Senior Social Protection Programme Officer

Technical Manager’s Title

Number of Technical Reports

Number of Direct Reports

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation, with a network of 192-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.”  The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises. 

The IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality. 

The IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organised into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalisation; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services.

The IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas.  The IFRC also has country cluster delegation and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

The Senior Social Protection (SP) Programme Officer will work in Danish Red Cross Nepal country office based in Kathmandu. Danish Red Cross has a longstanding partnership with the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) having worked closely with them for several years, during the April 2015 earthquake response and recovery, as well as in the delivery of disaster risk reduction, health and community preparedness programmes. This role is based in country with regular field visits to programme areas. It will specifically focus on the ECHO-funded project “Strengthening Ownership and Governance in Disaster Risk Management together with the Government of Nepal, humanitarian stakeholders and the civil society (STRONG in DRM together) Bipad Jokhim Bywasthapan ma Sabaltaka lagi Sahakarya (Sabaltaka lagi Sahakarya)” implemented by NRCS in Bardiya, Kanchanpur and Kailali districts, led by Danish Red Cross, in partnership with Mercy Crops and Finish Red Cross.

The Senior SP Programme Officer will also collaborate with other members of Danish Red Cross Programme team and coordinate whenever required with the finance, administration and logistics team members.

The Senior SP Programme Officer will report to the ECHO Programme Manager. This position will closely coordinate with the counterparts for this project in the NRCS Disaster Management department.

The overall purpose of this position is to support NRCS HQ and field teams (staff and volunteers), as well as government personnel supported through the “Strengthening Ownership and Governance in Disaster Risk Management together with the Government of Nepal, humanitarian stakeholders and the civil society (STRONG in DRM together) Bipad Jokhim Bywasthapan ma Sabaltaka lagi Sahakarya (Sabaltaka lagi Sahakarya)” project, to identify possible adaptations of the Social Protection system (especially the Social Security Allowance scheme) to become shock responsive, that is to be able to act in anticipation of a disaster and to continue functioning during and after a disaster (business continuity); so it can deliver timely and relevant support to the affected populations. The Senior SP Programme Officer will also contribute to the quality of the implementation, capacity building and a process of learning and documentation of evidence and best practices. 

In addition, the Senior SP Programme Officer will support ad-hoc disaster operations – if occurring; to ensure the approaches s/he supports in the project overall can also be applied in such circumstances.

Finally, 5% of the time of the Senior SP Programme Officer is also allocated to supporting the DRC FbA Matrix.

Project responsibilities

• Build the capacity of and support the programme team and NRCS staff and volunteers to understand the Social Protection (SP) system and especially the Social Security Allowance scheme and explore options for shock responsive social protection (SRSP).
• Support the preparation and provision of technical orientations and trainings to NRCS staff and volunteers as well as other stakeholders at municipal, district, provincial and national level, on the potential of SRSP.
• Support mapping of most vulnerable exposed populations and reconciliation with information pertaining to the SP system coverage in the target areas.
• Support the preparation and conduction of several studies and lessons learned processes, contributing to the development of the SRSP mechanism.
• Support the preparation and conduction of desktop simulations and workshops at local level (with wards, municipalities, service providers) to identify design tweaks to improve the Vital Event Registration and Social Protection Management Information System (VERSP-MIS) and the Social Security Allowance (SSA) disbursement system to enable them to act in anticipation of disasters and become shock-responsive.
• Support the preparation and conduction of field simulations to test identified design tweaks.
• Support the development and conduction of advocacy activities from municipal to federal level to secure the necessary support for scalability of the Forecast-based Action (FbA) approach and synergies with SRSP.
• Support coordination with the Cash Coordination Group and Social Protection Task Team as well as the formation of a community of practice on FbA and SRSP.
• Support the mapping of technical needs to deliver the assigned project activities related to SRSP and coordinate with technical advisors and other team members for support.
• Contribute to the production of case studies, training materials and positions papers; and of reports to reflect SP/SRSP/Cash Transfer Programming (CTP) activities/initiatives/innovations; and to the development of information products and events related to SP/SRSP/CTP for national (and regional) level knowledge management, institutional learning and advocacy purposes.
• Support NRCS to disseminate and apply learning emerging from the project implementation on SP/SRSP/CTP within the RCRC Movement and the broader sector.
• Ensure Danish Red Cross Nepal delegation remains engaged and coordinated with national and international SP/SRSP/CTP initiatives related to Nepal.
• Coordinate with NRCS, IFRC and PNSs in SRSP/CTP-related activities especially where shared learning opportunities and standardisation of approaches are possible.
• Support the identification and development of partnerships with organisations leading in the field of SP/SRSP/CTP to enhance the Danish Red Cross Nepal delegation’s programming.
• Assist the ECHO Programme Manager to ensure the project implementation is in line with the programme/project documents, log-frame, budget and monthly, quarterly and annual plans.
• Ensure that programme activities operate within the policies and procedures of NRCS, Lead Agency, donor and comply with all relevant legislative and professional standards.
• Support NRCS in preparing budget forecast and provide the finance overview to ECHO Programme Manager.
• Support the monitoring of progress and quality of activities related to SRSP, including field visits to programme sites with NRCS counterparts and provide structured feedback in a way that can improve programmes’ progress, sustainability and impact.
• Follow up the submission of quality information on supported activities to contribute to narrative progress and monitoring reports, as per Lead Agency and donor requirements.
• Contribute to baseline and end-line assessments, final evaluations and final reports.
• Report progress to the ECHO Programme Manager against the indicators related to SRSP to provide relevant quality information to ECHO.
• Facilitate visits, internal/external missions/reviews, evaluations from partners, donors and consultants.
• Contribute to the development of programme promotion/communication materials in line with ECHO visibility plan by identifying and documenting, in relation with the Senor Documentation officer, potential lessons learned, good practices and impactful stories related to SP/SRSP/CTP.
• Ensure strategies and activities are integrated, mutually supportive and in-line with the overall NRCS and Danish Red Cross Nepal delegation’s strategies/policies/best practices.
• Document good practices, knowledge management, institutional learning and technical innovations and incorporate lessons learned in plans and project designs.
• Support the ECHO Programme Manager in the identification and formulation of project proposals, including preparation of project applications, budgets and support assessment missions.
• Link and demonstrate RCRC Movement’s core values, programming principles, strategic objectives, gender equity and equality in programming and behaviours.
• Support in the successful exit strategy and/or handover of sector-specific activities.

Partnership and Coordination

• Work with colleagues to ensure coherence and contribute to synergies across Danish Red Cross Nepal delegation’s programmes and coordinate and share learning across programmes.
• Provide technical guidance to NRCS on practices, quality standards and policies, government, humanitarian and RCRC Movement.
• Support NRCS in ensuring proper representation in formal and informal government/cluster/RCRC Network/sector coordination meetings, to ensure proper coordination and information sharing.
• Support NRCS and ECHO Programme Manager to coordinate and liaise with other NRCS departments, IFRC, relevant government agencies and other key stakeholders.
• Support NRCS in effective coordination and liaison with key stakeholders including authorities, local and international organisations and UN-agencies as relevant.
• Coordinate and liaise with relevant government agencies and partners in Nepal as assigned by the ECHO Programme Manager.
• Participate in meetings, seminars, workshop and other relevant events as requested by the Country Manager.

Capacity Building

• Support strengthening of capacities of NRCS staff and volunteers through regular interaction, mentoring, formal and informal (on-the-job) training and monitoring.
• Contribute to the development of NRCS monitoring and evaluation and data systems management capacity, procedures, tools, associated methodologies and key documents to ensure standardisation in evaluation and reporting practices.
• Provide support to NRCS with respect to planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of activities.
• Provide technical and capacity building support including supervision, training and mentoring of staff and/or programme beneficiaries, as applicable pending type of methodology (e.g. owner driven approach, or support to self-recovery), in planning, management and implementation of projects/programmes.
• Work directly with NRCS staff to enhance adherence to and implementation of the Core Humanitarian Standard, Red Cross Principles, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion best practice in disaster contexts.
• Where appropriate, support NRCS to facilitate focus group discussions and other community outreach systems to inform programme learning and implementation.
• Provide technical support to NRCS counterpart in development of the necessary technical training contents and materials for the formal and informal training of staff and volunteers of NRCS HQ, DC and communities.

Other Tasks

• Provide support to NRCS in the event of any disaster and subsequent response operations.
• Any other tasks specific to this position will be identified and agreed upon by the job holder and line-manager.
• 5% of the time of the Senior SP Programme Officer is allocated to supporting the DRC FbA Matrix.