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Libya Head of Office & Technical Advisor

The end of 30 years of dictatorship in Libya has opened a small window of opportunity for women and girls seeking to improve their lives and assume a broader role in society. Among the urgent needs identified by transitional government actors and women-led civil society organizations in Libya are quality, survivor-centered services and programs to prevent and respond to violence against women. Through a two-pronged approach that works at both the local and national levels, the IRC Libya project seeks to provide much needed technical assistance to a local women’s group working at grassroots level within Tripoli and the Ministry of Social Affairs to develop such services.

Summary/ Scope of work The Head of Office/ Technical Advisor will strengthen the GBV capacity and organizational management competencies of a local women’s organization, manage the current sub-grant to it, as well as facilitate its access to and participation in emerging GBV and women’s rights coordination networks, working groups, and advocacy platforms, and support its efforts to provide high quality services to women in Libya, especially survivors of sexual violence. S/he will also provide technical support to MOSA to create a more supportive, protective environment for women and girls through policy reform and the development of a service framework that employs a survivor-centered approach. As Head of Office, s/he will act as the representative of the IRC in Libya at all forums.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities Design • Work closely with MOSA and the local women’s organization to prepare a more detailed activity plan, ensuring that the project maximizes the opportunities to both build capacity as well as meet the identified priorities of women and girls.
• Refine and formalize project details through on-going dialogue with the Deputy Minister of Social Affairs and the Women and Family Affairs Manager. • Ensure that all project activities and work plans are technically sound and reflect best practices.

Capacity Building • Provide technical support and training to the local women’s organization to establish a women’s center as a base for local activities and events and to establish survivor-centered support services. • Support the organizational development of the local women’s organization. This includes identifying managerial priorities and addressing them through tailored, targeted mentoring focused on making improvements in organizational governance, decision-making procedures, the creation and operationalization of systems and procedures, and other areas critical to effective organizational management. • Support the establishment of an effective hotline for women by building the capacity of staff to provide confidential and accurate advice on services as well as follow-up to individuals requiring specialist support. • Coordinate standard training for social workers on case management and caring for survivors as part of a comprehensive push from MOSA to improve standards for response, as well as expanding networks of qualified support workers.

Coordination • Support the local women’s organization to link in with existing efforts to strengthen services including working with health staff trained by international NGOs on the clinical management of rape and social workers linked to MOSA. • Support MOSA to identify and coordinate key agencies providing safe, confidential, high quality services for women that can form part of a referral network.
• Represent the IRC at protection, health and GBV coordination meetings to advocate for the care of survivors, and at INGO/ NGO coordination forums, including the UN Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) meetings. • Represent the IRC as Head of Office with LibAid and maintain communications with them as the current coordination body for NGOs in Libya in order to meet evolving registration requirements.

Advocacy and Representation • Support the local women’s organization to work with those transitional government actors and structures to have an enduring influence on policy and legislation on women’s protection and empowerment issues. • Promote a participatory approach to decision making within MOSA through seminars and workshops that encourage the development of close working relationship with grassroots women’s groups, and encompassing voices from all aspects of the emerging civil society. • Work with other Ministries such as Health and Justice to influence the development of the policy framework in these Ministries as well. • Network and maintain relationships with donors in Tripoli and identify new opportunities and sources of funding, primarily around WPE but with a broader representation of the IRC as an organization with multi-sector post-conflict technical capacities. • Networking to identify, develop linkages and coordinate with other emerging local actors working in the field of women’s protection and empowerment. • Advocate for and promote action against VAW in line with IRC’s Global Strategy on VAW.

Other Responsibilities: • Recruit additional staff as needed. • Identify areas for funding, potential donors and write project proposals and donors’ reports. • Oversee the management of a sub-grant to a local partner with assistance from the IRC Regional Operations Advisor • Act as a focal point for HQ liaison on operational/ administrative issues

Required Qualifications: • Master’s degree or equivalent in Gender or Social Studies, Public Health, Social Work or related field. • Demonstrated experience directly implementing programs that prevent or respond to violence against women and girls in similar cultural and political settings. • Managing and monitoring service provision for VAW survivors. • Demonstrated experience working at the national level policy and advocacy. • Demonstrated experience with implementing participatory program approaches. • Competency in written and spoken English; knowledge of Arabic preferred. • Familiarity with the Libyan situation is an asset. • Willingness to travel within Libya. • Able to work in insecure and challenging environments.

Other details: This is an unaccompanied post. Extension of 6 month contract is contingent upon funding.