mission is to strengthen healthcare systems to give everyone, especially children, the same chances of survival and development.

Helping the most marginalized children is more than an ethical duty, it is a vital requirement for achieving the United Nations 2030 goals for children's health and well-being.

We work in 27 countries with a global approach, focusing on children, mothers and disadvantaged communities:

• Prevention and screening from an early age, particularly through school health programs.
• Care and surgery to meet the most urgent needs of children and their mothers.
• Training and transfer of skills to local teams thanks to our international network of experts in all areas of surgery.
• Construction and equipment of hospital facilities adapted to local needs.

Since late 2016, La Chaîne De L’Espoir has implemented a comprehensive paediatric orthopaedic surgery program with local partners in Lebanon targeting vulnerable children living with orthopedic congenital anomalies, covering local and refugee populations, by providing medico-surgical care to more than 420 children including post-operative follow-up and rehabilitation.

Background:

La Chaîne De L’Espoir (CDE) is supporting access for the most vulnerable in response to the emerging health crisis, to quality medico-surgical care. The current program encompasses activities covering the hospitalization costs, advocating for establishing national guidelines on pediatric congenital anomalies, raising awareness and capacity building of relevant stakeholders. It involves building a network of partners, increase screening of congenital anomalies, giving access to healthcare while providing psychological support in a Gender sensitive approach.

The projects are implemented within a newly established CDE Bureau in Lebanon.

 TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES

 GENERALITIES

• Welcoming the beneficiaries for their first visit and presenting the project
• Conducting comprehensive social and economic assessments for identified beneficiaries in need of surgical intervention
• Identifying availability of services for external referrals of cases, referring patients to the adequate organizations, facilitating and following up such referrals
• Receiving referrals of potential beneficiaries from other organizations, individuals or stakeholders
• Following up with the patients and hospital administration to follow up on hospital admissions
• Documenting cases and filling social files and all required documents according to the internal procedure. Ensuring all relevant documents are available and beneficiaries’ files are complete
• Ensuring that the procedures of the admission are properly followed. Facilitating the admissions of beneficiaries to the hospital and coordinating with the hospital admission department and management when needed
• Maintaining good working relationships with various partners and stakeholders to insure access to secondary health services
• Fulfilling other duties of similar level as requested by the line manager

 REPORTING

• Reporting complex problems arising to the line manager
• Ensuring data entry and filling beneficiaries’ database
• Preparing regular written reports

 SKILLS REQUIRED

• Active Listening — Giving full attention to beneficiaries’ concerns, taking time to understand, asking questions as appropriate, aim to obtain a holistic comprehension of the cases
• Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of social and economic situation of vulnerable people
• Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems
• Patience
• Ability to cope with traumatic situations
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Good level of planning and organizing
• Teamwork
• Polyvalence, flexibility and adaptability
• Adherence to humanitarian principles and CDE’s Code of Ethics and respect of CDE policies and procedures

 LANGUAGE AND INFORMATION SYSTEM

• Fluent in Arabic and English
• Good command of Microsoft Office software tools (especially Outlook, Excel, Word)

 MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Degree in social science or equivalent
• At least 2 years relevant work experience with an NGO in medical and/or social support projects
• Experience in providing social support to children and vulnerable populations
• Reporting, filing and conducting questionnaires skills

 CONDITIONS

Working hours: 8 hours per day, from Monday to Friday.

The contract is ONLY for 3 (three) months to fill in for a maternity leave.

Salary will be based on internal grid.

The Social Worker will be acquainted with confidential and personal information that require discretion.

This job description may be subject to modifications in the future, depending on the evolution of the activities. These modifications will then be defined and discussed between the employee and the CDE management.

S/he might be asked to fulfill other duties of similar level as requested by the line manager.