JOB DETAILS:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

BACKGROUND: 

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

As part of the larger FCDO-funded ULEARN Project, the IRC conducts efforts to identify, suggest, and enact improvements to existing accountability mechanisms and referral systems for collecting and addressing client feedback used by FCDO BRAER Downstream Partners. This project strengthens existing AAP mechanisms by focusing on:

1. 1.  Engaging women and children.
   2.  Ensuring that two-way communication mechanisms exist and are operating effectively.
   3. Ensuring there is adequate and survivor-centered reporting, referral, and response to allegations of all forms of fraud, abuse, misconduct, corruption, or any other breaches of organisation Codes of Conduct in line with best practice (e.g. the IRC Guidelines for a Survivor-Centered Approach to Reporting Safeguarding Misconduct).

To support ‘taking account’, the Consortium created a Beneficiary Perception and Preferences Assessment (using both quantitative and qualitative data) that is specifically developed to take account on topics that are not well captured in existing AAP mechanisms, and it suggests and supports:

1.  The creation of other new mechanism.
2.  Technological improvements to existing mechanisms.

From past experiences, the IRC knows that it is not enough to simply provide stakeholders with findings or suggestions about holding, giving, or taking account, but that true uptake of findings and suggestions will require a dedicated change management team. Therefore, the IRC has developed three Regional AAP (RAAP) teams in Arua, Fort Portal, and Gulu, each consisting of one AAP Manager all led by one AAP Senior Program Manager in Kampala.

SCOPE OF WORK:

With support from the AAP Senior Program Manager, the AAP Manager will be charged with challenging Partners within the South Western region to demonstrate an organizational culture of feedback, while also providing support to taking account (e.g. by supporting question development, data collection methods, and interpretation of data), giving account (e.g. by packaging data, identifying preferred channels for outreach, supporting visibility, directly engaging with relevant stakeholders and community representatives), and holding account (e.g. by strengthening networks of accountability, independently tracking uptake of results). He/she will assess gaps and weaknesses within Partners’ existing AAP approaches, support Partners to develop work plans for addressing these weaknesses and will conduct or facilitate trainings to support these work plans. To further support taking, giving, and holding account, he/she will facilitate meetings and discussions between Partners, local governments, community representatives, and other stakeholders to aid in a more community-driven interpretation, triangulation, and packaging of data from feedback and independent verification efforts, and will also support giving account by disseminating relevant results at the regional, district, national, and settlement-levels.

The Manager will support the AAP Senior Program Manager’s efforts to engage with various Partners. In particular, the Manager will focus on the day-to-day implementation of this project, including by conducting trainings, setting up meetings between stakeholders, packaging information for presentation and analysis, tracking work plan progress, and other duties as required.

The AAP Manager will also lead the integration of Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH) principles across all accountability mechanisms. This includes ensuring that community feedback and complaint channels are safe, confidential, accessible to all—including women, children, and persons with disabilities—and capable of receiving and appropriately referring sensitive SEAH reports. The Manager will work closely with Safeguarding, Protection, and HR teams to support staff and partner capacity strengthening on PSEAH, ensuring compliance with organizational codes of conduct and survivor-centered referral pathways. The role will also involve monitoring SEAH risk mitigation within community engagement efforts, ensuring that affected populations are aware of their rights and available reporting options. In coordination with relevant focal points, the AAP Manager will support timely, ethical, and confidential follow-up of SEAH-related complaints and contribute to internal reporting and learning to strengthen safeguarding practices organization-wide.

The Manager’s responsibilities are described more in depth below:

Ensuring successful implementation of the AAP in Action Program (AAPA). The AAP Manager will be responsible for providing AAPA technical support to Selected organizations to operationalize AAP by integrating the following thematic areas into organizational programs:

•  Identify and Integrate AAP into proposal development through the project narrative, budget, and log frame touch points.
•  Reviewing current agency complaints and feedback mechanisms to assess and strengthen their functionality and assess appropriate mechanisms that could be used for organizations where there are none in place (e.g. linkage to existing Inter-agency feedback mechanisms, establishing mechanisms to fill gaps such as ensuring accessibility to specific groups)
• Set up or review Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for AAP and Feedback registry.
• Reviewing existing client data (e.g. FGD results), help interpret them and turn them into actions to support data-driven decision-making based on client input.Set up indicators or review existing AAP indicators to assess their functionality, identify key gaps and develop a data collection strategy.

Challenging partners to demonstrate an organizational culture of feedback.

• •  Support the AAP Senior Manager’s efforts to track and report on district-level work plans for improving AAP mechanisms.
  •  Actively participate in district-level coordination mechanisms related to AAP.
  • Champion an organizational culture shift among partner organizations to increase respect for and adherence to principles of and best practices for AAP, with a specific consideration for ensuring that feedback is used in decision-making.
  • Support Partners to evidence how they have improved their ability to actively seek affected populations input to programming and consistently respond to participant feedback.

Facilitate meaningful and accountable discussions between Partners and representatives of affected populations (e.g. Refugee Welfare Committee members)

•  Implement efforts to ‘give accounts to affected persons, by ensuring that updates on the refugee response are communicated to refugee and host communities and community leaders (e.g. via printed materials, community meetings, or through community representatives).
•  Identify district-level stakeholders (across communities, partners, government, RWCs, etc.) who are relevant to holding, taking, and giving accounts by using a Social Network Analysis.
• Build relationships with the most relevant actors identified by the Social Network Analysis, with the explicit aim of strengthening this network of actors to ensure that relevant stakeholders are empowered to support AAP after ULEARN ends.
• Support representatives of affected populations in interpreting and presenting key findings from data collected by various AAP mechanisms and independent verification exercises.
• Moderate and facilitate discussions of various sizes between Partners and representatives of affected populations, and support efforts to track and hold partners accountable to any commitments made during these meetings.

Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH)

•  Increasing awareness among local actors about protection from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSEAH) including providing training, coaching, and ongoing support to staff, partners, and volunteers on PSEAH principles and survivor-centered response.
•  Supporting a comprehensive mapping of existing/remaining Client Feedback Mechanisms (CFMs) and safeguarding mechanisms.
• Facilitating the development, printing and dissemination of PSEAH and CFM Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials.
• Champion the integration of PSEAH principles within accountability and feedback mechanisms and collaborate with HR and safeguarding focal points to include PSEAH awareness in onboarding and refresher trainings.
• Ensure robust referral and response mechanisms are in place for SEAH cases, aligned with the organizations and partners’ safeguarding and protection protocols.
• Include SEAH risk assessments in community consultations, with mitigation plans monitored throughout implementation.
• Track, analyze, and report trends in SEAH-related feedback in line with confidentiality and data protection principles.

Minimum Qualifications:

Qualifications:

• •  Bachelor’s Degree in humanitarian assistance, social work, Development Studies, human rights, international law, social science, or related field. Postgraduate degree is an added advantage.
  •  Minimum of four years of professional experience designing, implementing, evaluating and supporting client responsiveness mechanisms /AAP programming withing humanitarian and development programs.
  • Extensive expertise in delivering accountability mechanisms, as well as capacity to support effective communication with refugee communities (with a specific focus on empowering women, children, and marginalized groups). Understanding of community structures and community engagement.
  • Ability to package and communicate complex topics through written reports and presentations.
  • Demonstrated understanding of Core Humanitarian Standards, Grand Bargain Participation Revolution, and proven experience in setting up systems for meaningful participation of clients

Demonstrated Skills & Competencies

•  Demonstrated expertise in program design, monitoring and evaluation and program adaptation
•  Experience in project management
• Excellent facilitation skills, and strong understanding of how to collect feedback safely and accurately from all members of a community regardless of their age, gender, or other diverse factors.
•  Ability to handle multiple tasks, proven self-initiative and problem-solving abilities.
•  Language Skills: Fluency in English is required
• Proven track record of quality performance in highly pressured environments.
• Computer skills, including Word, Excel, Power-Point, and Access.

Gender Equality & Equal Opportunity

We are committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer generous benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances. We welcome and strongly encourage qualified female professionals to apply.

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and we value diversity in our organization. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request reasonable accommodation.

Professional Standards

IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct.  These are Integrity, Service, Accountability and Equality.  In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.