Safeguarding and Inclusion at East Africa Market Development Associates (EAMDA)

Core Responsibilities

Safeguarding & Inclusion Implementation and Coordination

• Support implementation of safeguarding and inclusion frameworks, policies, and SOPs in alignment with WEL guidance.
• Adapt and contextualise safeguarding and inclusion tools for EAMDA programme delivery.
• Serve as the primary liaison between EAMDA and WEL on safeguarding and inclusion matters.
• Ensure programme teams understand and apply agreed safeguarding, accessibility, and inclusion standards.
• Support onboarding of staff, consultants, mentors, and partners on safeguarding and inclusive conduct expectations.
• Ensure safeguarding and inclusion measures are operational in trainings, field visits, mentorship settings, events, transport arrangements, accommodation, and digital engagement platforms.

Prevention, Risk Assessment & Mitigation

• Conduct activity-level safeguarding and inclusion risk assessments in coordination with programme teams.
• Identify participation barriers related to gender, disability, displacement status, power dynamics, literacy, or other vulnerability factors.
• Recommend practical and enforceable mitigation measures and escalate systemic concerns to management and WEL where required.
• Support integration of disability inclusion approaches, including use of the Washington Group Short Set Questions for appropriate data disaggregation (in collaboration with MEL).
• Promote gender-transformative and inclusive methodologies, including approaches such as Gender Action Learning System (GALS), where relevant to programme activities.
• Ensure event planning and field delivery checklists incorporate safety, accessibility, and reporting visibility measures.

Reporting, Case Management & Response Coordination

• Manage and monitor EAMDA-level reporting channels, ensuring they are confidential, accessible, and low-barrier.
• Receive, document, and safely store safeguarding concerns in line with agreed protocols.
• Coordinate immediate safety measures where required and escalate cases to WEL in accordance with established procedures.
• Support referrals to appropriate services (medical, psychosocial, legal, protection, disability services), maintaining updated referral pathways.
• Ensure all actions follow survivor-centered principles, including safety, confidentiality, informed consent, respect, non-discrimination, and do-no-harm.

Inclusion Mainstreaming & Equitable Participation

• Support integration of gender, disability, and displacement inclusion considerations across programme design and delivery.
• Advise teams on reasonable accommodations, accessible venues, inclusive communication formats, and safe participation arrangements.
• Monitor participation trends using disaggregated data (sex, age, disability, refugee status, and other relevant markers).
• Identify and flag risks of exclusion, gatekeeping, elite capture, retaliation, or discriminatory practices within groups, SACCO engagements, or partner processes.
• Support development of practical guidance to ensure access to finance and programme benefits does not create exploitative or exclusionary pressure.

Training, Culture & Capacity Strengthening

• Deliver safeguarding and inclusion training sessions to staff, regional teams, mentors, consultants, and key partners.
• Reinforce expectations around respectful conduct, boundaries, accountability, and inclusive participation.
• Support managers with practical tools to identify early-warning signs of misconduct, boundary violations, or exclusion risks.
• Contribute to building a programme culture where safeguarding and inclusion are shared operational standards.

Partner & Vendor Safeguarding Support

• Support integration of safeguarding and inclusion requirements into procurement and contracting processes.
• Assist with due diligence checks for high-contact service providers.
• Support partner onboarding on safeguarding, inclusion, and reporting obligations.
• Monitor compliance and follow up on corrective actions in coordination with management and WEL.

Monitoring, Learning & Continuous Improvement

• Support tracking of safeguarding and inclusion indicators in collaboration with MEL and WEL.
• Monitor training coverage, reporting awareness, accessibility measures, and participation equity trends.
• Contribute to periodic safeguarding reviews and field audits.
• Document field-level learning and recommend operational improvements to strengthen safety and inclusion.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Gender Studies, Disability Studies, Psychology, Public Health, Law, Development Studies, or a related field (Master’s is an advantage).
• Minimum 4–6 years of relevant experience in safeguarding, protection, gender, disability inclusion, or related fields.
• Practical experience supporting implementation of safeguarding systems in community-based, livelihoods, youth, or development programmes.
• Demonstrated familiarity with:
• SEA/SH prevention and response principles
• Survivor-centered approaches
• Complaints and feedback mechanisms
• Disability inclusion frameworks and reasonable accommodation
• Washington Group Questions for disability data collection
• Gender-transformative methodologies such as GALS or similar participatory approaches
• Experience working collaboratively with external technical partners or safeguarding leads.
• Strong understanding of ethical information handling, confidentiality, and data protection practices.