Child Protection Officer at International Rescue Committee

Duties and Responsibilities:

Program Planning, Development, and Implementation:

• Conduct and support situational assessments and data collection to inform integrated child protection, nutrition, and health programming in Hagadera/Kakuma.
• Contribute to the development and adaptation of child protection strategies, including structured post-discharge protocols, standard operating procedures, and referral pathways for high-risk infants and adolescents including adolescent mothers.
• Coordinate child protection referrals to appropriate child protection providers (governmental or NGOs) ensuring timely and safe access to services for at-risk children.
• Be positioned in health and nutrition centers to facilitate the safe identification and referral of children at risk, working collaboratively with frontline professionals.
• Strengthen the knowledge and skills of health, protection and nutrition professionals in key Child protection concepts, including risk identification, child safeguarding, referrals and psychosocial.
• Conduct joint awareness and learning sessions with health and nutrition professionals to promote shared understanding of child protection responsibilities.
• Identify caregivers for parenting support and deliver sessions to health and nutrition staff to improve their understanding of child development and supportive caregiving practices.
• Promote child participation by organizing regular consultations with girls and boys of different age groups and using their feedback to inform protection strategies and awareness content.
• Engage male and female caregivers through structured discussions to identify key protection concerns and collaborate on solutions.
• Conduct assessments on the relationship between child malnutrition, adolescent pregnancy, and increased risk of child labor, exploitation, and abuse, and work with stakeholders to design preventive responses, including linkages to MAMI support and adolescent-friendly SRHR services.
• Develop and disseminate awareness materials focused on key risks such as family separation, female genital mutilation (FGM), gum mutilation, and herbal intoxication, informed by community and child consultations.
• Lead and support community awareness activities, including norm-shifting dialogues, with active participation from local leaders, caregivers, and youth to address harmful practices and promote child safety.

Program Liaison, Coordination and Networking:

• Maintain effective communication and working relationships with relevant stakeholders including Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Department of Children’s Services, children, families, community leaders, health, nutrition staff, and implementing partners.
• Represent the CP focal point role in coordination forums and inter-agency meetings within the camp.
• Facilitate regular meetings with communities, children, and partners to coordinate child protection actions and promote shared responsibility.
• Collaborate with sectors including health, nutrition, education, protection, GBV, and livelihoods to integrate child protection into broader service delivery.
• Provide guidance and informal support to community-based actors involved in child protection promotion, including social workers and community volunteers.

Monitoring and Reporting:

• Ensure timely documentation and reporting of cases identified, services offered, referrals, consultations, training, and awareness activities.
• Monitor trends, feedback, and gaps from community consultations, especially from children, and incorporate them into programming and reporting.
• Prepare weekly, monthly, and quarterly updates and reports on child protection activities, community feedback, and inter-sector coordination outcomes.
• Support key recommendations on child friendly access to social services and access to justice for children.
• Document the challenges, emerging trends, innovations, best practices and success stories for learning and advocacy.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in social work, Child Development, Psychology, Public Health, or related field.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in child protection programming in humanitarian or development settings.
• Strong advocate for child rights
• Strong commitment to advocating for children’s protection and safeguarding
• Demonstrated experience integrating child protection with health and nutrition services.
• Knowledge and experience in adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) programming.
• Familiarity with harmful traditional practices within the areas of operation such as gum mutilation and herbal intoxication, and strategies to address them.
• Experience working with community-based CP mechanisms and positive parenting programs.
• Strong facilitation, coordination and training skills with diverse stakeholders including CHPs and health workers.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to engage children, caregivers, and community leaders.
• Proficiency in data collection, reporting, and use of feedback for program improvement.
• Knowledge and understanding of child protection case management systems and processes, broader protection (women empowerment, GBV and general protection) is an added advantage