Accountability and Child Participation Senior Officer

The Opportunity – Accountability and Child Participation Senior Officer (For Nationals Only)

Post location: oPt Country Office – Ramallah

Contract Duration and Level of Effort: 6 months with possible extension

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Accountability and Child Participation Senior Officer will work to put the children and communities we serve at the centre of our work through supporting the country and area offices to integrate child-friendly, gender-sensitive, inclusive, accessible and appropriate accountability systems (including information sharing and Feedback and Reporting Mechanisms) and support child participation. The Accountability and Child Participation Senior Officer will work closely with the MEAL, Child Safeguarding, programme teams as well as the partnerships lead to support accountability to children and communities.

During responses, the Accountability and Child Participation Senior Officer may be expected to participate in the Accountability to Affected People/Communication & Community Engagement Working Group on behalf of Save the Children (if established) to advocate for child-sensitive accountability approaches in the wider response.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: MEAL Manager

Staff reporting to this post: None

Indirect: MEAL assistants/staff handling FRM

Budget Responsibilities: NA

Role Dimensions:

Context: Humanitarian and development

Scope: Country focus; sub-area focus

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Leadership and Strategy

• Champion accountability to children and communities and child participation, as well as child rights principles, within our work, and support all staff to understand their roles and responsibilities in this area.
• Support the development and implementation of the Country Office Accountability to Children and Communities Framework (based on what has put in place so far), which sets out a contextually-appropriate approach to information sharing, Feedback and Reporting Mechanism, and child participation (in line with the SCI Accountability to Children and Communities Procedure; SCI Child Rights Programming, Theory of Change and Programme Procedure; the Core Humanitarian Standard; the Nine Basic Requirements for Quality Child Participation; and MEAL in Emergencies System Quality Benchmarks), and support the implementation of the associated action plan.
• Champion the use of accountability data and child and community participation analysis to inform decision-making and improve programme quality.
• Support accurate reporting on the Program Key Performance Indicator on Accountability (KPI18).
• Represent Save the Children in AAP working groups.
• Together with the MEAL Manager, support proposal development processes, providing technical direction in both standalone accountability to communities programming and mainstreaming of accountability to communities across all awards/projects.

Accountability System and Child Participation

• Working closely with the MEAL Manager, to develop/maintain and manage an Accountability to Children and Communities Framework for the Country Office, which sets out a contextually-appropriate approach to information sharing, Feedback and Reporting Mechanism, and child participation (in line with the SCI Accountability to Children and Communities Procedure; SCI Child Rights Programming, Theory of Change and Programme Procedure; the Core Humanitarian Standard; the Nine Basic Requirements for Quality Child Participation; and MEAL in Emergencies System Quality Benchmarks).
• Support data collection on, and analysis of, of information needs, appropriate and trusted information sharing approaches, and inclusive and accessible feedback and reporting channels, based on primary and/or secondary data, led by the MEAL Manager.
• Ensure information about Save the Children and its partners as well as key programme outcomes and activities are shared with children and the wider community in appropriate, timely and accessible ways. This may involve developing information sharing materials such as posters, facilitating the development of “Frequently Asked Questions” documents, and helping programme implementation and child safeguarding teams to develop information sharing plans.
• Encourage, coordinate and support child and community participation processes across the programme cycle (including in needs analysis, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation), in close collaboration with programme and ACCM teams. This could involve coordinating/facilitating child-friendly discussions, adult focus group discussions, community meetings, child or community committees and other approaches.
• Support the development and roll-out of accessible and inclusive feedback and reporting channels, to enable Save the Children to receive feedback from children and adults. The channels will vary depending on context, but may include focus group discussions, surveys, helpdesks, hotlines, face-to-face feedback, social media, and other channels.
• Support the design, development and management of the Feedback Database.
• Ensure feedback is handled in line with the agreed Feedback Handling Standard Operating Procedure, and that feedback and responses are registered in Feedback Database. Quality assure the documentation of feedback (quality of data, categorisation, etc.).
• Refer feedback to the appropriate team, including rapid identification and referral of serious concerns such as those related to child safeguarding, unsafe programming, sexual exploitation and abuse, and fraud and corruption.
• Support processes to close the feedback loop; respond and communicate in a dignified and respectful manner with children and adults regarding their feedback, including informing them of what decisions have been made related to their feedback, and ensuring this is documented in the Feedback Database.
• Produce regular Accountability Reports that capture analysis from the FRM to inform decision making and relevant updates on Accountability processes.
• Work closely with the Safeguarding focal point to ensure safeguarding concerns received through the FRM are referred in a timely, appropriate and sensitive manner, as well as to ensure that any information sharing approaches are inclusive of safeguarding and PSEA key messages.

Programme Implementation

• Provide support to implementation teams to ensure accountability and child participation processes and activities are implemented with quality.
• Maintain close working relationship with implementation teams, MEAL and Accountability colleagues to understand challenges and successes at field level and design / plan support required.

Staff and Partner Capacity Building

• Support the identification of capacity building needs and provide capacity building support as required at field level, in CO and with partners through training, mentoring and coaching, together with the MEAL Manager/ Accountability Advisor.
• Contribute to a strong understanding of child rights principles, accountability to children and communities and child participation through inductions and training, together with other Accountability staff.
• Coach and supervise accountability/MEAL staff to support their capacity development if relevant.

Learning

• Contribute to the analysis and presentation of feedback data and data from participatory processes to help inform decision-making and improve programme quality (see also above on Accountability Reports).
• Support the documentation of context-specific good accountability and child participation practices and evidence (for example, how accountability processes have supported improved programme quality).
• If assigned as Accountability Focal Point: take part in Accountability Peer Network of the MENAEE region, to exchange learning with staff from other Country Offices and provide input for regional and global initiatives and resource.

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential

• Ability to engage in dialogue with people from diverse backgrounds and to advocate for attention to be paid to the voices of disadvantaged and marginalised groups.
• Creativity, curiosity and enthusiasm, and the ability to develop and test new ways of working and solutions to problems.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching.
• Ability to present complex information in a succinct and compelling manner.
• Passionate, self-directed and the ability to manage multiple competing demands and commitments, and to work flexibly in a team.
• Fluency in Save the Children working language and local language (verbal and written).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
• Ability and willingness to travel occasionally/regularly (adjust as required) to conduct visits to project locations.
• Ability and willingness to dramatically change work practices and hours temporarily, and work with incoming surge teams, in the event of emergencies.
• Commitment to the aims and principles of Save the Children. In particular, a good understanding of the Save the Children mandate and child rights, and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support.

Desirable:

• Experience in designing, managing, and supporting others to implement meaningful and ethical child participation in different stages of the programme and response cycle (needs analysis and assessment, design and planning, implementation, M&E and advocacy).
• Experience of working with children and/or with groups most affected by discrimination and inequality.
• Experience of supporting meaningful and ethical child and community participation.
• Experience in assessing information needs and communication preferences, and of designing appropriate information and communication approaches.
• Experience of establishing and/or managing Feedback and Reporting Mechanisms.
• Experience working for an NGO, civil society organisation or similar.
• Experience of qualitative data analysis and report writing.
• Proven ability in using data and analysis to influence programmatic change.

We offer a competitive package in the context of the sector**. This role is offered on the basis of** national terms and conditions. Application will be reviewed and selected on a rolling basis.

Save the Children promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment, women and people with different abilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Organisation

Save the Children works in development and humanitarian contexts with children and partners to help families, communities, and governments identify and use innovations to ensure all children survive, learn and are protected.

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.