Adolescent Girls Assistant - Bekaa

Background/IRC Summary:  The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

Since November 2012, the IRC Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) program established five Women and Girls Community Centres and seven mobile teams in North Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley to respond to and prevent Gender Based Violence (GBV).  The WPE Program aims at increasing access of women and girls to psychosocial and case management services and enable communities to identify and mitigate safety and security risks faced by women and girls. All programming is implemented using survivor-centred approaches that prioritize confidentiality, dignity, safety, and respect.

Job Overview/Summary: Under the supervision of the WPE Sr Officer and with the technical support of the Adolescent Girls Officer, the Adolescent Girls Assistant will work as part of a Women’s Protection and Empowerment Rapid Response Team or Mobile Team alongside a Caseworker and a Community Mobilizer. She will be in charge of mobilizing and responding to the needs of adolescent girls in the communities identified by the teams, in order to mitigate their exposure to GBV and strengthen their positive coping skills.

Major Responsibilities: Risk mitigation & community mobilization

• Participate in assessment exercises to identify vulnerable communities that the RRT and Mobile Teams should target
• Participate in and lead safety assessments and community mapping exercises to ensure risks faced by adolescent girls are adequately captured
• Participate in and lead community-wide safety planning exercises to ensure involvement of adolescent girls and their caregivers
• Provide regular updates to WPE Sr Officer, WPE Manager and Adolescent Girls Officer on common threats and needs of adolescent girls to inform program design and advocacy initiatives
• Identify and train adolescent girls focal points in the community to enable them to support other girls in the community assess and respond to common risks and threats
• Use agreed-upon reporting formats to ensure risk mitigation activities and their findings are well documented and utilized for program adaptation, advocacy and referrals

Psychosocial support & life-skills development              

• Mobilize adolescent girls in target locations to participate in psychosocial activities provided by the IRC, including emotional support groups, skills-building, non-formal education and recreational activities
• Facilitate life-skills activities targeting adolescent girls based on the IRC’s curriculum My Safety, My Wellbeing
• Co-facilitate parenting skills curriculum with male and female caregivers
• Collaborate to caseworkers and other WPE team members to ensure GBV responses are taking into account specific needs and vulnerabilities of adolescent girls and youth-friendly communication techniques are used
• Support logistic implementation of the activities, including by raising purchase requests, handling petty cash according to IRC’s policies, contributing to regular spending plans
• Use agreed-upon monitoring and evaluation tools to track adolescent girls’ participation in activities and collect their feedback

Key Working Relationships:

Who this position reports to: WPE Sr Officer

Who this position supervises: None

Who this position works with: Adolescent Girls Officer, Community Mobilizer, Caseworkers

Job Requirements: The requirements should establish a baseline (minimum) for educational background, previous work experience, professional knowledge or certification, specific skills and strengths and any other skill necessary to perform the essential functions of the job. 

• Minimum six months professional experience in community-based Protection or GBV programming, preferably in an emergency context
• Clear understanding of gender, human rights, and issues surrounding violence against women and girls
• Demonstrated experience working with adolescent girls, including facilitating trainings and/or activities targeting adolescent girls
• Experience training or coaching other staff within the organization or in a partner organization
• Fluent in Arabic; working knowledge of English an asset
• Positive and professional attitude, including ability to work well in a team setting
• Strong ability to organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail.
• Good computer skills including MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Working Environment:  The position will be based in Bekaa with daily travel to program locations. Security clearance will be obtained on a daily basis.