GBV/Paralegal Officer at The Center for International Health, Education and Biosecurity (CIHEB)

 Job Summary:

The Gender Based Violence (GBV) Paralegal officer will be based at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) -GBV recovery centre with support to Lumumba Sub County Hospital and Ahero County Hospital GBV Units.  S/he will be the liaison between the community and the GBV units. Through collaboration with multiple stakeholders, the officer will strengthen post violence prevention and response services by creating awareness on GBV legal services, linking survivors to legal services, and offer legal aid & counselling services. In addition, s/he will train, mentor and coach health care workers on legal aspects of GBV and train survivors on self representation. The officer’s key role will be to ensure timely and better legal outcomes for all GBV survivors in court.

Roles and responsibilities:

• Collaborate with Kisumu County to develop annual work plan for GBV legal services as per county, donor and program priorities and objectives and support monthly implementation of activities within financial resource budget.
• Collaborate with different stakeholders to create advocacy and awareness on gender-based violence through community and facility-based activities to ensure timely identification, reporting of GBV cases and linkage to legal services.
• Work with the facility-level staff and relevant stakeholders such as law enforcement officers to support documentation of cases and collection of comprehensive evidence to support investigation of GBV & SGBV cases and ensure survivor access to justice.
•  Collaborate with stakeholders to facilitate legal representation of GBV survivors in courts.
• Train health care workers on Forensic Module Management in SGBV care and support in implementation and monitoring of the activity across health facilities.
• Coordinate collation and safe storage of forensic evidence with facility teams and work with the relevant GOK teams to pick the evidence for safe transportation to the government lab.
•  Support facilities to gather and arrange evidence and other legal documents for review and case preparation, including writing reports to help prepare for trials and having meetings with survivors to prepare for the cases.
• Empower survivors to be able to represent themselves in court through trial preparation meetings and self representation trainings.
• File exhibits, briefs, appeals, and other legal documents with the court or opposing counsel and support GBV survivors during trials by handling exhibits, taking notes, or reviewing trial transcripts to ensure at least 90% of all reported SGBV cases achieve timely justice outcome.
• Develop data and validate legal data collection tools and support in monitoring and evaluation of legal services program implementation, including case trackers, and prepare comprehensive and quality reports as required by county, program, and donor.  Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders to ensure quality, comprehensive, impactful, and sustainable   prevention, and post violence services within Kisumu County.
•  Sustain functionality of Gender Desks in police stations through continuous capacity building of   officers attached to the desks and participating in feedback meetings to ensure survivor-friendly services at the stations including access to P3 forms and prompt statement recording.
•  Represent the organization and significantly contribute to the discussions at the stakeholder’s forums including GBV TWG, highlighting legal gaps and required support to ensure a justice outcome for survivors.
• Support ownership and sustainability of GBV-legal activities within the government mainstream functions whilst ensuring that key actors, both internal and external, are aware of program successes.
•  Jointly plan and conduct quarterly activities reporting and performance, including data review meetings with key stakeholders to inform joint program strategies. Generate solutions to program gaps and make strategic remedial recommendations to program leadership.

Required Qualification

• Certification or associate degree in paralegal / criminology studies (bachelor’s degree is preferred)
• A minimum experience of two years in a paralegal role
• Investigative mind and strong research skills
• Experience in preparing legal reports.
• Time management skills and Organizational Skills
• Stakeholder Management skills
• Computer skills
• Communication Skills: Good speaking, writing and interpersonal skills are needed to write documents, speak with clients and others in the legal field, and present information to your attorney