Social Cohesion Officer - MMC, Jere and Mafa

Description du poste

Key responsibilities

1. Conflict and context analysis

  • Carry out a conflict and do-no-harm analysis at each facility site. Identify the groups involved, what divides and what connects them, past tensions, power dynamics and risks linked to the facility.
  • Map stakeholders for each facility: landowning families, traditional leaders, host community members, returnees, IDPs, women and youth groups, and government offices. Note each group's interests and expectations.
  • Update the analysis every quarter. Advise the Project Manager on conflict risks before key decisions on land, membership, plot allocation or benefits.

2. Ownership and land tenure process

  • Lead the ownership and tenure audit. Collect and review Phase 1 MoUs, land donation letters, Certificates or Rights of Occupancy, community resolutions and site records.
  • Facilitate consultations with landowning families, first separately and then jointly with government and communities, using free, prior and informed consent principles.
  • Support negotiation of the land-use instrument for each site (long-term lease, conditional donation or regularisation through the Ministry of Lands) and of the landowner recognition and benefit package.
  • Draft the Tripartite Facility Management Agreements with the legal adviser. Coordinate their signing by the lead MDA or LGA, the cooperative and the landowning family or traditional institution.
  • Organise public validation meetings where each agreement is explained in local languages and a summary is displayed at the facility.

3. Governance structures

  • Facilitate transparent selection of members and supervised elections of the Facility Management Committees, with protected seats for a Women's Lead, a Youth Lead and a landowner representative.
  • Support each group to draft its constitution and bye-laws, including term limits, removal procedures, conflict-of-interest rules and a code of conduct.
  • Set up and support the LGA Facility Oversight Committees in MMC, Jere and Mafa. Provide technical support to the secretariat of the State Asset Oversight Committee.
  • Train committees in leadership, transparent decision-making, inclusive participation and accountability to members.
  • Put the safeguards against elite capture in place: public display of membership lists and plot allocations, quarterly social audits, and General Assembly meetings.

4. Social cohesion and peacebuilding

  • Facilitate community dialogues between landowners, host communities, IDPs and returnees, women and youth, and government officials, to agree a shared vision for each facility.
  • Lead the development and signing of a Government–Community Compact in each LGA, setting out what government and communities each commit to.
  • Organise landowner recognition events at commissioning, together with traditional and government leaders.
  • Coordinate quarterly joint monitoring visits and the twice-yearly community open days.
  • Set up, train and mentor Peace and Grievance Committees in mediation and dispute resolution. Make sure they include traditional, religious, women, youth, landowner and IDP/returnee representatives.
  • Mediate disputes over land, access, water allocation, membership and benefits directly. Escalate unresolved cases through the agreed path: facility committee, then traditional leader and LGA mediation, then the Facility Oversight Committee.

5. Early warning and accountability

  • Maintain a log of tensions, disputes and how they were resolved. Report it every two months to the LGA Oversight Committees and monthly to the Project Manager.
  • Make sure grievances are linked to the Feedback and Complaints Response Mechanism (FCRM). Refer protection concerns to the Protection focal point.
  • Help design and analyse the social cohesion perception survey (baseline and endline) with the MEAL Officer.

6. Supervision of community mobilisers

  • Plan and supervise the community and committee work of the three community mobilisers.
  • Train them in facilitation, mediation basics, conflict sensitivity and safe referral.
  • Review their reports, and check the quality and inclusiveness of meetings they organise.

7. Handover readiness

  • Assess the ownership, governance, inclusion and cohesion criteria of the handover readiness scorecard for each facility.
  • Document lessons learned on ownership resolution and social cohesion for WFP and partners.

Cross-cutting duties

  • Stay impartial and be seen to be impartial. Never take sides in disputes or make commitments on behalf of government or landowners.
  • Make sure at least 40% of members of every governance structure are women and youth, and that persons with disabilities, returnees and IDPs take part meaningfully.
  • Follow PSEA, safeguarding, confidentiality and security procedures.
  • Carry out any other reasonable duties related to the project, as assigned by the Project

Essential requirements:

Qualifications, experience and competencies

Education

  • Essential: a university degree (B.Sc or HND) in Peace and Conflict Studies, Sociology, Political Science, Law, Public Administration, Development Studies or a related social science.
  • Desirable: a Master's degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, Development or Law.

Experience

Essential

  • At least 4 years of experience in social cohesion, peace building, community governance or conflict-sensitive programming.
  • Proven experience facilitating community dialogues and mediating disputes, preferably over land, water or shared resources.
  • Experience setting up or strengthening community structures such as committees, cooperatives, WUAs or peace committees, including elections and constitutions.
  • Experience working with traditional institutions and State and LGAs in North-East Nigeria.
  • Experience with NGOs, UN agencies or government programmes in humanitarian or recovery settings.

Desirable

  • Experience negotiating land-use, asset handover or community ownership agreements.
  • Knowledge of customary and statutory land tenure in Borno State, including the Land Use Act.
  • Experience with livelihoods, WASH or infrastructure projects where communities share assets.
  • Experience with Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and feedback mechanisms.

Skills and competencies

  • Excellent facilitation, negotiation and mediation skills.
  • Able to stay neutral, build trust and handle sensitive information with discretion.
  • Strong analysis of power and conflict dynamics, and sound judgement on risk.
  • Clear writing of agreements, meeting records and reports.
  • Cultural sensitivity and respect for local customs, with a commitment to inclusion of women, youth, persons with disabilities, IDPs and returnees.
  • Commitment to PSEA, safeguarding and humanitarian principles.
  • Proficient in MS Office or Google Workspace.

Languages

  • Essential: fluent English and Hausa.
  • Strongly desirable: fluent Kanuri.

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Interested and Qualified? Apply here Form https://reliefweb.int/node/4236214

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