Capacity Building Officer

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. Mercy Corps has been present in the Middle East since the 1980s and currently has offices in Yemen, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps has been running community development programs focused on promoting economic development and increased opportunity for disadvantaged communities, while responding to emergencies as they emerged. Recently, Mercy Corps’ portfolio has expanded in response to the refugee influx from Syria, including grants from UNICEF, UNHCR, European Commission, Canadian and American governments, and private foundations. Humanitarian response and resilience programming will be an increasing focus of the Protection Sector portfolio in Lebanon. CONTEXT As the Syrian conflict persists, instability and insecurity continue to impact the daily lives of boys, girls, adolescents and their caregivers inLebanon, exposing them increasingly to protection violations. Tensions between refugees and host communities are worsening, with children emulating the discriminatory attitudes they witness. This is exacerbated by a lack of services and resources, as well as perceptions of unequal support for increasingly vulnerable host communities. Child protection actors are working to provide protective environments for all children inLebanon. However, as needs are increasing, funding is decreasing and is mostly short term. The deteriorating socio-economic situation of many refugees and vulnerable Lebanese, coupled with limited livelihoods opportunities and limited access to education, has contributed to families using negative coping mechanisms, such as child labour and child marriage. Breakdown of protection community mechanisms also place children and caregivers at greater risk of violence, exploitation, and abuse. Greater focus is required on prevention and mitigating the impact of the crisis on women, boys and girls by continuing to strengthen and improve quality of psychosocial services (PSS), case management and access to specialized services. Services need to be made available for all children regardless of their nationalities. Working with children caregivers, families and communities at large is crucial to complement the support to institutions. Both system building and community based approaches are key to create a protective environment for children and to build resilience. GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY The CP Capacity Building Officer leads Mercy Corps’ Child Protection (CP) capacity building activities in Mount Lebanon aimed at strengthening the broad based multi sectoral response to protection concerns affecting children and adolescents. S/he will support in designing and implementing strategies, methodologies and tools to build the capacity of key partners involved in the prevention, identification, informal care/protection, reporting and referral of child protection risks and violations. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS Develop comprehensive action plan prioritizing capacity areas for development based on distinct skills and needs required by key stakeholders to carry out targeted activities and key deliverables outlined in the UNICEF-Mercy Corps PCA logframe; Support In implementing the child protection community based groups at field level. Facilitate effective support to the Social Development Center-Mount Lebanon and local NGO partners to design, plan and implement integrated child protection interventions; Provide technical and operational support to systematically strengthen capacities of SDC-Mount Lebanon and local partners to carry out effective strategies to protect children from all forms of violence; Deliver PSS sessions for animators in the CBOs on PSS for caregivers. Monitor the animators in CBOs while they are conducting PSS sessions for parents. Participate in the TOT training on caregivers PSS sessions that the technical advisor will conduct for the officer. Strengthen capacities of non-state and community-based actors to prevent, mitigate risks and respond to a wide range of child protection issues, with well-defined linkages to Social Development Centers and other relevant entities; Assist in the design, preparation and facilitation of workshops, series of capacity building sessions, VAC campaigns, community dialogues, etc Support capacity building initiatives to promote rigorous field-based data collection, analysis and utilization; Identify and organize collaborative partnerships with networks of trainers or capacity development experts; Support consolidation, alignment, design and production of learning and training tools; Promote in-house CP convergence, synergies and mainstreaming across MC Protection, WASH, Livelihoods and Governance programmes Ensure that all capacity building efforts incorporate a gender equity, conflict sensitivity, and environmental awareness lens. Support representation of MC child and youth protection efforts with local government authorities, community actors, IGOs/NGOs, interagency working groups in the field site; Adhere to organisational security standards, financial, procurement, program management minimum standards, code of conduct and child protection protocols. Organizational Learning As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve - we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves. Accountability to Beneficiaries Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: N/A ACCOUNTABILITY: Reports directly to: Child and Youth Protection Field Coordinator – Mount Lebanon Works directly with: Operations, Finance, Program, and M&E Teams KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE BA/S or equivalent in social science, management, international development, or other relevant field; MA/S in law, international relations, human rights or other relevant field preferred but not necessary. Previous demonstrable experience in capacity building and development. Previous experience in facilitating group/individual trainings, working in teams and coordinating multiple actors. Experience working in child protection-related programs, ideally in relief and/or post-conflict settings. Solid understanding of child protection and/or experience with local systems strengthening and community-based protection. Good understanding of the linkages and intersections between child protection and social welfare, justice, education and health, with ability to advise and implement strategies that promote coordination between sectors. Specialized background in gender, child protection, and minority rights and other vulnerable groups preferred. Knowledge of Lebanon, in particular its displacement context and protection threats relevant to internal conflict preferred. Strong knowledge of international humanitarian and human rights laws preferred. Proven track record in leading and managing diverse teams. Strong leadership, coordination and communication skills. Proficiency in English essential Arabic competitive advantage SUCCESS FACTORS A successful candidate will have the ability to work closely with a diverse team of individuals in a highly fluid work and security environment with a capacity to spark innovative approaches to programming and inspire groups to collaborate closely to implement high-quality programs. S/he will have proven ability to learn quickly, take initiative, and be accountable for results based on programmatic needs. Knowledge of security standards, equipment, precautionary measures, communication protocols, various unstable conditions and familiarity with Child Protection Systems strengthening approaches, Sphere Project’s Humanitarian Charter and Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Pyramid are essential, as is an ability to work independently and as part of a team, with curiosity about and sensitivity to new cultures, a desire and ability to learn and grow, both personally and professionally, and a great sense of humor.