Relief International – Jordan Hiring for Accountability Assistant at Amman, Jordan Full Time

EXHIBIT A

Terms of Reference (TOR)

Position: Accountability Assistant

Category Grade: Assistant

Department: MEAL “Accountability”

Location: Amman and Field Locations (Camps and Host Community)

Reports to: MEAL Manager

Position Type: Full Time

               

ABOUT Relief International:

Relief International (RI) is a leading nonprofit organization working in 16 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

 

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach — which we call the RI Way—emphasizes local participation, an integration of services, strategic partnerships and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

 

RI includes the four corporate members of the RI Alliance: RI-US, RI-UK, MRCA/RI-France and RI-Europe.  Under our alliance agreement, we operate as a single, shared management structure.

 

About our Regional Programs:

 

RI in the Middle East has programs in six countries – Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Yemen, with a focus on the 4 main RI sectors: Health, WASH, Education and Economic Opportunity.

 

Relief International currently employs 3900 staff (direct and indirect) in the region and has a range of emergency response and development programs valued at 70 million USD on an annual basis. 

 

About our Country Programs:

 

Relief International has been operating since 2004 with a focus on education, youth programming and WASH. RI is part of the Protection Taskforce at both the national and camp-level and co-leads the Child Labor and Sexual and the Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) taskforces in Za’atari and Azraq camps, and the Youth Taskforce for Syrian refugee camps. Additionally, RI is the gender focal point for both Protection and Education sectors at the national-level, and is a founding member of the national Early Childhood Development (ECD) committee in early 2018.

 

RI has directly implemented education programs in coordination with district-level MoE officials and supported education workforce development for improved learning outcomes at the community level. As part of its protection mainstreaming work, RI has been leading the development of Anti-violence, Anti-bullying behavioral change program in host community public schools in collaboration with the MoE, where RI is implementing its REACTII program in 18 formal schools in the governorates of Amman, Irbid, Mafraq and Zarqa.).

 

At present, RI is operating through a Country Office in Amman where the management and support functions are based; and 16 education centers in Host communities in Amman, Zarqa, Irbid and Mafraq; and 6 education centers established in camps: Za’atari Camp in districts 3, 5 and 8 and in Azraq Camp in villages 2, 5 and 6 serving over 2,500 students and 303 caregivers. RI is one of the few agencies covering the whole spectrum of education programming by providing programs that bridge the needs between basic, secondary, and tertiary education.

 

RI has been providing capacity building workshops to teachers and facilitators working in its programs, followed directly by classroom observation and structured coaching and mentoring sessions to over a thousand teachers over the last 8 years.

 

RI’s programs in the coming year will continue focusing on the delivery of quality education programmes, with a stronger focus on protection and structured PSS and preparing students for academic and professional advancement. RI’s teacher trainings pay attention to adopting inclusive education approaches taking into account children with disabilities and addressing specific learning needs of every child, to this end.

 

Summary:

Under the direct supervision of the MEAL manager the Accountability Assistant contributes to improving the quality of RI programming through the accurate registration and timely follow up of any complaints about RI’s activities or staff. Furthermore, the Accountability Assistant contributes to the development of appropriate messaging and communication strategies and is thus, the first point of contact for beneficiary complaints received from the field over different communication channels such as WhatsApp. As such, the Accountability Assistant will need to be neutral and establish a role and mechanisms based on the highest integrity and trustworthiness.  

In addition to that the Accountability Assistant (Acting as Accountability Officer) will contribute to support RI country office/teams to assess and improve their practices on accountability to communities in align with Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS) to which RI is an official member, commitments 4 and 5:

•CHS 4 – Communities have access to information and participate in decisions that affect them

•CHS 5 – Communities know their rights and have access to safe and responsive mechanisms to handle complaints.

 

Essential Position Responsibilities and Duties:

1. Assist in establishing and administering a mechanism that allows beneficiaries in RI Jordan’s projects to securely and confidentially leave feedback and complaints.

 

• Assist in procuring and installing materials needed for establishing and administering the mechanism including signage, suggestion boxes, feedback sheets, feedback logs, etc.
• Support the collection and upload of all feedback from RI suggestion boxes in all program locations biweekly.

Participate to beneficiaries’ awareness system/sessions.

1. Act as a contact point for beneficiaries:

• Interact with beneficiaries to ensure they are being appropriately served through the different projects.
• Support surveys conducting with beneficiaries and encourage them to leave feedback when they desire to do so
• Where necessary, communicate resolutions from complaints back to the complainant.
• Work with MEAL accountability team to ensure regular short surveys with beneficiaries are conducted and encourage them to leave feedback when they desire to do so.
• Where necessary, communicate resolutions from complaints back to the complainant.
• Support the MEAL accountability team in developing child-friendly tools/mechanisms to allow direction participation of beneficiaries.

 

1. Complaints and Feedbacks Reporting:

 

• Support MEAL accountability team on finalizing the CFM monthly reports that shows the analysis of complaints and feedbacks received.
• Support MEAL accountability team on finalizing timely and accurate reporting of results of the common, custom and performance indicators within the project progress reports.

 

 

1. Awareness Raising:

 

• Support MEAL accountability team on promote the Incident Reporting and Management policy namely – ensuring that posters and other awareness raising materials are visible and that staff are aware of what incidents must be reported in accordance with policy.
• Support MEAL accountability team on provide awareness-raising sessions on the incident reporting and management policy for all staff and other associates in the office on a regular basis, including for newcomers.  Where applicable, this should include awareness raising for partner staff.

 

 

1. Support and assist MEAL department to enhance RI country office/teams to assess and improve their practices on accountability to communities in align with Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS, commitments 4 and 5:

• Support MEAL accountability team on provide and coordinate awareness-raising sessions related to improving the practices on accountability to communities.
• Support the MEAL manager in completing the accountability matrices (for RI’s MEAL/ Accountability Quality Benchmarks).

 

1. CFM/Accountability Incident Response and Reporting

 

• Act as deputy incident reporting focal point for the CFM/Accountability related incidents and as requested by the Incident team.
• Receive complaints, reports and questions about alleged incidents fraud & financial crimes and protection & safeguarding violations.
• Take appropriate measures to ensure safety and confidentiality for reports made to him/her.
• Reporting the incident to the MEAL manager without delay;
• Support MEAL accountability team on ensuring that relevant paper and electronic records relating to incidents are secured and stored safely.
• Ensure physical presence at service sites.
• Support the MEAL accountability team on scheduling CFM management team meeting on a bi-weekly base, and updating the committee, PMs and the program director with new feedback received, and discuss the ongoing /pending cases.

 

 

 

1. Conduct Accountability learning tasks:

 

• Support MEAL accountability team on capturing & conducting informal and formal lesson learned process.
• Support MEAL & Accountability team on conducting learning session’s on a regular bases and based on need to programs/field staff to highlight significant figures.
• Support the MEAL accountability team on conduct accountability-related learning sessions with the project teams on quarterly basis to outline the most important lessons learned during a period of 3 months.
• Support MEAL department on conduct learning session’s monthly meeting with the programs/field staff to outline the most important gaps found and how they could be covered during the next durations.

 

 

1. Data Management:

 

• Support MEAL & Accountability team in data storage, Safe storage of hard and soft copy of data; Filing all completed hard and soft copies; safe storage of hard and soft copy of data and securing information by completing data base backups.
  • In coordination with the MEAL Manager, perform ad-hoc research efforts in and around Jordan on different projects,

 

1. Others:

 

• Comply with all relevant Relief International policies and procedures with respect to child protection policy, health and safety, equal opportunities, code of conduct and other relevant policies.
• Maintain a spirit of innovation, optimism, open communication and enthusiasm that will help propel the project forward.
• Focus on innovative and creative methods of presenting data and information tailored to different teams/levels of management.
• Perform other duties as needed.

 

 

Qualifications & Requirements:

 

• A B.S. or B.A. degree in a social science or related field-Degree in social sciences or related field is preferred.
• A minimum of two years’ working experience in NGOs. One year relevant work experience or training might be considered in exceptional cases.
• Ability to respect and maintain confidentiality.
• Experience in customer service an asset
• Good contextual knowledge of local issues, community priorities, social and cultural constraints and realities.
• Ability to organize and work independently and within teams.
• Ability to use MS Word and Excel
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, especially in Arabic and English.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, tasks efficiently with strong attention to detail;
• Good analytical skills, attention to details, and critical thinking ability.
• Experience working in post-conflict environment or with refugee populations in emergency response context a plus;
• Desire to learn, willingness to ask questions, cultural sensitivity, and flexibility are desired characteristics. 
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills. Ability to think critically and creatively.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including patience, diplomacy, willingness to listen and respect for colleagues. Must be capable of working both individually and as part of a team.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, stressful environment. Must be flexible, willing to perform other duties and work irregular hours.

 

 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. 

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Relief International is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. 

We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Relief International (RI) is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to RI’s Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

RI Values:

We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities. We value:

 

• Inclusiveness
• Transparency and Accountability
• Agility and Innovation
• Collaboration
• Sustainability

All staff are expected to abide by RI Safeguarding, Code of Conduct & Incident Management Policies & procedures.