Senior PSEA Assistant, Erbil

Context:

Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) by aid workers is a violation of human rights and IOM is committed to combat any kind of SEA by its staff related personnel and partners.

IOM’s zero tolerance policy not only applies to IOM staff but also extends to IOM third party contracted staff, suppliers, service providers and implementing partners. With over 16,000 staff and over 6,000 related personnel, operating in 450 Offices, and 165 countries throughout the world, the impact of SEA on victims and within IOM’s operating environments, and the reputational risk it poses for the Organization needs to be addressed and remains a key priority.

The protection against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), including the prevention of and response to SEA, continues to gain momentum not only within the United Nations (UN) and Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) common systems but also amongst governments, institutional partners, media and the general public.

Over the past decade, IOM has increasingly been seen as a strong player supporting the prevention and response to SEA and Sexual Harassment within the UN, IASC, and amongst the humanitarian community.

While significant progress has been made to prevent and respond to SEA within the Organization such as through the development of innovative PSEA trainings, the development of a misconduct platform to report SEA, and extensive interagency collaboration on PSEA, more needs to be done within country and at the programmatic level and the PSEA Officer will support these efforts.

In 2021, IOM developed its strategic approach toward the prevention of and response to SEA and sexual harassment focusing on five priority areas: 1) Leadership and Organizational Culture; 2) Institutional Accountability and Transparency; 3) Capacity-Development, Training, and Communication; 4) Quality and Accessible Victim Assistance; 5) Partnership and Coordination.

With more than 1,800 staff/related personnel and main offices in Baghdad, Erbil, and Basra and 16 suboffices in key locations, IOM uses a whole-of-government and whole-of-society-approach, leveraging partnerships at institutional and community levels to co-design strategies tailored to local needs and priorities. For its wide range of programmes and activities that aim to promote resilience, address migration drivers and enhance governance, IOM Iraq is committed to making its intervention safe and respectful for people of all genders and ages. Especially, PSEA has been at the centre of its protection mainstreaming approach with established Action Plan arching from prevention, response to partnership.

Under the overall guidance of the IOM Chief of Mission, the direct supervision of the Protection Coordinator (Mainstreaming), the incumbent will be responsible for supporting the management IOM Iraq’s prevention of and response to sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) activities as part of broader protection mainstreaming approach as well as initiatives to build respectful working environment. As the supporting staff member to the Protection Coordinator who is the technical PSEA Focal Point in Iraq, the successful candidate will need to implement PSEA activities in close coordination with internal and external stakeholders.

Core Functions / Responsibilities:

PSEA COORDINATION:

- Support the development of an operational PSEAH Action Plan for IOM Iraq, in line with IOM’s PSEA Strategy, the IASC’s PSEA Minimum Operating Standards (MOS), and the UNCT country level framework and work plan, through strategic workshops with IOM Heads of Divisions and other senior management at the country and programmatic levels;

- Support the inclusion of PSEA within IOM Country Office Strategy, programming, risk mitigation and management, planning, reporting, monitoring and evaluation and budgeting;

- In support of PSEAH Focal Point (Protection Coordinator), contribute to ensuring that IOM Iraq’s prevention, mitigation and response mechanisms are in line with IOM’s global PSEA Strategy;

- Support PSEAH Focal Point to ensure the mitigation of SEA risks are developed, embedded and strengthened within all IOM programming and within HR practices; and,

- At all possible opportunities (during relevant training, in staff and programme meetings, through newsletters, in email messages, etc) continually share key messages on PSEA, including mandatory reporting requirements within the country office and programming, in coordination with relevant colleagues.

PREVENTION:

- Support a Country-wide SEA risk assessment to identify locations and programmes with the highest SEA risk; ensure appropriate mitigation and response strategies within IOM programming and operations;

- Participate in the development of a training plan and coordinate the delivery and organization of PSEA trainings for IOM staff and related personnel, implementing partners , key institutional stakeholders;

- On a yearly basis, provide an update on the number of staff, non-staff trained, contractors, implementing partners, and service providers trained in the mission on PSEA, in an effort to track compliance and facilitate the management of training delivery and refresher courses, in coordination with HR. Support the registration of all participants (staff and non-staff) within the IOM system and the delivery of certificates;

- Support the development of a communication and awareness-raising strategies and tools to ensure appropriate PSEA messaging and knowledge on prohibited behaviours as well as how to report allegations of misconduct, including SEA within communities and amongst beneficiaries; ensure localization of SEA messaging; and,

- Map existing community engagement projects in [Organization] and work with project leads to insert PSEA messages and/or gather community input where appropriate.

- Support in conducting PSEA Capacity assessment of implementing partners and contribute to capacity development of partners.



RESPONSE:

- Participate and support the development of PSEA proposals and ensure the mainstreaming of PSEA within IOM programming; coordinate closely with institutional partners, governments, donors, and communities on PSEA needs and responses.

- Support the development and contribute to reporting on PSEA and communication to highlight IOM’s PSEA work within programming;

- Support the development and mapping of Country-specific interagency victim assistance pathways and/or existing IOM programmes to refer victims for assistance and other support services.

- Review and assess referrals for victim assistance in coordination with gender-based violence and/or protection colleagues and support the strengthening of victim services within country and/or programming;

- Support in communication with victims of SEA and sexual harassment at the request of PSEAH Focal Point (Protection Coordinator).

PROTECTION MAINSTREAMING:

- Assist in overall implementation of protection mainstreaming activities in accordance with the Mission’s Protection Mainstreaming Workplan

- Prepare and carry out training sessions on different themes under protection mainstreaming.

- Actively participate to training of trainers on subjects related to protection and seek to continuously develop capacity in a self-driven manner.

- Assist in identifying and monitoring gaps in protection mainstreaming and safe programming; suggest context-appropriate solutions to address gaps identified.

- Provide general assistance to develop and disseminate tools, materials, guidelines on protection and protection mainstreaming

- Translate key reference materials into local languages.

- Undertake duty travel as required; and,

- Perform any other duties as may be assigned.

Qualifications.

Education

• University degree in Law, International Relations, Psychology, Social Sciences, Development Studies and Planning or a related field from an accredited academic institution with four years of relevant professional experience; or,

• Completed High School degree from an accredited academic institution, with minimum 6 years of relevant professional experiences as above.

Experience

• Experience in the fields of sexual exploitation and abuse, protection, child protection, gender-based violence, accountability to affected populations (AAP), protection and gender mainstreaming and/or humanitarian affairs;

• Strong coordination experience within the UN system and amongst interagency partners, including governments, NGOs, and communities;

• Experience in developing and facilitating PSEA trainings, in particular capacity-building, and communication materials to promote behavior change;

• Experience undertaking PSEA risk assessments, in coordination with communities, partners, and UN and other key stakeholders;

• Demonstrated ability to work across a wide variety of sectors/teams on cross-cutting themes;

• Good written and oral communication skills, effective in representation and liaison with external partners;

• Experience in policy and proposal development and the creation of standard operating procedures and tools; and,

• Ability to organize work, work independently and prioritize work under pressure, coordinate multiple tasks, maintain attention to detail, and coordination with a variety of stakeholders.

Skills

• Knowledge and understanding of IOM’s institutional approach on PSEA and related strategies, policies, rules and regulations

• Knowledge of the UN system and architecture;

• Knowledge of mainstreaming best practices and partnership models to ensure coordination of the same across a diversified range of actors; and,

• Ability to work with and maintain strict confidentiality, when necessary.

Languages

• English and Arabic are required.

• Any other language is an advantage.