Care & Support/Gender Officer at the Center for Clinical Care and Clinical Research (CCCRN)

Job Title: Care & Support / Gender Officer

Location: Bayelsa
Project: ICHSSA Lot 1
Department: Project Management
Reports to: State Program Manager
Secondary Reporting Line: Gender and Adolescent/Care and Support Advisor

About ICHSSA

• The Integrated Child Health and Social Service Award ICHSSA 1 is a newly awarded five-year agreement by USAID, commenced on December 19, 2019. ICHSSA 1 is implemented by Center for Clinical Care and Research Nigeria.
• The project will ensure that Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) are cared for, and protected by their households, communities, and local and state government to reduce their vulnerability to HIV.
• The project expected results is highlighted as follows:
  • Households have increased access to basic services and care for OVC
  • Communities ensure that OVC secure their rights
  • Local and State Government deliver basic services, detect and respond to child rights violations
  • Prioritized targeted services for specific OVC subpopulations delivered

Job Summary

• The Care and Support /Gender Officer will support the Gender Adolescent Specialist to provide technical support to ensure the vision of the ICHSSA Project on OVC are cared for and protected in the household and communities and local and state government.
• The Officer will provide technical support on ICHSSA Project and across local government areas in Bayelsa State
• He/she will work closely with the Gender/Adolescent Specialist to ensure adolescents are enrolled and provided with HIV, OVC, Livelihoods, life skills and Sexual Reproductive Health services.  He/She will ensure that the services provided to Adolescents are appropriate, high quality, youth friendly and are provided in preparation for graduation. He/She will lead the identification of service providers and ensure that linkages to services are seamless.
• Responsible for HIV care and support services for the OVC and their household
• Coordinate with other stakeholders to ensure enrollment and provision of requisite services to all HIV subpopulations enrolled in the OVC project
• Liaise with the treatment implementing partners to ensure all CLHIV are identified and enrolled in the OVC care
• Ensure HIV Care service provision at the household is designed to demonstrate attribution to the 95 95 95 epidemic control goal of the treatment partners

Specific Job Responsibilities

• Support in the conduct and analysis of the experiences, risks and challenges for children— girls and boys, including disabled children— in the targeted states/communities
• Support the design and conduct gender assessments at regular intervals
• Support to develop a gender mainstreaming plan and keep it up-to-date annually. The plan must include activities, indicators and means of verification, deadlines and resources for each activity;
• Collaborate with other colleagues and CBO partners to ensure gender integration throughout the implementation of the project in accordance with the USAID donor policies / strategies and gender requirements;
• Provide technical support to CBOs in raising awareness in target communities about the sexual risks adolescents
• Support CBOs to facilitate general parenting practices that increase the likelihood that children will not engage in risky sexual behaviors;
• Facilitate programs that improve parents’ ability to effectively communicate with their children about sexuality and sexual risk reduction;
• Support CBOs to identify and address the difficult issues of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) and GBV through culturally acceptable and age-appropriate content and highlighting the key role parents can play in protecting their children from CSA and GBV and responding to abuse.
• Support CSOs to establish and strengthen referral mechanism and linkages between the communities and health facilities for ASRH and gender-based violence, including implementation of clinical pathway for treatment of sexual assault survivors;
• Contribute to the documentation and dissemination of project efforts, achievements, lessons learned and innovations within CCCRN and to the larger Nigerian and global community, as appropriate;
• Facilitate capacity development for partner CBOs, community volunteers, child protection committees and other key stakeholders on gender integration and child protection;
• Provide regular supportive supervision to CBO staff to ensure the achievement of expected results;
• Monitor and evaluate program performance on gender-related goals and objectives and contribute content for internal and external reporting
• S/he is to provide technical guidance to ICHSSA 1 partner CSOs in the Implementation of technical program activities for community-based HIV Care and Support in ICHSSA 1 Program
• Under the direction of the HIV Care and Support Advisor, collaborate closely with the ICHSSA team to roll out and implement an integrated and holistic community-based response to HIV /AIDs towards scaling up access to HIV prevention, HIV Testing Services and continuum of Care for vulnerable children and their caregivers
• Provide technical input for the development of strategies, design and implementation of HIV Prevention / Care & Support activities by ICHSSA 1 project; ensure activities improve access to HIV prevention and care services amongst project beneficiaries and their caregivers.
• Direct CSOs towards overall technical quality – including adherence to technical standards, best practices and donor guidelines for all HIV Prevention Care & Support activities of the project.
• Support strategies towards ensuring that project activities are built on strong behavior change principles, and build the capacity of CSOs and relevant GON staff in effective implementation and monitoring.
• Work with the Treatment partners and coordinate bidirectional patient referral from facility to community and vice versa.
• Obtains patient line list regularly and ensure data synergy with the treatment partners along all custom indicators.
• Lead the process of monitoring of quality HIV care at the household and ensure drug adherence, retention and viral load suppression
• Document OVC project attribution to the care and treatment partner’s overall achievement along the 95 95 95 epidemic control cascade.
• Work closely with the SMOH, SMWASD, SACA and HIV TWGs in Bayelsa state in identifying and capitalizing on leverage points for improved linkages and referral coordination at the community level and for Integration of HIV Prevention Care & Support elements into other OVC areas project activities and vice versa
• Other duties assigned .

Key Working Relationships:

• Supervisory: Gender and Adolescent Advisor and Senior Care and Support Specialist.
• Internal: State Program Manager, CSO Partners
• External: USAID, other donor agencies, SMWASD, SACA,Ministry of Health, other line ministries and partners.
• Agency Wide Competences (for all CCCRN staff): These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CCCRN and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results. CCCRN core values are; Excellence, Knowledge, Professionalism, Accountability, Diversity and Collaboration.

Qualifications and Skills

• B.Sc in relevant Health related or Social Sciences field with a minimum of 5 years’ relevant experience in implementing HIV Prevention, Care and Support programs plus a technical experience with community level HIV prevention, Care & Support programs
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with government and civil society partners and communities as well as transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through workshops, training and meetings using participatory methods and adult learning principles
• Experience in supporting HIV Testing and Counselling programs in health facilities, mobile units and community outreaches
• Good knowledge of Government of Nigeria HIV Care and Treatment guidelines (Pediatric &Adult) and experience working with Ministry of Health and other relevant entitles
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relations both within and outside the organization.
• Experience in designing, implementing, managing, and delivering results-based program /projects on gender and adolescence or any other cross cutting program, especially at country/field level, experience in emergency response is an asset.
• Familiarity with PEPFAR-OVC programming and principles
• Excellent English oral and written communication skills required
• Excellent analytic, organizational and computer skills; skilled in MS Office including Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.

Required Travel:

• To field locations in Nigeria. There may be occasional international travel to participate at relevant conferences, regional and global learning forums and conferences.

Work Environment:

• CCCRN is an equal –opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, etc.

Statement of Commitment to Protection:

• ‘’CCCRN’ recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

Disclaimer:

• This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with this assignment.

Application Closing Date
12am, Tuesday, 31st August, 2021.

Method of Application

Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note: CCCRN is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, age, disability or status as a veteran with respect to policies, programs, or activities.