Safeguarding and GEDI Coordinator (National Post)

Location: Lviv with extensive travel to field locations

Reporting line manager: HR Manager

Conditions: Employment contract, gross monthly salary starting from Euro 2,857. Moving allowance to Lviv: EURO 600 lump sum (one time), applicable for staff recruited from outside the base. Annual leave of 28 days per fiscal year.

Duration:12 months renewable

Starting date: ASAP

CARE INTERNATIONAL

CARE International (CI) is among the world’s largest international non-governmental humanitarian relief and development Confederations. Drawing on more than 75 years of experience, through its 21 Members, as both a practitioner and thought leader, CI’s work reaches over 100 countries worldwide to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice.

CARE’s vision is to seek a world of hope, inclusion, and social justice; where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security. CARE focuses heavily on women and girls and the areas of gender equality, diversity and inclusion are at the center of our work because we know that we cannot overcome poverty and social injustice until all people have equal rights and opportunities. We recognize that power relations between people and within systems and structures are unequal and that these are entrenched in our broader systems, structures, and institutions.

At the core of the CI Confederation is a globally distributed Secretariat, which provides coordination and support to its Members in areas including governance, strategic planning, communications, membership development and accountability, advocacy, humanitarian response, and program development. In addition, the Secretariat represents the CI Confederation at the United Nations and the European Union and with other external stakeholders.

UKRAINE CONTEXT

On 24th February 2022, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marked a significant escalation to the conflict that started in 2014. It continues to profoundly impact the lives of people across the country at various levels. The front line is continuously shifting and there are areas controlled by Russian forces as well as cities under siege. Aerial attacks on military installations and critical civilian infrastructures are conducted in the whole territory of Ukraine, often resulting in collateral civilian casualties. The conflict has caused the largest population movement in Europe since World War II, with 6.24 million displaced within Ukraine and 7.68 million refugees having fled to neighboring countries. By October 26, OCHA had counted 17.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Amid the upcoming winter, which is anticipated to be the worst in decades, at least one-third of the country’s energy infrastructure is damaged, leaving millions without heating and access to water. In October, the Russian Federation claimed to have annexed four Ukrainian oblasts, further increasing the challenge of access to these areas. Therefore, in addition to preparing the population for the approaching winter, an ongoing priority for the international humanitarian response is to secure access to recently liberated and recaptured areas in the East and to provide aid to previously unreachable and particularly hard-hit areas of Ukraine.

CARE UKRAINE

As a new actor in Ukraine, CARE prioritizes a locally led response and is partnering primarily with Civil-Society Organizations (CSOs), National NGOs, local authorities, and INGOs with a longstanding presence in the country and access to hard-to-reach areas. CARE Ukraine deliberately and strategically prioritizes partnerships with local and national Women-Led and Women’s Rights organizations (WLOs/ WROs), who are at the forefront of the response, in order to strengthen their voice and leadership in the overall humanitarian response and decision making. By January 2023, CARE Ukraine has established partnerships with fourteen local/national organizations (including six WLOs/WROs). As a result of these partnerships, over 600,000 people have been reached across Ukraine, including in areas along the line of contact. CARE Ukraine has four established offices in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Odessa and is currently in the process of opening additional field antennas.

Role Objective:

The Safeguarding and GEDI (Gender, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion) Coordinator will report to the HR Manager in CARE Ukraine. The post will provide oversight of Preventing Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse and Child Abuse (PSHEA-CA) work across CARE’s programming, as well as for Country Office staff. In addition, the post will also coordinate CARE Ukraine’s work on GEDI, working with the HR Team and across the organization to embed GEDI into HR processes, to improve organizational culture and practices, and to build capability and awareness in these areas amongst staff and leadership. The position will also support and shape CARE Ukraine’s contribution and role towards CARE’s Vision 2030 agenda in the areas of GEDI.

Role Responsibilities:

Safeguarding and PSHEA-CA prevention and response

• Raising awareness with staff on the CI Safeguarding: PSHEA-CA Policy commitments, conduct sessions and training.
• Ensuring ‘Safeguarding Risk Analysis’ is conducted in all Ukraine project areas, including safeguarding assessments and analysis and programme risk assessments;
• Knowledge management, ensuring all communication channels, CARE Shares etc. are updated with relevant Safeguarding materials, and updating the sit rep with Safeguarding information;
• Convening regular meetings and information-sharing sessions with Safeguarding Focal Points from CARE members (CARE France, CARE Germany, CARE USA, CARE Austria, CARE Caucasus and others) as required;

Integration of Safeguarding into programming processes

• Advising and undertaking due diligence of partners, including creating tools and resources to support this where required;
• Strengthening capacity of partners in Safeguarding, Safer Programming, and PSHEA-CA;
• Preparing risk assessments for projects and programmes, working together with programme staff and partners to identify safeguarding risks and mitigations, and managing known risks;
• Advising on safeguarding in project proposals and in programme budgets;
• Ensuring that child safeguarding is integrated within programmes, with specific needs, risk, and risk mitigation identified as required; this is part of the Policy – children, vulnerable adults, people we serve, not sure if we have to single children out.
• Creating awareness-raising IEC materials, and supporting staff and partners to socialise and distribute these, including information on expected behaviours from CARE staff and partners, as well as programme participants;
• Leading on the creation and delivery of safeguarding training package for volunteers and partners.

Ensuring joint PSHEA-CA approaches

• Together with the MEAL Team, ensuring that feedback and accountability mechanisms are safe and accessible for all persons including children and other at-risk groups, and are designed in collaboration with programme participants;
• Ensuring that referral pathways for survivors are mapped and functional in Ukraine;
• Ensuring that recruitment and HR practices are planned and undertaken according to CARE’s expected safer recruitment practices;
• Working with CARE Lead Member safeguarding focal points to support the establishment of investigations capacity for the Ukraine response, where necessary;
• Close collaboration and coordination with Gender in Emergencies and Protection staff on embedding Safeguarding into CARE Ukraine’s programming.

GEDI Mainstreaming

• Leading on the development, implementation and monitoring of GEDI within CARE Ukraine’s strategy;
• Integrating GEDI into all aspects of people management, enabling CARE Ukraine to better attract, reward, retain, develop and promote diverse talent, at all levels in the organization;
• Acting as a Wellbeing Focal point for CARE Ukraine, ensuring that organisational policies and processes prioritise the emotional and physical well-being of staff, including through a flexible and supportive work environment.
• Reviewing policies and procedures to ensure compliance with CARE Ukraine’s strategy, improving standards of policy, practice, and reporting where necessary;
• Providing technical advice to teams on the implementation of the CARE International Gender Equality and Inclusion Policy, including mainstreaming of GEDI in CARE Ukraine policies and procedures;
• Providing information on CARE policies and commitments for donor submissions, partnerships, or other requirements;
• Assessing the organisational culture and behaviours through the lens of GEDI, including coordinating periodic GEDI Audits;
• Leading on the design and implementation of GEDI metrics, using these metrics to support the development of GEDI organisational objectives, as well as to facilitate and inform reviews of implementation practices and effectiveness;
• Ensuring that learning from reviews of GEDI practices and effectiveness is embedded into policy, procedures and ways of working across the organisation.

GEDI Capacity-building

• Determining the GEDI capacity and training needs of different teams;
• Adapting CARE orientation and training plans and materials for CARE Ukraine staff needs and context, promoting active learning, upskilling and embedding good practice in all areas of GEDI;
• Delivering GEDI orientations and training and workshops to CARE staff, following existing CARE materials;
• Building capability and awareness across the staff team, equipping them to role model and promote a commitment to inclusion and the behaviours to demonstrate this;

Networking and representation

• Representing CARE in external Safeguarding fora relevant to the Ukraine response, e.g. PSHEA Task force, CHS Communities of Practice etc.;
• Representing CARE in the Ukraine Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) group, as well as related working groups;
• Acting as the CARE Ukraine Safeguarding and GEDI focal points within the CARE confederation, including coordination with the CARE International Secretariat;
• Participating in the CARE International Gender Network (CIGN), and the CARE Germany PSHEA Working Group;
• Coordinating CARE Ukraine’s response to GEDI indicators in CARE’s biennial Gender Equality and Inclusion Policy self-assessment, and reporting to the CARE International Secretariat;
• Being a visible and inspiring GEDI champion and ambassador across CARE International and other external networks, groups, events and fora as appropriate;
• Creating and maintaining strong collaborative relationships with relevant external organisations whilst staying up to date with the latest thinking in the Safeguarding and GEDI arenas.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

The post holder should be able to demonstrate the following attributes:

• A University degree in a relevant field, or equivalent experience in a relevant field;
• Experience of establishing survivor-centred safeguarding practices in an emergency context, including humanitarian program experience;
• Experience of mainstreaming GEDI into organisational procedures, including demonstrated capacities in undertaking analysis to inform policy development in a complex or global organization;
• Proven knowledge of Safeguarding, Protection and Child Protection, and/or Preventing Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse and Child Abuse (PSHEA-CA), including survivor-centred approaches;
• Proven knowledge of contemporary GEDI principles, frameworks and approaches;
• Excellent knowledge of relevant policy and legal safeguarding frameworks (IHL, IRL, HRL) and of UN humanitarian coordination mechanisms (IASC);
• Excellent knowledge of diversity and inclusion legislation, including emerging good practice and trends in diversity and inclusion work;
• Ability to recognise safeguarding risks and identify mitigations in programmes;
• Proven knowledge and ability to manage Safeguarding investigations;
• Ability to coach staff and facilitate workshops;
• Ability to lead and to build strong relationships, managing complex and sometimes challenging conversations with internal and external stakeholders;
• Ability to lead, motivate and influence people and build staff capacities at all levels, including to become leaders for inclusion;
• Excellent communication, including presentation, both oral and written, research and analysis skills;
• Excellent written and spoken English and Ukrainian and/or Russian;
• Proven ability to produce high quality work at speed, across multiple contexts, and in partnership with others;
• Experience working in high-risk contexts, including where human trafficking is prevalent;
• Experience working in Ukraine, and knowledge of the Ukraine context;
• Strong interest and personal commitment to CARE’s values, including gender equality, safeguarding, and the empowerment of women and girls.

Accountability :

A commitment to CARE values and CARE’s integrity framework is critical to working with CARE. Any candidate offered a job with CARE will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability:

• Comply with CARE’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols.
• Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within the programming area.
• Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a CARE staff or partner.

Safeguarding:

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with CARE as a result of CARE activities must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury and any other harm. One of the ways that CARE shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates.

Gender Equality:

CARE is committed to meeting the standards of the CARE International Gender Policy (2019). Through this policy, CARE seeks to promote the equal realization of dignity and human rights for girls, women, boys and men in all diversities, and the elimination of poverty and injustice. Specifically, this policy seeks to improve the explicit incorporation of gender in programmatic and organizational practices.