Senior Programme Manager

Save the Children is an international Non Governmental Organization working in 140 countries worldwide. It fights for the rights of all children to ensure immediate and lasting improvements in their lives every day. Save the Children has a dual mandate in both development and emergency programmes, however always working according to the principles of the Red Cross Code of Conduct, and seeking to find ways to be accountable to those communities we work with.

Child Protection: The vision of Save the Children UK is a world where the lives of all children reflects the standards set by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. These include the right to be protected from abuse and exploitation.

The child protection policy of Save the Children UK aims to translate this commitment to children's rights into practical reality through our work with the children with whom we interact. To this end, we strive to take into account the welfare and protection of children with whom we interact, where we are and whatever the purpose of the work.

Niger is a landlocked sub Saharan country covering 1267000 km2 and an estimated population in 2007 of 13 120 000 according to projections completed by RPGH in 2001. Like many other poor countries; it has some of the highest infant child and maternal mortality. According to the last health and nutrition survey DHS MICS III completed in 2006 these rates were 198 per 1000 live births and 648 per 1000 live births.

Compared to other countries Niger is behind in achieving the Millennium Development Goals; most specifically objectives1, 4 and 5 on the reduction of infant and maternal mortality rates and poverty. Evaluation of strategies that have been in place since 2005 show that these objectives will not be achieved without significant effort made in these areas in the next 5 years. In this area Save the Children is developing the NCS Plan through the campaign EVERY ONE. This is a valuable opportunity to engage with the government and key partners to work together toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. This NCS plan, with the associate lobbying campaign called EVERYONE, is an international campaign with SC alliance. Niger will experiment the first year of this campaign in 2011. The Newborn and Child Survival plan has 4 main components: programme, policy/advocacy, popular mobilization and financial income.

Save the Children currently have bases in Zinder, Diffa and Maradi regions of Niger. The programme was opened as a nutritional rehabilitation programme in Zinder and Maradi in response to the 2005 food crisis. Since then Save the Children has added health programming, and leads in innovative methods of food security programming to combat the causes of malnutrition, and treat those that are suffering. Our health and nutrition programming is integrated with Government services at all levels, whilst we seek to provide quality services for children, therefore this is a highly operational country programme, with high demands on its logistical and delivery mechanisms. This year all our services have scaled up, there is a larger and in some cases temporary team and a broadening of activities ongoing.

2011 will therefore be a challenging year to make more steps in the direction of recovery strategy, with an integrated programme nutrition/health/food security/protection, and engaging into real popular mobilization and campaigning on reducing children mortality. However, SC must remain a leading agency to respond to emergencies when they occur, as it was done in 2010.

For more information and to apply, please visit our website on www.savethechildren.org.uk/jobs (ref:6378).