Position Title: GBV AoR Inter-Agency Coordinator
Receiving Agency: UNFPA
P Level: P3
Location: Goma, DR Congo
Duration: 6 months
Language: Fluency in French and English is required

Background Description of Emergency / Justification for Request

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is facing a protracted and complex humanitarian crisis, marked by armed conflict, inter-ethnic tensions, natural disasters and epidemics. With over 6 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in 2024, it is home to the largest IDP population in Africa, concentrated mainly in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri.   Recent events in the country have seen significant shifts in displacements (IDPs displaced out of displacement camps) and control with the M23 group now in control of Goma and Bukavu the capitals of North Kivu and South Kivu respectively. Conflict dynamics are rapidly shifting and very uncertain. Significant evacuations of UN and IP staff were carried out from Goma and Bukavu. However, there is an increasing call for the return of staff to engage in response to the crisis that has affected both IDPs and host communities.

Out of a total population currently estimated at 117 million, DRC’s HNRP 2025 estimates that 21.2 million people will be in humanitarian need, 11 million of whom are targeted by the humanitarian response. 2.5 billion US dollars are required to meet the immediate and urgent needs of the affected populations.1Between January and October 2024, 109,860 survivors of gender-based violence were received in holistic care services according to their needs. Over 60% of these cases were reported in the Eastern provinces. Less than 5% of victims have access to legal assistance and less than 1% of cases have resulted in a court ruling2. The armed conflict in the North et South Kivu regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo has had a devastating impact on the safety and well-being of women and girls. As civilians move in search of safety, they face multiple attacks and threats, including rape by individuals and gangs, and forced recruitment and sexual slavery by armed militants operating with virtual impunity.

Since the beginning of 2025, more than 400,000 individuals have been newly displaced due to the renewed conflict. The majority of those forced to flee due to bombings and raids are families, composed primarily of women and children who were already extremely vulnerable, that resided in ramshackle displacement sites on the outskirts of Goma. Masses of women and children are flooding into Goma in search of protection and safe shelter. However, their risk of exposure to gender-based violence (GBV) is exacerbated upon arrival due to overcrowded/unsafe living conditions, scarce food and water supplies and continued unrest. DRC officials reported a horrifying example of overlapping protection concerns: male inmates raped at least 165 women during a prison break from Goma’s Muzenze prison on 27 January 2025.

While the focus is the devastating ongoing crisis in North and South Kivu, the humanitarian situation in other provinces remains worrying. This is the case in Tanganyika province, where humanitarian actors have recently become disengaged, but which is currently hosting several internally displaced persons (IDPs) from North and South Kivu via Lake Tanganyika. In the provinces of Kasai, Bandundu and Maindome, GBV remains rooted in social norms. Attacks on civilians by Mobondo militiamen are recurrent, as are cases of rape. There is a lack of GBV services and resources to negotiate solutions in areas where there is little operational presence of GBV actors. In Ituri, the ADF continues to carry out attacks on civilians, kidnappings and forced recruitment of minors, including adolescent girls. The territories of Irumu, Djugu and Mambassa are difficult to access due to insecurity, which is causing serious challenges in supplying health facilities with post-rape kits and other essential medicines. The situation of women and girls is worrying throughout the country, with a high risk of GBV.

This role will focus on supporting coordination of the GBV AoR in the Eastern DRC with presence in
Goma while supporting areas in South Kivu and Ituri.

Security Situation Summary in country and main threats:

The situation in North Kivu/Goma is critical, with the exception of certain areas of Butembo and the Far North, notably Beni, which are still under the control of loyalist forces. Between the end of January and the beginning of February 2025, Goma has been the theater of intense fighting that lasted more than a week, leading to massive displacement of populations and destruction of IDP sites. Some IDPs are trying to return home, or to find refuge with host families. Many are now homeless, while others are trapped by the lack of means of return, or because their homes have been destroyed or their villages are still in the conflict zone.

Security and safety challenges continue to have significant impacts on access by humanitarian actors to affected communities across the three provinces. In North Kivu, access to the Rusthuru area is severely constrained by armed groups operating within the area. In Ituri province, despite dialogue amongst armed groups, the security situation in Djugu and Mahagi territories continues to worsen as group movements and attacks in Beni-Mbau sector remain a threat to civilians in the area as various units move relatively freely in farming areas and remote pathways.   All these pose significant challenges to humanitarian actors and affected persons in accessing much needed lifesaving services and livelihoods.

The UN continues its missions and delivers humanitarian assistance to affected populations including IDPs and returnees. For safe access, all mission plans are shared with UNDSS and UNFPA security with joint missions as the preferred mode of operation. All UNFPA missions are conducted in compliance with the security risk management measures, personnel receive pre-departure security briefing, must have Personal Protective Equipment, first aid kit, Sat Phone and Very Hight Frequency (VHF) radios where applicable. SSAFE training is required and may be offered in-country.

Role Description:

Under the overall supervision of the UNFPA CO Deputy Representative, technical supervision of the GBV AoR coordinator at national level (based in Kinshasa) and administrative supervision of the HoO for the province of North Kivu, the incumbent facilitates and coordinates the rapid implementation of multi-sectoral, inter-agency GBV interventions in a humanitarian emergency. The GBV AoR Coordinator’s duties include: building and sustaining partnerships, strategic planning, capacity development, advocacy, and information management. The GBV Coordinator will use the GBV Area of Responsibility’s Handbook for Coordinating Gender-based Violence Interventions in Emergencies (2019), the Competency Framework for GBV Coordination (GBV AoR), Inter-Agency Minimum Standards for Prevention and Response to GBV in Emergencies and IASC’s Guidelines for Integrating Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action: Reducing Risk, Promoting Resilience, and Aiding Recovery, to facilitate planning, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of inter-agency GBV initiatives.

For several UN agencies, including UNFPA, the city of Goma is the humanitarian hub capital for response operations in the eastern provinces of the DRC (mainly Ituri, Tanganyika, South Kivu and Maniema). The leadership of most of the DRC's operational clusters are based in Goma.

The GBV coordinator in North Kivu covers the city of Goma and its territories, as well as the province of Ituri, including the cities of Butembo and Bunia.

As GBV coordinator at sub-national level based in Goma, he/she will work in close collaboration with The GBV focal points in Ituri, Bunia and Butembo to help them effectively carry out the key functions of GBV coordination in accordance with IASC guidelines and the GBV coordination handbook. If necessary, he/she will cover the GBV coordination gap in other provinces.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: We ask Country offices to review the list of duties and responsibilities and make appropriate amendments where necessary.

Building and Sustaining Partnerships
●    Facilitate inter-agency, multi-sectoral GBV coordination group (“sub-sector”) in the North Kivu and provide technical support to GBV coordination focal points in Bunia, Ituri and Butembo.
●    Promote, respect and ensure that the Principles of Partnership are reflected in the day-to-day work of the GBV sub-sector.
●    Establish    result-oriented,    two-way    communication    channels between national and sub-national GBV coordination groups to ensure a standardized response to GBV.
●    Proactively engage with all relevant stakeholders to ensure coordination bodies reflect the range of actors addressing GBV, including across multiple sectors (health, psychosocial, legal, security, etc.) and categories of actors (UN, NGO, civil society, WLO/WRO, government, etc.). As feasible, engage UN missions who may be active in addressing GBV, including but not limited to ensuring inter-agency inputs to the annual S-G’s report on conflict-related sexual violence.
● Regularly represent the GBV sub-sector in Protection sector meetings, OCHA-led meetings
(e.g. around development of the Strategic Response Plan or for Inter-sector Coordination), HCT, UNCT, and other relevant meetings, including those called by the Humanitarian
Coordinator.
●    Coordinate and collaborate with other sectors/working groups in North Kivu such as the Health sector, Protection Sector, SRH, GIHA and PSEA task forces, Child Sub-sector , Shelter/NFI sector , Food Security sector, Education sector, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Working Group, etc. to ensure integration of GBV-related action in their sector plans and to advocate for joint awareness-raising for non-GBV specialists.
●    Advocate with donors and mobilize resources for inter-agency GBV prevention and response in line with GBV sub-sector work plan and SRP. As necessary, leverage resources within UNFPA to support inter-agency GBV activities under the Sub-sector.
●    In consultation with non-governmental GBV actors and national civil society, identify appropriate mechanisms for working with and collaborating with national authorities on GBV issues.
● Support the roll out of the GBV case management capacity building initiative, etc.

Strategic Planning
● Facilitate implementation of Standard Operating Procedures. Regularly review and revisit
SOPs at strategic points throughout the crisis response.
●    In collaboration with national and international GBV actors, map current institutional response capacities, including facilitating mapping of GBV-specific 3Ws.
●    Lead a process to develop a realistic, evidence-based multi-sectoral and inter-agency prevention and response plan. Promote engagement of a range of sectors and ensure realistic benchmarks and timelines for achieving set objectives. Regularly monitor progress against plans during coordination meetings. Allow space for new actors to engage with a plan over the course of the crisis response.
●    Work with partners to continually identify response gaps in line with proposed work plans (including geographic coverage and programmatic scope) and seek solutions to fill gaps. Advocates with UNFPA as sub-cluster lead to address gaps not yet filled by partners.

Capacity Development
●    Work with partners to develop an inter-agency GBV capacity development strategy that meets the needs and priorities of key sub-national and local stakeholders to facilitate implementation of agreed work plan.
●    Revise existing training materials according to local context and ensure partners’ access to relevant training sessions.
●    Support efforts to strengthen the capacity of sub-sector members on planning and responding to GBV in emergencies and on safe and ethical GBV information management.
●    Ensure all GBV sub-sector partners and others are aware of relevant policy guidelines, technical standards, and other resource materials (go to www.gbvaor.net   for the latest information).

Advocacy
●    Provide technical support to the development of relevant advocacy and policy documents to address GBV in the context of broader gender inequality issues.
● Promote awareness of national laws and policies that inform action to address GBV.

Information Management
● In line with WHO’s Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Researching, Documenting and
Monitoring Sexual Violence in Emergencies:
o     Engage in robust analyses of available secondary data to ensure readily-available information on known trends and patterns on GBV for inclusion at relevant points along the Humanitarian Programme Cycle, HNRP, SitReps,briefing note to high level missions, Advocacy note and MIRA.

o     Consolidate existing assessments on the GBV situation and/or work with relevant agencies, the displaced and host populations to conduct relevant participatory analyses of GBV.
o     Undertake new assessment missions as necessary/appropriate to determine the magnitude and scope of GBV and identify strategic inter-sectoral approaches for addressing it.
o     Work with the GBV coordination groups to adopt a standardized GBV incident report/intake form and other relevant forms as necessary. Train partner organizations and other sectors in the use of this form with particular emphasis to the Guiding Principles for Working with GBV Survivors and in line with the PRIMERO/GBVIMs+
o     If necessary, develop monthly report formats that capture relevant information and that support the analysis and evaluation of program progress and outcomes.
o     Document best practices and approaches for responding to issues of GBV in order to deepen the knowledge base among relevant partners.
o   Prepare regular analytical reports on emerging issues.

Any other duties
● Write monthly reports documenting progress against work plan outputs.
● Other duties as required.

Qualifications and Skills Required
●    Advanced degree in social work or other social sciences, public health, community health, international relations, international law, human rights or related field.
●    5-7 years of experience working on gender-based violence, of which 3 are at the international level, preferably in a humanitarian context.
●    Strong experience leading inter-agency coordination mechanisms with a wide range of stakeholders. Demonstrable knowledge of the critical components to facilitate effective inter-agency coordination.
●    Awareness and demonstrable knowledge of how GBV manifests in humanitarian settings and ability to describe context-specific prevention and response actions.
● Demonstrable knowledge of humanitarian emergency operations, including the Cluster
System and HPC, and roles/responsibilities of key humanitarian actors.
● Experience designing and managing GBV programs in an NGO (recommended).
● Proficiency in FRENCH required. Other UN languages an asset.

CANADEM and its partners have a no-tolerance policy for inaction to prevent, respond to and follow up on alleged cases of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (SEAH). For this reason, we adhere to all policies, procedures and training of the United Nations on The Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH). CANADEM mandates all deployees successfully complete the PSEA online course. This e-learning course is composed of a set of lessons designed to raise awareness about SEAH, become familiar with a range of measures to combat SEAH, understand the impact on victims and the consequences for UN Personnel who commit Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment.

P3

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