Community Advocacy & Protection Coordinator Dfatd

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping people build secure, productive, and just communities. The agency pursues its mission through emergency relief services, sustainable community development, civil society and economic development initiatives. Mercy Corps has been present in the Middle East since the 1980s and currently has offices in Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Libya. Working in Lebanon since 1993, Mercy Corps promotes economic development and increased opportunity for marginalized communities while responding to emergencies as they have emerged. Until recently Mercy Corps’ focus has focused on bolstering civil society and give voice to under-represented groups through the empowerment of young leaders. Recently, the country office portfolio expanded in response to the massive refugee influx from Syria, to address key needs like non-food items/winterization, water and sanitation, child protection, and capacity building. The conflict that began more than three years ago in Syria has resulted in a steady increase in Syrian refugees to Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.  To date, more than one million refugees have fled to Lebanon, and the numbers continue to mount. All refugees who have entered Lebanon are staying with host families or in rented accommodation.  As numbers rapidly increase, humanitarian conditions are deteriorating.  The burden on host communities and the financial and emotional stress on refugees and their hosts is tremendous. Mercy Corps is responding to these needs by addressing urgent basic needs, child protection as well as the psychosocial impact of the conflict and displacement. With the support of the Government of Canada, Mercy Corps will support Syrian and Lebanese adolescent boys and girls, between the ages of 13 – 17 who are not currently enrolled in school or are at high risk of dropping out of school as a means of providing them with life skills, drawing adolescents away from their segregation, and encouraging greater interaction between host communities and refugees. Furthermore, program will reach out to young adults between the ages of 20 – 24 from among refugee and host communities, seeking their involvement and building their skills to act as mentors and facilitators within the program. GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY: The Community Advocacy & Protection Coordinator will provide support to the Program Manager in all aspects of implementing the program to ensure that it meets its key deliverables on-time and within budget.  He/she will closely work with local partner organizations to ensure accountability to Mercy Corps’ policies and donor rules and regulations, as well as other local actors including municipalities and service provider. ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS: General Program Implementation Duties & Responsibilities: Support the Program Manager in planning and implementing program activities in the 2 community centers assigned to your respective region to meet key deliverables based on timeline and scope agreed with the donor; Provide day-to-day support and coordination with local partners and service contractors, including administrative, financial and logistical support. Trouble shoot any problems related to community centers and report any challenges or bottlenecks to Program Manager; Support Program Manager in implementing activities, organizing meetings, community engagement and awareness raising/information dissemination events; Liaise with key stakeholders to build Mercy Corps acceptance within local communities to facilitate program implementation, including informing the wider community actors about Mercy Corps’ programming; Organize local organizational training sessions and support to improve the organizational and technical capacity of local partners to provide adolescent life-skills and psychosocial services; Support the Program Manager to coordinate with humanitarian and development partners including United Nations, international and local NGOs, municipalities and other stakeholders; Implement Mercy Corps’ Gender Equity policy and applies Do No Harm approaches; Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission; Other assigned tasks, as necessary.  Community Advocacy Mapping the municipalities and conduct meetings with mayors and municipal staff in locations that the program is implemented; Establish strong relationships with relevant municipalities to create platform for community service and advocacy campaigns for youth; Discuss and develop joint ideas among youth, partner, municipality and local community on advocacy issues related to youth and protection, violence or abuse; Implement trainings to coaches and partners on advocacy, community mobilization and mapping, as well as community project planning and implementation; Oversee, monitor, and track, with the support of the project officer, the design, planning and implementation of the community projects/advocacy campaigns in the 2 respective community centers; Set up the foundation for the youth assemblies and follow up, monitor and track the progress and development of the assemblies, that they are meeting their objectives, and frequently meeting to support centers and program objectives; Link with other organizations in building coalitions for community advocacy projects and campaigns. Provide support and guidance to partners, MC team, and coaches on community advocacy and service projects and initiatives; Support team in developing an ongoing presence and network the relevant with municipalities and get support from them in implementing community projects; Coordination on weekly basis with local partners to provide support that they need in implementing the program. Create a network or committee with municipalities and local organizations for supporting different programs and projects. Conduct advocacy trainings on different topics, as needed, for coaches and all parties involved in implementing community projects and campaigns; Conduct advocacy training for municipalities and community leaders; Community Protection Networks Support centers in identifying strong candidates (mothers, fathers, caregivers, influential community figures) to join Community Based Protection Network (CBPM); Set up a plan with partners for each community center to conduct ongoing trainings and meetings to establish CBPN; Support centers to conduct ongoing information sessions in coordination with MC team, partners and local NGOs/INGOs on child-protection related issues; Facilitate linkages and build network of influential persons that are eager and willing to join the CBPN in order to be the immediate response and learn the reporting mechanisms in cases of child-protection; Support centers in conducting ongoing awareness sessions on child protection related issues; Conduct a mapping to discover what networks exist in communities of the centers and coordinate and/or work to enhance existing structure. Center Supervision, Support & Monitoring Support with the development of the systems, structures and procedures in the center to ensure they are strong, being adhered to, and built into daily operations and running of the center; Support project officer in following up with partners on the deliverables, deadlines, and tasks to be submitted to the Program Manager as based on donor requirements; Coordinate with the project officer to ensure centers are adhering to financial compliance matters, building the capacity of coaches, conducting sessions for youth on the designated times as per their center schedules, providing adequate, safe, efficient and effective courses and materials to youth in an environment that nutures their learning and fosters their creativity. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: Project Officer ACCOUNTABILITY: REPORTS DIRECTLY TO:  Program Manager   WORKS DIRECTLY WITH:  Program, Operations, Finance, and M&E Teams KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:  Experience working with adolescent boys and girls or broader youth engagement required; Community advocacy work a preference; Strong knowledge of the local actors in the areas of operation with INGOs/NGOs/municipal employees, influential community figures, etc.; Supervisory experience preferred; Protection-related programs experience preferred; Strong understanding of refugee issues in the current Lebanon context; Strong management skills, with good understanding of relevant cross-cultural issues and ability to work with refugee and host community populations; Strong written and oral communication skills in English, including report development, writing and editing; Positive, respectful attitude and collaborative approach to problem solving; Demonstrated attention to detail; ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work independently as well as cooperatively with team members; Significant knowledge and understanding of the current political, economic, cultural and historical context of South Lebanon preferred; SUCCESS FACTORS: The successful Adolescent Program Officer will combine program management skills and experience in adolescent programming. S/he will have an outstanding ability to implement innovative programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in the country. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and working independently are essential. Demonstrated flexibility and creativity in planning and problem solving is essential in a complex security and political environment like Lebanon. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations.