Senior Officer Responsiveness & Accountability – Niamey

• Location: Niamey, Niger
• Vacancy No: N/A 
• Salary: N/A 
• Organization: IRC
• Gender: Both
• Deadline: N/A

Job Description

Context :

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to serious humanitarian crises around the world and helps victims survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC provides relief and assistance to improve the lives of refugees forced to flee war or disaster. Operating in more than 40 countries and 22 cities across the United States, we restore safety, dignity, and hope to millions of people far from home and suffering. IRC opens the way to better living conditions for these people.

The IRC’s vision for Niger is that individuals, households and communities are resilient, self-reliant and able to thrive in a constantly changing context.

IRC Niger is present in the regions of Tillabery, Agadez and Diffa with projects in the following areas: Protection (SGBV, Child Protection, monitoring of Protection and Integration of protection), Nutrition, Health, Food Security and Means Livelihoods, RRM Rapid Response Mechanism and Migration.

Position overview:

The Senior Responsiveness and Accountability Officer  is under the hierarchical responsibility of the Tillabéry Field Coordinator and will be responsible for ensuring that customer requests, feedback and complaints are collected, recorded and processed in a timely manner. He/she will ensure responsiveness to client perspectives in all phases of projects in compliance with IRC standards while ensuring good coordination with country office colleagues.

The Senior Officer  will be responsible for providing practical support in conducting assessments for the design and selection of feedback channels, preparing and implementing plans for proactive and reactive feedback channels and ensuring incorporating customer feedback into programs. He/she will be responsible for ensuring that IRC clients in Tillabéry are regularly consulted and informed of the feedback channels available and how their perspectives are taken into account.

Main responsibilities:

Planning and implementing feedback mechanisms 

• Support the Field Coordinator in Tillabéry in all aspects of the design, planning and implementation of the strategy and accountability mechanisms throughout the IRC program in  Tillabéry;
• Finalize and implement the Standard Operating Procedures established at the national level, after having adapted them in particular to the context of  Tillabéry;
• Develop/improve/provide feedback on core processes and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for feedback and complaint mechanisms for all Tillabery projects, with a view to streamlining processes in geographies where multiple programs of IRC work. This will include developing context-specific customer feedback channel plans (proactive and reactive) for each project, taking into account Do No Harm principles  ;
• Train and raise awareness of all IRC staff (program and support) on the functioning of the complaints and accountability mechanism  ;
• Support program teams in setting up complaints committees on intervention sites and ensuring their proper functioning  ;
• Develop feedback and complaint mechanisms for the IRC as a whole at the  Tillabéry level;
• Develop feedback and complaint mechanisms for the IRC that are specifically accessible to local partners and providers  ;
• Record requests, feedback and complaints in the feedback register and ensure their possible referencing according to the procedures established in the SOPs  ;
• Ensure that customers receive individual, confidential, accurate and timely responses to their feedback and complaints wherever possible  ;
• Ensure that mechanisms for responsiveness to client perspectives are gender-sensitive and child-friendly  ;
• Be the focal point on protection against sexual exploitation and abuse in  Tillabéry:

1. Participate in online training courses organized by IRC headquarters on safeguarding, sexual harassment, abuse and sexual exploitation and in capacity building sessions by the women’s protection and empowerment coordinator  ;
2. Update the map of services available for handling cases of sexual abuse and violence for the areas of IRC offices in the Tillabéry region, in collaboration with IRC staff and service providers in the area  ;
3. Based on the results of the service mapping, produce a one-page leaflet/leaflet with images reflecting the referral mechanism for each locality, and the type of services available to the survivor  ;
4. Develop a communications and client engagement strategy/plan for IRC on safeguarding principles and referencing mechanisms .

• Immediately inform the field coordinator in the event of a complaint affecting the IRC Way  ;
• Regularly review and update customer feedback channel plans based on the context and changes in the security situation in  Tillabery;
• Train all full-time Tillabéry staff and casual workers in the principles and practices of accountability to customers  ;
• Coordinate with coordinators of different programs and allocate adequate resources for accountability to beneficiaries in project budgets  ;
• Establish and manage the telephone line accessible to clients in Tillabéry, which can be valid for complaints and PSEA cases and which respects international standards for child protection and gender-based violence.

Using data for action

• Ensure that customer feedback data and its analysis are available to the Tillabery field coordinator and the management team in Niger, while taking into account customer confidentiality and protection  ;
• For PSEA cases, ensure that the mechanism put in place respects confidentiality and the guiding principles of GBV and that the data is not disclosed. Also ensure that customers are aware of the complaints mechanisms of the Headquarters Ethics Unit (ECU)
• Ensure that programs adopt and comply with accountability standards and tools at the design, start-up, implementation and closure stages  ;
• Ensure the compilation and visualization of data on responsiveness to customer perspectives on a monthly basis  ;
• Share this data to help the field coordinator, program coordinators and SMT make informed decisions, particularly in the context of project cycle meetings  ;
• Help programs assess performance against accountability commitments  ;
• Assist in producing and submitting high quality customer responsiveness reports within agreed deadlines, clearly demonstrating trends and key lessons learned  ;
• Lead the documentation and sharing of emerging CD knowledge and practices internally and externally with a broader audience of stakeholders  ;
• Participate in program coordination meetings in Tillabéry.

Update 

Qualifications

• B AC+3  in social sciences, development studies, statistics, project management or any other relevant discipline. A master’s degree in any relevant field is an added advantage  ;
• 3 years of proven and successful MEAL experience in an NGO – specific experience in managing client feedback will be an added advantage;
• Experience working on gender equality, child protection, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse  ;
• Experience as a trainer on gender concepts and the basics of psychosocial support and case management of gender-based violence would be an asset;
• Excellent French, Haussa, Djerma and local languages ​​of Tillabery;
• Experience working with communities  ;
• Experience in setting up feedback channels in Niger will be an additional asset;
• Excellent communication, presentation and interpersonal skills.
• Listening skills and empathy and humility to interact with IRC communities and clients  ;
• Very good writing skills  ;
• Good command of Word, Excel and PowerPoint  ;
• Willingness to travel to Filingué to field sites in difficult conditions  ;
• Willingness to work under pressure and stressful situations without minimal supervision and without compromising on deadlines or quality.

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