District Project Officer – Operational support for CSSP2 implementation and Coordination

Job Description

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, HirShabelle State of Somalia
TERMS OF REFERENCE

District Project Officer – Operational support for CSSP2 implementation and Coordination

Background

The Child Sensitive Social Protection Programme (CSSP) is an unconditional cash-based social transfer program that targets pregnant and lactating women (PLW) with children under one-year-old. The programme is funded through transitional development aid funding by the German Government (Ministry of Economic Cooperation BMZ) through KfW and is being implemented by UNICEF in partnership with the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) through the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA). The CSSP programme builds upon UNICEF’s social protection experience both within and outside of Somalia to ensure the greatest impact on the future well-being of children. The programme aims to improve the ability of families to cover the bare minimum requirements of basic food and water for survival and to enhance access to essential social services, such as health and nutrition services and birth registration. These objectives are to be achieved through a monetary transfer during a crucial stage of child development – within the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. Through its ‘cash plus’ element, the programme will also contribute to improving the ability of households to maintain their livelihoods and meet the basic expenditure for health and protection through strengthened linkages between cash transfer programmes and key services.

The second phase of the CSSP will be implemented in one district each in two Federal Member States: Hirshabelle and Jubbaland. In parallel with the first phase, the design of CSSP Phase II is aligned to the national social protection program Baxnaano with a planned integration as a second categorical window of Baxnaano. The three components of the CSSP programme that will contribute to this objective are:

1. Component 1: Social Cash Transfers to Pregnant/Lactating Women and Young Children (1,000 days) to be implemented using the government social protection delivery system and led on the ground by implementing partners through a partnership agreement with UNICEF and close collaboration with the Somali Government at federal, state and district levels.

2. Component 2: Improved Access to Nutrition and Health Information and Services via Cash Plus- to be led by UNICEF Social Policy in collaboration with the health, nutrition, and child protection sections.

3. Component 3: Strengthening Government Capacity and Ownership of Social Protection in Somalia- to be led by UNICEF Social Policy in collaboration with the Government at the federal, state and district levels.

Job Summary

At the district level, the Project Officer will serve as the focal person for the Government supporting the coordination, operations, implementation, and generation of evidence on the Child Sensitive Social Protection Programme (CSSP). The Project Officer must be based in the district as the role is expected to directly contribute to and improve the coordination of CSSP and related activities at the district level.

Objectives and scope of work

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Director of the District Social Affairs Department (SAD), and in close collaboration and consultation with the State CSSP Focal person and UNICEF, the District Project Officer will provide operational support to the implementation of CSSP activities to ensure the effective delivery of CSSP within each district. The incumbent will also be responsible for the building and reinforcing of good relations with district governments and community leaders. Specifically, the incumbent will be responsible for the following:

1.Operational support to the day-to-day management and implementation of CSSP programme operations. This includes:

§ Ensuring high-quality implementation of all programme processes; particularly beneficiary awareness of the programme details and continuous community sensitization, change management, linkages with other services and addressing grievance and complaints.

§ Actively engage with local health, nutrition, and birth registration services, including familiarity with CHW, MCH staff, and health clinics across the district to promote and deliver the linkages component of the CSSP programme.

§ Support the shock-responsive component of the CSSP programme including monitoring shocks that could impact the district. This would be done collaboratively with the District Social Protection Officer and in consultation with the FMS, implementing partners and UNICEF, and planning the shock response and its efficient delivery, in line with the available resources.

§ Support CSSP programme communications – including programme visibility, sensitization, and advocacy. Providing input to ensure that IEC, advocacy, and communication materials are culturally and contextually appropriate.

§ Identify any immediate or future challenges that the programme may face in the district, immediately informing MoLSA, UNICEF and SCC and actively engaging in any mitigating measures.

§ Support and/or monitor relevant third-party service providers within the district that are delivering services on behalf of the CSSP programme, ensuring that they perform to a high standard in line with their contracts.

§ Ensure that the CSSP implementation promotes gender equality and women empowerment and is delivered in a disability-inclusive, child-sensitive manner; facilitating equity across different clans, and ethnic groups, and ensuring the dignity of all recipients.

§ Ensure that the Senior Management Teams (FMS and UNICEF) are kept well-informed on the progress of the programme and can make well-informed, timely decisions on operational delivery, when required.

2. Stakeholder management, coordination, and liaison

§ Engage mother-to-mother groups and other community groups to ensure awareness about the CSSP programme; the programme details, processes, duration and GRM/Complaints and available Feedback mechanisms.

§ Build good relations with the district authorities so that they are aware about the progress with the CSSP programme and fully support its activities and decisions, gaining the agreement of the district authorities – when appropriate – on key decisions.

§ Build and reinforce good relations with community leaders across the district, so that they give positive support to the CSSP within their communities and facilitate the operations of the programme.

§ Support in facilitating discussions with local stakeholders to inform the above processes and to ensure appropriate information exchange.

§ Participate in all relevant dialogue with stakeholders and donors on child-sensitive social protection.

§ Provide logistical information support to CSSP teams as required for programme monitoring and other visits.

3. Knowledge Management

§ Share regular information and provide timely reporting on the progress, achievements, impact, cost-effectiveness, and/or challenges and bottlenecks of implementation of cash transfer interventions with recommendations to improve quality, impact, and timeliness.

§ Support the identification and documentation of cash transfer and social service (nutrition, health information and services and birth registration/child protection) integration and related good practices that have the potential to enhance ongoing and future interventions.

§ Maintain thorough knowledge of the project as well as an understanding of how that impacts other stakeholders.

§ Keep up to date with all other cash transfer programmes and services being delivered in CSSP districts by other development and humanitarian actors and use the information to help select and design optimal solutions where required for CSSP.

§ Contribute to the revision of external communication documents and visibility materials for the CSSP, including support to media visits.

Supervisor &Deliverables

The District Project Officer shall be supervised by the Director of the District Social Affairs Department (SAD), and will provide the following deliverables:

· Support MoLSA’s direct operational support to the CSSP programme implementation

· Produce monthly CSSP progress updates and field monitoring reports, including information at the state and district level, with highlights of bottlenecks (if any), and clear recommendations for addressing them.

· MoLSA reports on field monitoring visits (beneficiary registration, data collection/processing and reconciliation.

· Operational support to the execution of three learning events.

· Support MoLSA within the CSSP PIU and provide regular updates to the counterparts at FMS level on implementation progress.

The monthly payment of the consultancy fee for this role will be subject to the satisfactory delivery of concrete deliverables and the submission of timely and quality monthly progress reports to MOLSA and UNICEF.

Skills and Qualifications
Qualifications and Selection Criteria

· University degree in social science, economics, public administration etc and 2 – 5 years of relevant work experience

· Knowledge and practical experience in community engagement, data collection, communications and outreach, stakeholder cooperation and project cycle design, management, and implementation.

· Demonstrated exposure to theoretical and operational understanding of the field of social protection, specifically social safety nets and cash transfer programs and previous experience in Social Protection in Somalia.

· Understanding of the overall political, administrative, and institutional context of Somalia at the federal, state and district level.

· Excellent computer skills (especially Microsoft Office applications) and ability to use information technologies as a tool and resource.

· Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.

· Ability to speak fluent English and Somali language.

· Ability to multitask and work under tight deadlines in a highly complex environment.

· Ability to take initiative, work independently and deliver high-quality results on time.

How to apply
To apply, send your CV to info@molsa.hs.so And dg@molsa.hs.so indicating the vacancy number and location for the position you are applying to by 27/07/2024