Protection Assistant [Community-Based] at Danish Refugee Council (DRC) | June 2024

Founded in 1956, The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit organization providing direct assistance to conflict-affected populations – refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and host communities – in more than 40 countries around the world. DRC has been implementing emergency response projects in Tanzania since the onset of the Burundi refugee crisis in 2015 in three refugee camps in the Kigoma Region at the border with Burundi. DRC’s integrated projects for refugees, asylum seekers and host communities comprise sectors such as Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), Protection (CBP, PSN, GBV, CP and Legal), Shelter and infrastructure, and Economic Recovery.        

Overall purpose of the role:

The protection assistant [community-based] is responsible for the implementation of activities under one or more of the following sectors: community mobilization, support to leadership structures, community engagement, information management, help desk/mobile help desk.

Main Responsibilities:

• Set up the leadership structure at three levels (nyumbakumi, village leaders, zone leaders), follow up regularly on the performance of community leaders, and conduct regular meetings with Community Leaders at all levels.
• Support the leadership development by identifying needs, and gaps, and suggesting the best ways to address them.
• Conduct election and re-election of community leaders and provide orientation and training on the Code of Conduct and PSEA to newly elected leaders.
• Conduct regular monitoring visits to the zones, villages, and Nyumbakumi and oversee all activities done, providing support where necessary and possible.
• Hold regular meetings with leadership representatives and the community itself to gather feedback and the challenges they face.
• Prepare and lead the community leaders with partner meetings and make sure that the minutes and feedback are shared on time.
• Organize weekly Information dissemination campaigns to improve the communication between agencies and refugees in the camp, in particular: collect information from different agencies, prepare messages to be shared and monitor the information team of incentive workers to ensure that the information is disseminated efficiently and effectively across the camp.
• Assist in organizing different community engagement activities i.e. town hall meetings, FGD, etc.
• Collect and analyze the feedback of the refugees regarding humanitarian assistance, share reports/referrals to specific agencies and follow up on agencies’ responses and actions to ensure the feedback loop is closed.
• Work closely with partner agencies through coordination on the information/feedback needs to and from the refugee community.
• Set up the committees, make regular follow up, and organize different activities (site maintenance, men, women, and market committees).
• Monitor the attendance of the committee members in different activities/meetings and report immediately any gaps due to voluntary repatriation, shifting to other zones in the camp, etc., and organize re-election as needed.
• Support the committees to conduct regular “giving back to the community” sessions, awareness-raising sessions e.g. “violence-free homes”, and meetings in the community.
• Hold regular meetings with the committee members and committee representatives regarding their activities to gather feedback and challenges they face; identify capacity development needs for the committees and liaise with other DRC departments/partners to organize training.
• Receive individual concerns/complaints at the help desk (mobile or fixed) and take proper actions including verbal advice, writing referrals, and provision of accurate information.
• Report immediately to Protection Manager any sensitive complaint received through the different channels of the feedback mechanism.
• Follow the referral pathways between DRC and other humanitarian actors and make a follow-up on the issues raised to ensure feedback is provided on time.
• Maintain confidentiality and seek refugees’ consent before making referrals to other organizations.
• Ensure proper recording of complaints received and actions taken and provide timely and accurate data and information to the information management officer.
• Ensure all groups in the community including PSN, women at risk, and other vulnerable groups have safe and dignified access to the community-based feedback mechanism.
• Manage the incentive workers team, manage their attendance, and report any issues of concern to the Protection Team Leader [community-based]
• Ensure accurate documentation of activities and keep all documents in order and safely (e.g. distribution lists, attendance lists, etc.)
• Keep an updated database of names and addresses of all community leaders/members of committees
• Ensure that the peaceful coexistence committee is set up and functioning well.
• Prepare work plans and reports (weekly/monthly) on the activities and submit them timely to Protection Team Leader [community-based]
• Ensure full cooperation with other protection assistants and act on their behalf during their absence.
• Any other activities assigned by the Protection Team Leader [community-based]

Data collection and reporting

• With support from Information management officer track indicators, maintain, update and analyze data on activity and indicator
• With support from CBP Team leader, prepare and submit timely and quality weekly, monthly, quality and other donor reports as per the donor requirements. Accountable to meet reporting deadline.
• Support and working closely with Information Management officer and M&E on program data collection, track indicators, maintain, update and analyze data on CBP activity and indicator.

Experience and technical competencies: (include years of experience)

• 1-year work experience in a related field.
• Previous experience working with refugees – preferable.
• Previous experience working in international organizations – preferable.

Education:

• Diploma or Bachelor’s degree in Community Development, Social work, psychology, political science, development, law, or other related fields.

Languages:

• Excellent proficiency in written and spoken English and Swahili

Key stakeholders: (internal and external)

• DRC Protection staff, refugees and donors
• Local Government (refugee camp) and host Community representatives.
• Community groups.
• Other NGOs and relief actors.
• MoHA, police, immigration

Information

Employment category: Band I

Reporting to: CBP Team Leader

Technical Line Manager: Protection Coordinator

Direct report:N/A

Unit/department: Protection

Location: Makere/Nyarugusu

Key stakeholders: (internal and external)

• Donor, coordination bodies
• Partners
• Government Bodies (Central and Local)
• Beneficiaries in host communities
• Staff

All DRC roles require the post-holder to master DRC’s core competencies:  

• Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.
• Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.
• Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
• Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.
• Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with our vision and values.

Providing equal opportunities  We are committed to creating an inclusive and positive work environment based on mutual respect for all employees. All applicants are considered for employment without attention to race, age, ability, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other factor. At DRC we celebrate diversity and appreciate our employees for the people they are and their unique skills, backgrounds, and perspectives. We encourage all interested candidates to apply.

DRC strives to attract, motivate and retain qualified national staff within its programs. As such, we strongly encourage national and diaspora candidates to apply for this position. However, candidates should take into consideration that DRC cannot employ, under an international contract, a national of the country in which he or she will be working (in this case, the  United Republic of Tanzania)

Promoting high standards : DRC’s capacity to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees, IDP’s and other persons of concern depends on the ability of our staff to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. DRC conducts thorough and comprehensive background checks as part of the recruitment process.

Application and CV

Only motivated applications that address the stipulated duties and meet the required qualifications, sent together with a CV, will be considered.

DRC only accepts applications sent via our online-application form on www.drc.ngo under JOB.