Background:
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.
Purpose / Project Description:
Mercy Corps has been responding to the Ukraine emergency since February 2022. Mercy Corps response program focuses on multi-purpose cash intervention and other key sectors, particularly food security, livelihoods, NFIs, and protection. Mercy Corps is also supporting local NGOs and other civil society actors currently supporting displaced populations, as well as those in Ukraine sheltering in place. As Mercy Corps pursues its objectives in the region it will continue to assess the security situation in areas of potential operation, with an eye towards the logistics of possible programmatic interventions and positioning going forward.
At Mercy Corps, safeguarding is a holistic term encompassing our prevention and response to sexual exploitation and abuse of program participants, sexual harassment in the workplace, trafficking, and child safeguarding. We seek to ensure that all team members, program participants and partners are able to safely exercise their agency, access resources they need, and use and share their power safely in order to cope, adapt and thrive in their environments. Our safeguarding prevention efforts are embedded in an overall safe programming approach which includes coordination between our interventions to enhance safeguarding, protection mainstreaming, and accountability for affected populations. We strive to take proactive action to identify and mitigate risks of potential harm in service delivery, program design and implementation, and external factors, especially harm caused by our team members or anyone working on our behalf.
The Safeguarding and protection mainstreaming consultant will work closely with program teams to support the strategic management and oversight of partner’s safeguarding prevention, reporting and response systems across Poland, Moldova and Ukraine. The Consultant will coordinate and manage a process to assess safeguarding and protection mainstreaming risks within organizational structures, program implementation, and service delivery. They will design practical guidance to support efforts that will enable stronger systems and actions for safeguarding and protection mainstreaming and mitigate potential risks of harm caused by staff, programming and operational systems. The consultant will lead support to partners in assessing and identifying safeguarding and linked protection mainstreaming risks, take into account their specific operational program context, and reflect on the partners’ existing resourcing, knowledge, attitudes and current best practices to prevent, detect and appropriately respond to safeguarding and protection mainstreaming concerns. They will then support partners with developing and executing practical action plans to mitigate risks and support with awareness raising strategies with team members and partners and community sensitization.
Working in close coordination with the protection team, the consultancy is a collaboration with our partners to help them strengthen their procedures and practices and ensure all steps in the partnership program lifecycle integrate management and mitigation plans in accordance with Mercy Corps and donor standards around safeguarding and protection mainstreaming
Consultant Activities & Deliverables:The Consultant will:
Timeframe / Schedule:
4 months
The Consultant will report to:
Deputy Response Director
The Consultant will work closely with:
Regional and Global Safeguarding Team, Ukraine Response Protection Advisor, Program and Partnership teams, CARM, GESI, Security and Access team, HR, PAQ, Ethics and Risk
Required Experience & Skills:
5-10 years of experience in relevant technical field (required)Bachelor’s degree or equivalentAt least five years professional experience in development/humanitarian sector PSEA/ Safeguarding, Protection Mainstreaming, gender-based violence, including a deep understanding of s survivor-centered principles and approachesExperience in emergencies, fragile states or other complex, high-risk context preferredExcellent oral and written English skills; fluency in Russian and Ukrainian a plus Experience collaborating with local partnersExperience with programming providing cash assistance is a plusAbility to work in a fast-paced emergency response environment and adapt to the rapidly evolving context as necessaryExcellent listening, interpersonal, communication and networking skills in both remote and in-person contextsProficiency with MS Office software required (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.
Equal Employment Opportunity
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.