Position:            Women’s Protection and Empowerment Coordinator

Location:           Gaziantep, Turkey

Department:     Program

Report to:          Protection Manager

Background:

Global Communities’ (GC) Office of Humanitarian Assistance (OHA) has developed a strategy for the organization’s response to the Syria crisis, anchored in a field presence.  Specifically, OHA is responding directly in Syria, intensifying GC’s assistance to Syrian IDPs. This will be done through an approach to programming where projects will be focused on sustainability rather than relief delivery. GC is a fully registered organization in Turkey and is currently building its humanitarian response professionals in Turkey. GC intends to hire a full-time Women’s Protection and Empowerment Coordinator to implement activities, while based in Gaziantep through humanitarian assistance programming. The goal of our program is to increase access to specialized services for GBV survivors and victims, including case management and referrals; empower women and girls and to reduce the risk of GBV; and to increase the capacity of actors on the ground. The WPE Coordinator reports to the Protection Manager and the position is based in Gaziantep, Turkey.

Purpose of this role:

The Women’s Protection and Empowerment Coordinator will be responsible for providing leadership, oversight, technical support to the Global Communities’ WPE and Gender-Based Violence prevention and response program in Northwest Syria, to improve the enabling environment for the women and girls at protection risks. The WPE Coordinator will ensure that the interventions are technically sound, in line with international humanitarian standards and protection principles, and are properly meeting the needs of the women and girls victims and survivors of GBV, in the target communities. The WPE Coordinator will work collaboratively with other sectors of the GC team including WASH, Shelter/Rehabilitation, FSL, Child Protection, and Community Based Protection. The position technically supervises Senior WPE Officer in Gaziantep and Gender/GBV Mainstreaming Officer in Northwest Syria.

Major Responsibilities:

Technical Oversight and Support

• Seeking guidance from Protection Manager, lead on and provide technical oversight, on all aspects of WPE programming,
• Identify technical gaps in the WPE program and devise solutions to overcome those gaps, including developing SOPs and guidelines, modifying existing resources, etc.,
• Oversee the implementation of activities in the Women’s Protection and Empowerment Centers ensuring active participation of women and girls survivors of GBV,
• Coordinate the GBV prevention and risk mitigation activities carried out by the outreach team,
• Lead the expansion of case management response, ensuring timely and qualitative support is provided,
• Ensure GBV case data is managed, shared, and used in a confidential, safe, and effective manner, including through the GBVIMS,
• Develop Gender/GBV Mainstreaming capacity building plan and mainstreaming tools in consultation with Protection Manager and Gender/GBV Mainstreaming Officer,
• Apply a multi-sectoral response to GBV through coordination and mainstreaming with other relevant sectors within Global Communities,
• Ensure activities run according to minimum standards and best practices and are appropriate for the context, in line with GBV Standard Operating Procedure,
• Ensure all activities comply with GBV, protection, and humanitarian principles.

Staff Supervision and Development

• Develop and implement a capacity building plan related to case management, GBV Information Management System (IMS), etc. with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity and professional attitude Ensure learning and development opportunities for WPE team, help them build strong, supportive peer networks, creating an environment of collaboration and cooperation,
• Supervise the WPE team through regular weekly meetings, feedback to the Protection Manager, and ensuring sufficient human resources for activities,
• Ensure staff well-being (physical and psychological) and care is prioritized, promote a strong, respectful team spirit, keeping team members motivated,
• Set performance evaluation goals in consultation with the staff members, provide constructive feedback and mentorship to enable them to achieve these goals.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting

• Conduct regular monitoring of activities and ensure quality services and minimum standards, through completing monitoring reports and providing regular feedback to the staff,
• Coordinate with security, finance, logistics, and other relevant department to ensure activities are implemented smoothly and without adding risk to beneficiaries or staff,
• Support the development and implementation of ethical and safe monitoring and evaluation online databases/ systems, including program monitoring tools and the utilization of the GBVIMS,
• Compile and review reports as required by the donor, capturing activities’ progress, lessons learned, the general situation, community needs and reconcile against activities planned and quality standards.

Coordination, Representation, and Advocacy

• Coordinate with the GBV sub-cluster to ensure programming aligns with the priorities of the humanitarian response, and actively participate in GBV Sub-Cluster (SC) initiatives,
• Represent Global Communities and proactively develop and maintain effective working relationships with other key stakeholders, including GBV sub-cluster, Child Protection cluster and Protection cluster, donors, government actors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, and other relevant actors working on Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG); maintaining Global Communities as a key contributor to addressing GBV and WPE issues in Syria,
• Identify opportunities (including fundraising & advocacy opportunities) to promote gender equality through women’s economic empowerment, comprehensive responses to prevent and mitigate GBV, and engaging vulnerable women, women leaders, and women civil society groups on peacebuilding Initiatives at the community level,
• Coordinate with the relevant stakeholders to establish and strengthen the referral pathway for GBV response and prevention services.

Other

• Work closely with compliance and feedback teams to ensure that complaint and feedback mechanism are in place and accessible to the target communities,
• Monitor and assess the security and safety of field teams and coordinate with the security team on regular basis to ensure and enhance the field teams in Syria,
• Other duties as assigned by the Supervisor to contribute to the development of GC WPE programming.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Women Studies, Gender Studies, Humanities, Social Sciences, International Relations or Psychology with 4 years of experience in Protection, WPE, GBV or PSS programming is required, Master degree preferred,
• Experience in humanitarian coordination particularly in the area of WPE/GBV is required,
• Previous experience in GBV case management,
• Demonstrated experience in supervising, leading, mentoring, and capacity building of the staff,
• Experience working directly with survivors of GBV is required,
• Experience writing high-quality reports in English,
• Experience with the GBVIMS is highly desirable.

Knowledge, Skills & Competencies

• Demonstrated experience in successfully leading, building, and strengthening a program team of 60+ staff in complex environments/hardship context is required,
• In-depth knowledge and practical understanding of GBV guiding principles, including the IASC Guidelines for GBV interventions in humanitarian settings and the new GBV CM guidelines,
• Strong communication skills, effective in representation and liaison with external stakeholders,
• Demonstrated ability to work with limited supervision and manage programming remotely,
• Computer/word processing and standard office software skills,
• Strong organizational and team-building skills,
• Good negotiation and problem-solving skills,
• Integrity, transparency, and strong work ethics.

Language skills

• Good command of spoken and written Arabic and English is required.