Ethiopia: Project Coordinator – Legal Specialist

Position Title: Project Coordinator – Legal Specialist

Reporting To: Program Manager

Duty Station: Shire Endaselassie, Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC), an international non-governmental organization (NGO), has been providing relief and development services in the Horn of Africa since 1997. DRC promotes and supports solutions to the problems faced by refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), and migrants. The organization has offices across the region, and has been operational in Ethiopia since 2009. With funding from bilateral and multilateral donors, DRC is currently implementing a range of activities across Ethiopia and Djibouti, including WASH and shelter provision, child and youth protection, response to gender based violence, awareness-raising of migration risks, protection monitoring of migration routes, and livelihoods support for returning migrants or those at-risk of migration.

DRC, as part of a consortium comprised of DRC and other NGO partners, is seeking an experienced Project Coordinator – Legal Specialist to be based in Shire Ensaselassie, Ethiopia to oversee the implementation of a suite of activities related to access to justice as part of a project funded by the European Commission’s Regional Development and Protection Programme in Ethiopia (RDPP). The project aims to create evidence-based, innovative and sustainable development and protection solutions for refugees and their host communities in Ethiopia, thereby discouraging risky irregular migration, and will be implemented in Hitsats, Mai Aini and Adi Harush refugee camps in the Northwestern Zone of Tigray Regional State.

POSITION’S OVERALL OBJECTIVES

Working under the direct management of the Shire-based Program Manager, the Project Coordinator – Legal Specialist will be responsible for providing technical leadership in the development of the project’s strategy, design and approach to implementation of all access to justice-related activities, ensuring they are well-informed and responsive, strictly adhere to best practices, and are cohesive across the areas of implementation. The Coordinator will be the direct supervisor of a small team of Project Officers and Assistants and will regularly collaborate with other program staff to ensure DRC's access to justice activities are responsive, relevant and effectively mainstreamed throughout the organization’s program in Tigray Regional State. Furthermore, the Coordinator will be required to provide regular support and guidance to project cycle management and new proposal development, and will work collaboratively with the Program Manager and Area Manager to monitor the overall operating context and to support DRC and the wider consortium by participating in and contributing to knowledge sharing and discussions related to access to justice, migration and protection issues.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

To achieve the objectives of the position, the Project Coordinator – Legal Specialist will perform and undertake the following tasks and responsibilities:

• In collaboration with the Shire-based Program Manager and Area Manager, lead the development and ongoing reviews of a detailed strategy and work plan for all access to justice activities, ensuring the guiding documents draw on international best practices and global research, lessons learned from the field-level and reflect implementation realities related to key migration and protection issues in the region.
• Provide ongoing technical guidance to the implementation teams in the area of access to justice and relevant legal frameworks.
• Design and conduct capacity building and training activities for relevant duty-bearers and other stakeholders, such as members of judiciary or law enforcement, who provide services for host communities and refugees in the subject areas of international protection standards for refugees, migrants, and other displaced persons.
• Forge relationships with appropriate legal aid providers to enable service expansion into refugee camps.
• Design and conduct awareness-raising campaigns on migration options and risks for Eritrean refugees and host communities in the Shire area.
• Design and promote gender-friendly awareness raising related to access to justice and customary rule of law for refugees and host communities.
• Lead the development of access to justice referral mechanisms for refugees and refugee host communities in the Shire area.
• Support the development and implementation of effective monitoring and evaluation tools and systems related to access to justice, including identification, design and implementation of needs assessments, profiling exercises and other research initiatives, which contribute to enhancing knowledge of access to justice issues relevant to the project.
• Oversee progress and coordination of the access to justice activities in collaboration with the Program Manager and implementing teams, ensuring project objectives are achieved while ensuring rigor and quality.
• Establish and maintain relationships with key stakeholders related to access to justice, migration and protection issues at the Shire, camp and local authority levels, including participation in relevant cluster and working group meetings and other coordination fora.
• Identify and advise on key risks related to the project’s access to justice activities and ensure effective reporting of such risks.
• Lead project reporting related to access to justice components, ensuring reports are completed to a high standard and in a timely manner.
• Travel frequently to the project sites to monitor and provide technical guidance.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced degree in a law or related field from a recognized institution.
• Minimum of 6 to 8 years’ experience working in international humanitarian or development aid, with significant experience implementing access to justice, migration and protection-related programming for an international NGO, UN agency or relevant government ministry.
• Experience implementing EU funded projects.
• Robust analytical and strategic planning skills, with a demonstrable track record of meeting or exceeding programme targets, while maintaining a high-level of technical quality.
• Excellent communications and interpersonal skills, including political awareness and understanding, and demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with host governments, partners, local organisations, and other stakeholders.
• Experience documenting and sharing lessons learned across a multi-location project, ensuring that knowledge is captured effectively to contributes to improved performance.
• Excellent verbal and written proficiency in English.

ADDITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Key for the position is a solid knowledge of the history, context and dynamics of the Eritrean refugee camps in the Northwestern zone of Tigray Regional State, as well as knowledge of international and national legal and policy frameworks such as the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, Valetta Action Plan, protocols associated with the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNCTOC), relevant articles of the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and Ethiopia’s 2015 Trafficking Proclamation.

In this position, you will also be expected to demonstrate DRC’s five core competencies:

• Striving for Excellence: Focusing on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.
• Collaborating: Involving relevant parties and encouraging feedback.
• Taking the Lead: Taking ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
• Communicating: Listening and speaking effectively and honestly.
• Demonstrating Integrity: Acting in line with DRC’s vision and values.

APPLICATION AND CV

Interested candidates who meet the required qualifications and experience are invited to submit updated CV and cover letter explaining their motivation and why they are suited for the post.

We only accept applications sent via our online-application form on www.drc.dk under Vacancies.

Please forward the application and CV, in English through the online application on www.drc.dk under vacancies no later than January 6, 2017.

If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please contact job@drc.dk

For general information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult www.drc.dk.

ONLY ETHIOPIAN NATIONALS WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS POST.