Job Vacancy: Child Rights and Safeguarding Officer

July 3, 2021

Role Purpose

Plan International is a rights-based development and humanitarian organization working for better lives for all children. We are independent of government and have no political or religious affiliation. Our purpose is to strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We have been building powerful partnerships for children for more than 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries. Our global strategy has a specific focus on girls, as they are often the most marginalized and most often left behind. We have committed ourselves to the ambitious target of reaching 100 million girls over 5 years, to ensure they can learn, lead, decide and thrive. This is our contribution to reaching the sustainable development goals, and in particular the goals on gender equality. Our organization is transforming itself to meet this enormous challenge everywhere we work. We need bold, forward-thinking and innovative individuals to lead our country operations, driving change and delivering results that will allow us to reach our target of 100 million girls.

With approximately 38 years of experience in implementing its program, Plan International Kenya (PIK) mainly operates in 10 geographical areas; Nairobi, Machakos, Kajiado, Tharaka-Nithi, Siaya, Kwale, Kilifi, Homa Bay, Kisumu and Tana River.

Plan International Kenya Strategy statement

Plan International Kenya’s strategic goal in the next five years is to end teenage pregnancies and end gender-based violence against adolescent girls and young women. We aim to help create an enabling environment where girls and young women are safe, valued, equally cared for, and have equal opportunities. PIK will contribute to the global strategy by aiming to reach approximately 3 million girls and young women directly over the period of the strategy 2022-2026 and to reach additional beneficiaries through its interventions.

The role of the Child Rights, Safeguarding & Young People’s Officer, will be to coordinate and monitor the implementation of the Global Policy on Safeguarding Children and Young People, as well as the Policy on Preventing Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse (PSHEA). The position holder will be responsible for the design, implementation and monitoring of the annual priorities for Safeguarding and PSHEA for Plan Kenya, working in partnership with representatives from all Program Units, relevant Departments, and external stakeholders as needed. S/he must have proven experience in child & youth safeguarding and child protection programming, have expertise on engaging children and youth, and be well-versed with the community, county and national protection systems and mechanisms.

Accountabilities and Main Work Activities

Planning, strategy and policy (15%)

Coordinate the implementation of Plan International’s Global Policies on Safeguarding Children and Young People, and Preventing Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse (PSHEA) informed by the annual Safeguarding Self-Assessment exercise
Ensure Plan Kenya adopts a survivor-centered and rights-based approach in the prevention and response mechanisms established for all Safeguarding incidences
Facilitate strengthened integration of Safeguarding principles, procedures and practices in all programmatic and operational functions

Program and project design and influence (20%)

Promote the adherence to and integration of Safe Programming Principles in the implementation of projects
Engage Program and Project Implementation staff to ensure that there is use of harmonized strategies on engaging/involving and/or empowering children and young people, including providing platforms for their meaningful engagement with Plan and other external stakeholders
Engage with the Media Relations and Communications Team, as well as the Influencing and Advocacy Advisor in defining, establishing and sustaining Plan Kenya’s strategy and practice on engaging children and youth
Facilitate interaction and engagement with partners and external stakeholders on good Safeguarding practice; sharing our policy and practice where relevant, and exploring opportunities to link and/or strengthen our Safeguarding mechanisms with the available systems and services for protection of children and youth
Develop, consolidate and/or provide input to periodic reports on the implementation of Safeguarding/PSHEA
Identify and support on strengthening points of integration with other thematic areas
Lead on co-creating innovative safeguarding solutions together with children, girls, young women and youth as well as the communities and other partners
Working closely with implementing teams, lead/support on the identification and documentation of safeguarding best practices, safe guarding champions and stories of change
Working closely with implementing teams, lead on generating concepts and proposal development ideas to raise grants to scale up on safe guarding and its integration in programming
Coordinate with the M&E and knowledge management unit and ensure the compliance of indicators of safe programming
Lead on and/or support implementing teams on organizing learning forums on safeguarding among program participants at different levels – schools, community and county/national stakeholder forums
Keep informed of current legislation, statutory and other guidance and changes or updates with regards to safeguarding and PSHEA – including data protection and confidentiality – and cascade the information accordingly.

Working in Partnership and resource mobilization (10%)

Uphold the principles of Building Better Partnerships Approach, while ensuring Safeguarding principles are embedded in the assessment, on-boarding, and regular capacity building of partners
Contribute to strengthening good Safeguarding Practice among Plan Kenya’s implementing partners, specifically the community based organizations and the youth led organizations, including supporting their development/enhancing their own Safeguarding policies
Participate in networks and forums (civil society, NGOs, Government stakeholders, Academic Institutions, etc) on Safeguarding and PSHEA
Engage in providing input and relevant information to flagged business development opportunities
Support in reviewing of proposals with a child safeguarding lens to ensure safe programming principles are upheld

Capability building and People Management (15%)

Support staff orientation and capacity building on Safeguarding and PSHEA, as need be
Drive regular learning sessions on topics relating to Plan’s Safeguarding Standards, with an aim of improving the appreciation/understanding and uptake of key Safeguarding principles among staff in different functions
Identify training needs and conduct capacity building trainings, sensitization sessions and briefings for program participants (including children and young people), partners, and other external stakeholders
Support the coordination of the Safeguarding Focal Points
Develop and prepare materials for all Child Safeguarding related trainings including translations of IECs where need be
Develop child safe guarding messages for various groups of stakeholders and facilitate publication.
Provide technical guidance on child safeguarding to partners, volunteers, PIK representatives and other key stakeholders including consultants.

Financial Responsibility (10%)

Monitor program performance and budget utilization of the KCO/National Protection and Safeguarding Project(s), on a monthly basis and provide information on corrective measures as needed
Support the quarterly and annual planning and reporting processes of the KCO/National Protection and Safeguarding Project(s), to ensure budgets are well structured, managed and utilized against planned objectives

Risk Management (10%)

Support the development and review of Safeguarding risk assessments for project activities, project documents, program proposals and partnership documents for both development and emergency related implementation
Compile partners’ activity documents, analyze partners risk assessment result and support on identified gaps

Safeguarding Children and Young People (Safeguarding) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) (20%)

Understands and puts into practice the responsibilities under Safeguarding and GEI policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), ensuring that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
Leads the orientation of program staff to ensure that they are properly inducted on and understands their role in upholding Plan International’s safeguarding and GEI policies;
Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Safeguarding Children and Young People and Gender Equality and Inclusion are fully embedded in project design, during implementation and as principles applied in day-to-day work of Program team;
Ensures that Plan Kenya contributes to Plan International’s global efforts to ensure safeguarding and GEI, including making sure that relevant reporting and data are submitted.
Act as the first or among the primary focal point or point of contact for any safeguarding/PSHEA concerns, providing timely, relevant support and advice in order to safeguard children, girls and young people.
Make timely referrals as needed, to support victims/survivors of safeguarding/PSHEA incidences. This may include psychosocial support, health care and legal support as appropriate

Technical Expertise, Skills and Knowledge

Qualifications/ experience essential:

A Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences or Development Studies
At least 3 years of relevant work experience in a child focused organization
Proven experience in child protection/safeguarding at all levels (community, county and national)
Good understanding of child protection systems in the country, with specific knowledge of case management and psychosocial support
A clear understanding of the strategies for engaging with children and young people in program activities and advocacy
Experience working with civil society and community based organizations, particularly in Kenya
Commitment to Plan values, with special attention paid to the adherence of Plan’s Global Policies on Safeguarding Children & Young People, and Prevention Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse (PSHEA)
Result oriented, good interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, coordination and networking
Ability to conduct trainings for varied audiences – adults, children, youth; Government representatives, CSO representatives

Qualifications/ experience desirable: