Protection Officer

Lindii Peace Foundation (LPF) — Protection Officer

Location: Borno

Employment Type: Full-time

About the Role

• The Protection Officer will contribute to identifying protection risks, promoting the safety and dignity of affected populations, strengthening community-based protection mechanisms, and ensuring that individuals at risk can access appropriate information, support, and referral services.
• The role will involve community engagement, protection monitoring, identification of protection concerns, safe referrals, awareness-raising, and coordination with relevant service providers and programme teams.
• The successful candidate will work closely with affected communities, community leaders, programme staff, relevant government agencies, and protection service providers to promote a safe, inclusive, and rights-based approach to humanitarian assistance.
• The post holder must demonstrate sound professional judgment, respect for confidentiality, cultural sensitivity, and a strong commitment to safeguarding and the principles of humanitarian action.

Key Responsibilities

Protection Programme Implementation:

• Support the planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of protection activities in line with approved programme plans, budgets, organizational policies, and donor requirements.
• Conduct protection-related activities that promote the safety, dignity, rights, and well-being of vulnerable and crisis-affected individuals and communities.
• Support the integration of protection principles into the organization's health, WASH, nutrition, and other humanitarian interventions, as applicable.
• Ensure that programme activities are inclusive, conflict-sensitive, gender-responsive, and accessible to individuals with different needs and abilities.
• Identify implementation challenges and recommend practical measures to improve the quality and effectiveness of protection interventions.

Protection Monitoring and Risk Identification:

• Conduct regular community visits and protection monitoring activities to identify protection concerns, risks, threats, barriers to assistance, and emerging trends affecting communities.
• Gather relevant information through safe, ethical, and appropriate methods, ensuring that data collection does not expose individuals or communities to additional harm.
• Identify individuals and groups facing heightened protection risks, including children at risk, persons with disabilities, older persons, survivors of violence, displaced persons, and other vulnerable groups.
• Document protection concerns accurately and securely in accordance with approved procedures and data protection requirements.
• Analyze protection information to identify recurring risks, service gaps, and potential threats to the safety and dignity of affected populations.
• Immediately escalate urgent protection concerns through established organizational and referral channels.

Case Identification and Referral:

• Identify individuals who may require specialized protection assistance and facilitate referrals to appropriate service providers in accordance with established procedures.
• Maintain updated information on available protection, health, psychosocial, legal, child protection, gender-based violence, and other relevant services within assigned programme locations.
• Obtain informed consent where required and explain referral options clearly, ensuring that individuals understand the available services and their choices.
• Follow up on referrals where appropriate and safe, while respecting confidentiality and the decisions of the affected individual.
• Avoid conducting specialized case management or investigations beyond the officer's training, authority, or designated responsibilities.
• Ensure that urgent cases are referred promptly and that sensitive information is shared only with authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis.

Community-Based Protection and Engagement:

• Engage community members, leaders, women's groups, youth groups, persons with disabilities, and other relevant stakeholders to identify protection concerns and strengthen community-based protection mechanisms.
• Support communities to identify practical and locally appropriate measures for reducing protection risks.
• Promote meaningful participation of affected populations in the design, implementation, and review of protection activities.
• Facilitate community discussions and consultations in a manner that is safe, inclusive, culturally appropriate, and sensitive to local dynamics.
• Support the identification and strengthening of appropriate community protection structures, ensuring that their roles are clearly defined and consistent with organizational safeguarding standards.
• Ensure that community engagement activities do not expose participants to retaliation, stigma, discrimination, or other foreseeable risks.

Protection Awareness and Information Sharing:

• Conduct awareness sessions on protection risks, individual rights, available services, safe referral pathways, and mechanisms for raising concerns.
• Support communities to understand how to access humanitarian assistance safely and report concerns about exploitation, abuse, discrimination, or misconduct.
• Develop and disseminate appropriate protection information materials in accessible formats and relevant local languages, in coordination with the programme team.
• Promote awareness of child protection, prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), gender-based violence risk mitigation, and other relevant protection issues.
• Ensure that information-sharing activities are accurate, age-appropriate, culturally sensitive, and designed to avoid exposing individuals to harm.

Child Protection:

• Identify and report child protection concerns through established safeguarding and referral procedures.
• Support safe referrals for children at risk, including children separated from their caregivers, unaccompanied children, children exposed to violence or exploitation, and children facing other serious protection concerns.
• Promote children's safety, dignity, participation, and best interests in accordance with applicable child safeguarding procedures.
• Support community awareness on child protection risks, child safeguarding, family separation, harmful practices, and safe reporting channels.
• Ensure that any interaction with children follows organizational child safeguarding requirements, including appropriate consent, confidentiality, and supervision arrangements.
• Never independently investigate child abuse allegations or undertake specialized child protection case management unless specifically authorized, appropriately trained, and assigned to do so.

Gender-Based Violence Risk Mitigation and Safe Referral:

• Support activities that reduce protection risks affecting women, girls, men, and boys, including risks associated with gender-based violence.

• Promote safe, confidential, and non-discriminatory access to available services for individuals affected by violence, exploitation, or abuse.

• Ensure that disclosures of gender-based violence are handled sensitively and without judgment, victim-blaming, or unnecessary questioning.

• Facilitate referrals to qualified service providers in accordance with established survivor-centred procedures and the affected person's choices, subject to available resources.

• Note: This description reflects the responsibilities and expectations for the Protection Officer role at Lindii Peace Foundation (LPF). The posting does not include specific compensation details.