Protection Coordinator West and Central Africa

The Protection Coordinator (PC) is to lead timely and appropriate response to human rights
defenders at risk in Western and Central Africa, ensuring holistic and effective protection
support is provided. The PC is responsible for maintaining and developing Front Line
Defenders’ contacts and relationships with human rights defenders in the region, providing
rapid response to cases of human rights defenders at immediate risk, identifying research
priorities on the threats and attacks that they face, providing analysis and producing relevant
materials to take action in their support, and inputting into all other programmes and activities
specific to the countries assigned.

The PC works closely with and alongside the other Protection Coordinators and Protection
Officers, and other teams members for the work in the region where relevant. The PCs for
the region together coordinate the development and implementation of strategies that are
relevant to their regions.

Responsibilities:

Protection Programming:

• Connect with human rights defenders at risk, while applying intersectional lens, and establish and sustain secure communications with them;
• Provide rapid response to cases of human rights defenders at risk, including but not limited to through the urgent appeal system;
• Strengthen capacity of human rights defenders in the region to respond to and manage security risks, and to build mitigation plans in coordination with other teams (advocacy, digital, security, visibility, well-being, rest and respite, relocation and grant-making);
• Maintain and update the relevant information on human rights defenders and action taken on their behalf in Front Line Defenders’ database and submit timely reports on missions, meetings and other activities;
• Support grants team on applications, including support in verification of the grants, follow up, and ongoing collaboration with the regional grants coordinator;
• Liaising and coordinating with relevant human rights organisations for referral of cases and/or collaboration on protection work;
• Provide practical individual support to HRDs and active solidarity with HRDs;
• Occasional security assessments and rapid training to HRDs.

Strategic Leadership:

• Provide expert input to Front Line Defenders’ advocacy, visibility, capacity

  building and protection grants programmes;

• Support on activities and strategies to ensure outreach to women and non-binary human rights defenders and overall gendered analysis of their experiences as defenders;

• Advise on overall strategic direction in the region as relevant to human rights defenders and their movements;

• Advise on the design of collaborative and inclusive interventions in order to increase organisational support to defenders from a range of less visible and less connected groups;

• Provide advice on security and safety in the region, including for any planned FLD missions within the region.

Research and Advocacy:

• Identify, undertake or collaborate on research on a range of protection related issues and gap areas;
• Provide analysis and briefing papers on the threats faced by human rights defenders in specific countries.

External Representation:

• Develop contacts and liaise with relevant regional and other organisations with regard to Front Line Defenders’ work for the protection of human rights defenders in the region;
• Represent Front Line Defenders and engage with the relevant authorities, international organizations, donors, embassies and the media as appropriate, and in accordance with each PC’s individual security plan.
• Internal Collaboration and Communications:
• Close daily collaboration and workload prioritization with the regional team (staff working on Sub-Saharan Africa from different FLD teams);
• Lead and coordinate overall annual planning of activities in the region;
• Provide input on proposals for funding;
• Collaboration with the Visibility team for opportunities to bring visibility to HRDs in West and Central Africa;
• Regular communication with the Advocacy office in and US Representative for specific advocacy;
• Expert language support for implementation of FLD relevant programmes to HRDs.

See full job description: https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/sites/default/files/wcaprotectioncoor…