The International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Kenya has announced an opportunity for a Child Protection Officer position to be based in Kakuma, Rift Valley. This role is categorized under the Child Protection sector and is offered on a fixed-term, full-time basis. The position is not open to expatriates and will operate through an in-person work arrangement.
The IRC’s presence in Kenya covers Kakuma and Hagadera refugee camps, programming for host communities in Turkana, and urban refugee programming in Nairobi. The organization delivers a wide range of integrated services in health, nutrition, livelihoods, and protection. These interventions aim to address systemic challenges such as high unemployment, child malnutrition, adolescent pregnancy, and harmful traditional practices.
Through its integrated approach, the IRC strengthens community health systems, advances child wellbeing, and builds capacity through community engagement. Special emphasis is placed on mitigating child protection risks, promoting adolescent reproductive health, and supporting sustainable, community-based solutions.
The Child Protection Officer will play a pivotal role in ensuring these objectives are met through collaboration with communities, service providers, and key stakeholders in Kakuma.
Purpose of the Role
Under the supervision of the Protection Manager and with technical guidance from the child protection technical team, the Child Protection Officer will act as the focal point for integrated child protection programming within Kakuma refugee camp.
This role emphasizes:
- Structured follow-up for malnourished children after discharge from nutrition programs
- Delivery of adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services
- Engagement to mitigate harmful traditional practices
- Strengthening the integration of child protection into broader health and nutrition services
The Officer will also support safe identification and referral systems for at-risk children, promote community awareness, and contribute to psychosocial and parenting support initiatives.
Duties and Responsibilities
The Child Protection Officer’s responsibilities are wide-ranging and structured across three major areas: program planning and implementation, liaison and coordination, and monitoring and reporting.
1. Program Planning, Development, and Implementation
The Officer will actively contribute to designing, adapting, and delivering integrated child protection services. Key duties include:
- Conducting and supporting situational assessments and data collection to inform child protection, health, and nutrition programs in Kakuma and Hagadera.
- Contributing to the development of strategies, including structured post-discharge protocols, referral pathways, and standard operating procedures for at-risk children and adolescents, particularly adolescent mothers.
- Coordinating timely and safe child protection referrals to appropriate service providers, both governmental and non-governmental, ensuring affected children access necessary support without delay.
- Positioning within health and nutrition centers to identify and refer children at risk, working collaboratively with frontline health and nutrition professionals.
- Strengthening the skills of health, nutrition, and protection staff in child protection concepts such as risk identification, safeguarding, referrals, and psychosocial support.
- Facilitating joint awareness sessions with staff across sectors to build shared responsibility in child protection.
- Identifying caregivers who could benefit from parenting support initiatives and equipping staff with skills in child development and positive caregiving.
- Promoting child participation by organizing consultations with children of varying age groups, using their feedback to inform protection strategies and awareness campaigns.
- Engaging both male and female caregivers in structured discussions to highlight protection concerns and co-develop solutions with them.
- Conducting assessments on the linkages between child malnutrition, adolescent pregnancy, child labor, exploitation, and abuse, and collaborating with stakeholders to design preventive responses.
- Ensuring adolescents, particularly adolescent mothers, access appropriate SRHR services and preventive support mechanisms such as MAMI (Management of At-Risk Mothers and Infants).
- Designing and disseminating awareness materials on risks such as female genital mutilation (FGM), gum mutilation, herbal intoxication, and family separation, informed by consultations with children and communities.
- Leading community awareness activities, including dialogues with local leaders, caregivers, and youth, aimed at changing harmful norms and fostering safer environments for children.
2. Program Liaison, Coordination, and Networking
The effectiveness of the Child Protection Officer’s work depends greatly on strong coordination with key stakeholders. Responsibilities include:
- Maintaining communication and strong working relationships with government agencies such as the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Department of Children’s Services, and community-based organizations.
- Serving as the Child Protection focal point in coordination forums and inter-agency meetings within the refugee camp.
- Facilitating regular meetings with communities, children, and partners to align child protection efforts, strengthen accountability, and ensure a unified response to child protection concerns.
- Collaborating with cross-sectoral teams including health, nutrition, education, protection, gender-based violence (GBV), and livelihoods programs to mainstream child protection into wider service delivery.
- Providing guidance and support to community-based actors, including social workers and volunteers, who are engaged in promoting child safety and protection within the camp.
3. Monitoring and Reporting
The Officer will ensure the delivery of accurate, timely, and actionable reporting to improve programming. Duties include:
- Documenting and reporting on all cases identified, services provided, referrals made, and community consultations conducted.
- Monitoring child protection trends and integrating feedback from children and communities into programming and reporting processes.
- Preparing weekly, monthly, and quarterly updates that capture program achievements, challenges, community perspectives, and inter-agency coordination outcomes.
- Supporting recommendations to improve child-friendly access to justice and social services.
- Documenting challenges, emerging trends, best practices, innovations, and success stories that can inform learning, advocacy, and program adjustments.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Child Development, Psychology, Public Health, or a related discipline.
- At least three years of experience in child protection programming in either humanitarian or development contexts.
- Strong commitment to child rights, protection, and safeguarding principles.
- Demonstrated ability to integrate child protection within health and nutrition services.
- Practical knowledge of adolescent SRHR programming.
- Familiarity with harmful traditional practices prevalent in the target area, such as gum mutilation and herbal intoxication, and proven strategies to address them.
- Experience working with community-based child protection mechanisms and positive parenting programs.
- Proficiency in facilitation, training, and coordination with diverse groups, including health workers and community health promoters.
- Excellent communication and engagement skills with children, caregivers, and local leaders.
- Competence in data collection, reporting, and use of feedback systems for continuous program improvement.
- Understanding of child protection case management processes and broader protection frameworks such as women empowerment and GBV.
- Fluency in English and Swahili, with knowledge of local languages spoken in Kakuma considered an asset.
This position is contingent on funding approval.
Application Process
Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications through the official application portal provided by the organization.
