SHEA & SAFEGUARDING OFFICER

UKRAINE NATIONALS ONLY

12 Month Contract

ActionAid is a global federation working for a world free from poverty and injustice in 45 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia, and America. We want to see just, fair, and sustainable world, in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and oppression.

Our strategy is to build international momentum for social, economic, and environmental justice, driven by people living in poverty and exclusion. In practice, this means working closely with people living in poverty and exclusion, civil society organisations, social movements, and supporters.

Together, we deliver grassroots programmes, provide emergency relief and campaign for things such as women’s economic rights, tax justice and climate justice.

ActionAid’s Humanitarian Approach

Emergencies are a strategic priority for ActionAid. We believe that crisis and disaster-affected people have the right to assistance. Our emergency responses are guided by our Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) and Humanitarian Signature – our federation-wide, non-negotiable approach to humanitarian preparedness, response, and recovery which all humanitarian interventions must adhere to, and which is built around the pillars of:

• Aiming for all programmes to be women- and young-people led, supporting women, young people, their organisations and networks to have more influence at the national, regional and global level.
• Shifting the power from North to South, international to local, from a male dominated system to one where women, young people, their organisations, and networks play a central role.
• Working with communities and local organisations to hold agencies (e.g. national governments, donors and INGOs) accountable.
• Supporting community resilience to prepare for, mitigate, respond, recover, and build back better from crises. Interventions with a long-term perspective.

ActionAid’s response to Ukraine Crisis

Given the acute situation in Ukraine and its global impact, ActionAid has decided to immediately respond to the humanitarian crisis.

Building on ActionAid’s existing partnerships and alliances in countries bordering Ukraine, we are setting up a local partner-led humanitarian response focusing initially on refugees, strengthening women’s and young people’s leadership, and providing immediate humanitarian relief, psychosocial counselling support and prevention of gender-based violence. ActionAid Spain (Alianza) is the lead for this response, supported by the ActionAid International Humanitarian and Resilience Team (IHART) in line with ActionAid’s internal emergency classification policy.

Our response will include:

• Multi-sectoral assistance to Ukrainian refugees in neighboring host countries, including food, shelter, winterisation support, health, Non-Food Items (NFIs), livelihoods, rental support and/or water, sanitation, hygiene, both in-kind and via cash assistance; and language support.
• Multi-sectoral protection services for refugee women and girls affected by/at risk of SGBV and trafficking, including case management, protection counselling, psychosocial support, legal assistance, safe spaces, referral to specialized service providers and/or economic autonomy support.
• Multi-sectoral support to refugee girls, boys, and youth, including psychological first aid and psychosocial support; educational support, including educational kits and learning materials, provision of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) to support refugee families in meeting education-related costs, and/or learning support for out-of-school children and youth; and/or child and youth-friendly spaces and recreational activities.

Target groups will include refugee women and girls affected by/at risk of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), trafficking and sexual exploitation; refugee children and youth(girls and boys), elderly women and men, women and girls, and men and boys with disabilities.

Job Profile

The SHEA & Safeguarding Officer will be responsible for leading the AA emergency response in Ukraine in aligning its culture, systems, processes, and policies with those of the Global AAI safeguarding approach in order to ensure the highest standards of safeguarding are carried out. This will build off initial work done by the safeguarding consultant deployed to the response, who is tasked with setting up systems where ActionAid does not have a presence. They will work with others to ensure that all ActionAid staff and those we work with are aware of expectations regarding conduct and treat all people they come across in their working lives with respect and dignity.

• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will be the first point of contact for all AA and partner staff, volunteers, contractors, and community members who have SHEA and Safeguarding concerns and will work collaboratively with others to address these concerns upholding ActionAid’s feminist principles, in a confidential and survivor-centred way.
• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will provide strategic oversight for all aspects of safeguarding work across their response programme. They will work collaboratively with others including the global SHEA and Safeguarding Team to develop a response strategy and ensure all activities are in line with AAI’s SHEA and Safeguarding approach.
• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will deliver training and further awareness raising to staff and others, to ensure that all staff and representatives are aware of their responsibilities in line with ActionAid’s values, feminist leadership approach, and SHEA and Safeguarding approach.
• The role holder will be the main point of contact on SHEA and other safeguarding incidents with AAI, and with fellow SHEA & Safeguarding Officers in other countries.

Key Deliverables

1. Receiving disclosures of SHEA and Safeguarding concerns:

• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will receive concerns and complaints relating to SHEA and Safeguarding and work with others to address them in a sensitive and confidential manner throughout the response.
• Refer all concerns to the Global SHEA and Safeguarding Team within 24 hours
• Work with the Global Safeguarding Team and others to develop a SHEA and Safeguarding Stakeholder Panel which is tasked to receive and address all SHEA and Safeguarding concerns, and actively lead these meetings to ensure AAI’s SHEA and Safeguarding approach is upheld
• Develop complaints mechanisms internally using ActionAid guidelines, and support staffto develop external complaints mechanisms. Seek regular feedback on the use of these mechanisms and monitor their use to ensure they are fit for purpose.
• Work collaboratively with relevant internal and external stakeholders to develop complaint mechanisms, and ensure that all Safeguarding materials are translated and simplified in the local language.
• Create and facilitate safe spaces to enable staff and others to raise concerns, share ideas, and collaborate freely.
• Work with complainants and survivors to ensure they receive support, in line with AAI’s survivor centered approach (e.g. medical support, psycho-social support)
• Lead on ActionAid’s engagement with relevant inter-agency spaces for Safeguarding/PSEA/Child Safeguarding to ensure alignment with inter-agency approaches and to advocate for ActionAid’s approach.
• Support mapping and identification of referral mechanisms for PSEA/Child Safeguarding cases and ensure these mechanisms can respond quickly and appropriately in line with ActionAid’s policies and values.

2.Delivery on strategic priorities and policy work:

• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will support in contextualizing and implementing the AAI safeguarding policies. In doing so, they will:
• Conduct, Monitor, Update and Review the Safeguarding risk analysis and risk mitigation plan together with staff and partner teams (and with the Global SHEA and Safeguarding Team) in each of the response locations to form the basis of the Ukraine Response Safeguarding Plan, and to feed into the wider Ukraine Response Security Management Plan.
• Review and adapt policies and procedures provided by AAI as appropriate to ensure that they are relevant to the context in which the ActionAid responding country.
• Work collaboratively with the SEM, and the Global SHEA and Safeguarding Team to create a SHEA and Safeguarding strategy for their response country.
• Support the development, roll-out, and communication of safeguarding implementation plans (these will include reporting mechanisms, tools, training programmes etc.)
• Regularly monitor, review, and update local SHEA and Safeguarding policies and procedures and ensure they are effective in protecting people from potential or actual harm.
• Work closely with AA staff and with partners as appropriate to ensure consistent Safeguarding measures (e.g. creating accessible complaints mechanisms in communities, ensuring that appropriate vetting is carried out on all staff and other representatives) are implemented in all ActionAid programmes and activities.
• Ensure that all AA staff and partners raise community awareness of SHEA and Safeguarding policies and processes, especially when it comes to reporting safeguarding concerns (including complaints mechanisms)
• Carry out community visits, in refugee camps, and, where appropriate, make necessary recommendations for improvements.
• Assess current/potential ActionAid partners on Safeguarding, and lead on the implementation/ improvement of Safeguarding in partners in line with ActionAid’s partnership requirements for Safeguarding.
• Ensure that partnerships and links are developed and maintained with relevant internal and external stakeholders, external agencies, and government departments

3. Training and Inductions:

The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will establish a thorough plan of safeguarding training for AA staff and partner staff, and will work with HR to induct new staff, contractors, and volunteers by:

Ensuring that training programmes are in place to enable AA and its partners’ staff, volunteers, and contractors to fulfil their duties and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding

• Ensure continuous roll-out and monitoring of the SHEA & Safeguarding e-learning course.
• Ensuring that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities with respect to Safeguarding when it comes to interaction with people we work with and those who are especially at-risk; and is provided with the necessary information, training and support on safeguarding matters
• Supporting programme staff to ensure that partner organisations are also aware of our safeguarding standards and procedures
• Supporting AAI in induction of newly hired staff and ensure that the induction will include safeguarding related policies and expectations of all staff including the Code of Conduct
• Ensuring key documents are signed by staff and filed, and trainings are documented to monitoring of progress

4. Communication and Consultation:

• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will work with others to ensure confidentiality is maintained when addressing any SHEA or Safeguarding concerns and will share as appropriate on a ‘need to know’ basis in line with Safeguarding best practice.
• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will create and facilitate spaces for staff to discuss safeguarding policies and procedures
• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will be the main point of contact with the Global Safeguarding Team and will share case reports with them, work with them and update them as required in line with AAI policy.
• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will maintain their own confidential database of all safeguarding concerns, and their outcomes for relevant internal and external reporting purposes
• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will raise with the Global SHEA and Safeguarding Team and their SLT any barriers and risks they face in creating a positive working culture of safeguarding
• The SHEA and Safeguarding Officer will continuously review progress on safeguarding and report on measures to the Global SHEA and Safeguarding Team and their SEM as appropriate. The role holder will actively network with other Officers and 33participate in events run by the Global SHEA and Safeguarding Team (e.g. training, webinars).

Essential Requirements:

• Committed to preventing sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse in line with ActionAid’s feminist and survivor centred approach.
• At least 3 years of demonstrable experience in similar positions in national or international development cooperation organizations
• Excellent understanding of confidentiality and information sharing in relation to SHEA and Safeguarding concerns
• Non-judgmental attitude with excellent communication skills (particularly active listening) and an ability to empathize with others
• Ability to work with teams to make SHEA & Safeguarding IEC visible and accessible to staff and rights-holders
• Ability to lead with empathy while challenging others, with a strong appreciation of self-care.
• Willing and able to take continual guidance from the Global SHEA and Safeguarding Team
• Commitment to assume the post for a minimum of 1 year
• Commitment to engage with the Global SHEA and Safeguarding Team, participate in training, and share best practice across the Safeguarding network for the Ukraine response.
• Confident in influencing stakeholders at all levels and promoting SHEA and Safeguarding to those who challenge its purpose or value
• Experience and confidence in delivering training and facilitation
• Relevant previous experience (e.g. Safeguarding, Gender, Protection, HR)

Desirable:

• Experience of working in an emergency response situation

Location:

• The selected person will perform his/her duties in Ukraine.
• The selected person must make as many temporary transfers and trips as necessary within the response areas for the correct performance of their duties and tasks.

Conditions

• 12 months contract according to the organization salary scale and conditions
• Starting date: immediate hiring.