Community liaisons officer

ADVERT:
Terms of Reference (ToR) of Community liaisons officer
Post Title: Community liaisons officer
Post Level: Officer
AGENCY: Ministry of Women, Family Affairs and Human Rights Development, UNDP Somalia
PROJECT NAME: Joint Programme on Women Peace and Security
Reporting To: Project Coordinator
Duration of the Contract: 11 Months
Background
For over the last three decenniums, Somalia has experienced raging civil war, rise in violent extremism and devastating humanitarian crisis, which led to the collapse of institutional and bureaucratic infrastructure and has greatly damaged social cohesion and unity. The country attained a level of stability while redeveloping its institutions, with the establishment of a new federal government in 2012 and after the indirect elections in 2016-2017, which, jointly with other milestones, led to the formulation of the National Reconciliation Framework (NRF). Somalia has established numerous infrastructures for peace (I4P) including institutions, mechanisms, resources, and skills that had to address the root cause of conflicts and support the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
Southwest state has seen numerous challenges in the face of the collapse of the government and had since been working to push through and continuously raise the standard of living of its constituency. Southwest state of Somalia has seen its share of atrocities perpetrated against the most vulnerable members of its community – the women and children as well as other groups of vulnerable individuals, such as cases of rape, attempted rape, sexual assaults, as well as other GBV and SGBV cases.
SOUTHWEST STATE OF SOMALIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN FAMILY AFFAIRS & HUMAN RIGHTS DEVELOPMENT
The UN Security Council resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325), unanimously adopted in October 2000, stressed the importance of the equal participation and full involvement of women in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security. In the years since, seven additional resolutions on women, peace and security (WPS) have been adopted. The Ministry of Women and Human Rights Development (MoWHRD) and the CSOs have taken several initiatives to operationalize the WPS agenda.
With the rise in the displaced persons population in southwest state as a result of the ongoing conflict between the terrorists groups in the region, mainly the Al-Shabab militia and the government, as well as the subsequent plans for a full-blown engagement of the military to eradicate the group in the region and state as a whole, is expected to lead to a rise in the number of IDPs and consequently the rise in street children and vulnerable groups whom include, the women, children and/or the disabled, who as a result of the displacement, lack of a reliable home security and the accessibility to water and livelihood had seen a rise in SGBV cases previously, and it is expected to proceed further with the planned operations on the terrorist groups. In the increase of GBV as well as SGBV, it was found that challenges in regard to reporting and due to the stigma that may follow, are not reported and the necessary care and services the victim could get are not fulfilled and there exist
Therefore, the Ministry together with its partners, saw fit to prepare and cater for the victims of such atrocities be it the IDPs or the host communities, and for those who find it difficult to come forward and provide support for them in the forms of counselling and other necessary services that are needed to aid in the recovery of the victims and later reintegration to the society, while addressing the stigma that may follow, these services shall be focused in the One Stop Centre to be established in Baidoa – who houses one of the largest if not the largest IDP settlement in the region/state.
With the lack of understanding of the new arrivals in the IDPs of the services available and the politics and complications that may ensue, the Ministry shall provide the victims and families with the backbone needed to seek services of great importance and seek redress if needed for the victims, it is expected that the psycho-social personnel would provide the necessary healing both physically and mentally in the One Stop Centre. As well as raising the awareness of the community of the availability of services in the One Stop centre and work towards affecting change towards the perception of SGBV and the stigma that usually follows. The One Stop Centre being the focal point for the positions.
Job Description
Community liaisons are often the face of the establishment. They interact with community members on a daily basis, building relationships and trust through positive interactions. They may also be tasked with gathering information about specific concerns in their communities—such as protection and trends or safety issues—and reporting this information back to their supervisors.

 The community liaison officer will be responsible for all prevention and community outreach activities for the One Stop Centre. S/he Will work to increase communities understanding of GBV, engage men, women, boys and girls in developing strategies to prevent violence and reduce stigma for survivors, as well as encourage service seeking behaviour.

Duties and Responsibilities:
Community liaison officers have a wide range of responsibilities, which can include:
Outreach and Mobilization: o Providing assistance to victims of domestic abuse, including helping them find shelters and other resources. Disseminate information about the available services for survivors of GBV
o Development of communication materials and advocacy strategies as part of the broader prevention strategies.
o Identify and refer vulnerable women and girls to access services and support from the One Stop Centre
o Carry out community sensitization, awareness raising and education activities in the IDP camps, and other locations in the host communities.
o Provide referrals to vulnerable women, girls, and especially GBV survivors to access services available in the community and at the safe spaces.
o Conduct outreach activities to encourage women and girls to seek GBV services.
o Establish regular coordination and liaison with community leaders, NGOs, service providers and local organizations
o Pursue and develop effective working relationship with local community organisations and resources that work towards the establishments’ goals in the host community and IDP
o Making presentations to schools and community groups about crime prevention, effects of GBV and SGBV, services provided and who to contact, as well as other topics related to the establishments mission.
o Provide administrative support to the One Stop Centre, including performing clerical duties such as filing reports, updating databases, and typing correspondence
o Promoting community involvement in awareness raising and outings in promoting and combating stigmatisation
o Performing other tasks as needed such as serving as a field monitor, undertaking safety audits in the surrounding community, and observing the impact of the initiative on the community.
o Maintaining records of crimes and other events relating to the establishment goals and within their jurisdiction, including taking notes as well as consulting/interviewing with members of the community.
o Providing public information about crime prevention techniques, such as home security awareness as well as reporting mechanisms in place
o Provide confidential support to individuals and groups within the community
Coordination and networking
o Actively participate in scheduled meetings such as Case Conferences and
SGBV inter-agency meetings.
o Identify new networks to work with to ensure wholesome support to the clients.
o Work in close collaboration with psycho-social worker to ensure ongoing needs of at-risk groups, women and girls are being met in the prevention related activities.
o Strengthen existing referral systems and networks of psychosocial service providers
o In collaboration with other partners, design psychosocial interventions within the IDPs and Host community focusing on the psychosocial needs of adults, youth and children.
o Assist in development of referral networks between partners implementing GBV and implementation of referral pathways.
Competencies Core Values:
• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism
Functional Competencies:
• Knowledge in Women, Peace, and Security.
• Proven ability to advocate and provide policy, substantive and strategic advice in SGBV
• Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making;
• Excellent analytical and communication skills required;
• Strong knowledge of UN programme management systems and Government institutions.
Minimum Qualifications and Experience
o Education: community liaisons are required to have a bachelor’s degree in a field such as public relations, communications, social work or community development.
o Training & Experience: Previous social work and/or community engagement work experience or experience working with women and girls and communities on GBV issues; Community liaisons should have experience dealing with people, good communication and
observational skills, as well as have experience working long hours if needed and handling disputes, additional experience and training can be gotten during job, especially focusing on the context of the region. Community liaisons may also receive instruction on the organization’s policies and procedures.
Qualified persons with required skills qualification are invited to submit their cover letter and curriculum vitea with detailed work related referees through mowhrd.swss@gmail.com to be reached

Please note only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Deadline for the position is 10/02 / 2023.
Mowfahrd is an Equal Opportunity employer.