Protection Officer

Job Summary

The main purpose of the position is to identify the most vulnerable beneficiaries, including the people having experienced a Protection issue, for shelter rehabilitation and resettlement in a new shelter, and support them to safeguard their occupancy in these shelters. The role includes provision of Emergency Cash Assistance (ECA), facilitation of relations between refugee and host communities, awareness raising on Housing, Land and Property rights (HLP) and referral to appropriate services. The role will coordinate with the WASH/Shelter engineers to ensure full inclusion of the most vulnerable families in the project activities, promoting community cohesion, identify and facilitate resolution of issues. The officer will be responsible to adequately address the needs relating to tenure situation of the Syrian refugees living in residential and non-residential settings. In addition the officer will ensure beneficiaries in Concern’s programme area receive all services available that they are in need of and to identify needs of Syrian refugees which are not being addressed.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Identification and assessment of beneficiaries.
   1. Identification and assessment of the most vulnerable beneficiaries with specific needs within Concern’s area of intervention to be eligible for shelter rehabilitation.
   2. Support individuals or families who have experienced a Protection issue in moving to unoccupied shelters and getting to know the services available in their new neighbourhood
2. Co-ordination of shelter intervention
   1. Support the engineers in negotiating an acceptable rent with the landlords on behalf of the refugees
   2. Ensure all occupancy agreements including the BOQs are fully explained and understood by all stakeholders and the subsequent signatures are secured.
   3. Provide guidance to ensure that refugees and stakeholders understand their entitlements and agree to written tenure agreements

1. Safeguarding  household security of tenure
   1. Full monitoring of beneficiaries holding Occupancy Agreements secured by Concern at a minimum of 1,3,6 and 9 months after the start of the agreement
   2. Preparation of contractual agreements documentation with adequate filing system.
   3. Secure tenure situations through dialogues with landowners and beneficiaries with the aims of supporting refugees to remain in their location for a set period of time following the signed agreement after the improvement of their housing conditions.
   4. Advocate for strengthening of Housing, Land and Property rights of refugees, when engaging with building owners, local authorities, and particularly the most vulnerable households (female-headed households, persons with chronic illness, the elderly and others)
   5. Resolve property disputes and evictions or property issues as they arise with relevant stakeholders and authorities.

1. Provision of Emergency Cash Assistance (ECA)
   1. Identification or follow up with individual or families in need of ECA, following ECA SOPs through coordination with UNHCR and other protection agencies
   2. Preparation of the all the paper work for approval of ECA
   3. Facilitation of the provision of ECA in-site or in Concern office
   4. Follow up with the families after the service has been provided to identify additional needs

1. Referrals & Service Mapping
   1. Identification of beneficiaries requiring other services and full follow up of referral to other services.
   2. Identification of services and detail documentation of such services within Concern’s area of intervention as well as nationwide.
   3. Coordination with Concern Case Management team for identification of protection cases
   4. Co-ordination with Protection and Shelter/WASH Programme Manager to fully develop service mapping and identification of gaps in services to be advocated for.

6. Reporting and Communication

             a. In coordination with the WASH/Shelter team, support Concern to meet its minimum quality and accountability requirements in emergencies

                                     b. Produce weekly/daily progress reports on ongoing works.

                                    c. Document and record all works fully including any investigations on owner-beneficiary disputes, referral issues etc;

                                    d.  Document and file in a confidential way the document related to ECA provision

                                    e.  Facilitate communication flows between refugee leaders, community focal points and Concern staff by providing timely informatio as required

                                  f. Co-ordination with other programme teams to ensure effective identification of beneficiaries and assistance to these beneficiaries.

1. Adhere to the standards of conduct outlines in the Programme Participant Protection Policy and Concern Code of Conduct, Child Safeguarding Policy and Anti-Trafficking Policy,  Concern Anti-fraud Policy.

   8.Support and promote the standards outlined in the Programme Participant Protection Policy and Concern Code of Conduct to their team, partner organisations and beneficiaries, and be committed to providing a safe working environment.

1. To contribute to the establishment of preventive measures to reduce the potential for abuse in Concern programme (as per P4 section 6)

1. Support Concern’s work in Lebanon by undertaking other tasks as appropriate and required

Skills, Qualifications, Experience and Attitude Required

• University Degree in law, construction, social sciences  or similar
• Experience in humanitarian organisation, especially in the Protection sector
• Proven experience with rental agreements is a strong advantage.
• Excellent communication skills in Arabic
• Good knowledge of spoken English is desirable
• Strong negotiation and mediation skills and ability to work independently
• Strong organizational skills and able to coordinate and manage a diverse array of activities and stakeholders
• Report writing skills and computer skills in word processing and spreadsheets
• Experience in conducting surveys, managing data and statistics is desirable
• Strong commitment to ensuring the protection of refugees
• Commitment to Concern equal opportunity and gender practices
• Commitment to humanitarian principles and values
• Strong sense of security management and willingness to follow security guidelines and regulations