General Description of the Programme:

GOAL an International Humanitarian Organisation has had a presence in Turkey since 2013 and has been contributing to the migrant response since 2016 with a focus on responding to needs in health service delivery, social safety nets and the protection of vulnerable and marginalised migrants in southern Turkey.

GOAL has been working in Syria since 2013, responding to the acute needs of conflict-affected communities. GOAL is working in Idleb Governate, both through direct implementation and through partners, delivering food, non-food programming to highly vulnerable populations, and provision of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) through support to Water units, as well as emergency support to recently displaced households.

Overview of the Link Program

GOAL seeks Community Access Officer (CAO) for its ECHO-funded LINK program. The program aims to connect vulnerable and marginalized communities to available state and non-state services in Ankara, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa and Adana using the outreach, advocacy and Individual Protection Assistance (IPA) approaches. Link will address and mitigate protection concerns of the vulnerable/marginalized refugees through provision of critical information and raising their awareness on their rights, obligations and services available in Turkey, by sensitization/advocacy (targeting key stakeholders and service providers, etc.) activities and Individual Protection Assistance (IPA) services to assist vulnerable individuals to access to basic, social and protective services available under the provisions of Temporary and International Protection regulations in Turkey. In Gaziantep and Sanliurfa the program will exclusively target the semi-nomadic groups including Dom and Abdal currently excluded from most services.

Position Summary

In supporting LINK’s engagement strategies, CAO is required to assist the LINK teams to better engage with and access to refugees from Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic groups living in Gaziantep, Adana and Şanlıurfa. He/she will be responsible for mapping of whereabouts of targeted communities, their movements, needs and issues and culturally appropriate ways and means of reaching out to those communities.  The CAO will be based in Gaziantep and will directly support LINK’s Gaziantep based teams while he/she will also support Adana and Sanliurfa teams through Community Access Assistants (CAAs) based in those cities respectively working under his/her supervision.

The ideal candidate will be able to work as part of a team and be confident and passionate around inclusion of refugees from Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic backgrounds.

General Functions

• Work with LINK teams and other professionals from a range of organizations to develop services that deliver the best possible outcomes for vulnerable/marginalized individuals and their families.
• Contribute to forums, coordination and working groups meetings, as agreed upon with the line manager, to develop and nurture fruitful referral partnerships.
• Ensure adherence with GOAL’s code of conducts and other internal policies i.e. on confidentiality, safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion including the GOAL's commitments to the protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA).
• Work with supervisors and peers in harmony to achieve Link service plans, objectives and targets.
• Participate in one to one performance development reviews/appraisals and contribute to the identification of own development needs.
• Ensure full compliance with the GOAL’s health and safety policy and all locally agreed safe methods of work.

Key Responsibilities and Duties

• Work closely with and support LINK Protection and Inclusion Coordinator (PICO) and Deputy Program Managers (DPMs) to develop, implement and sustain effective and impactful engagement strategies in working with refugee groups from Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic groups in the SE region.
• Work closely with Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic groups and community leaders to develop and implement engagement strategies for effectively reaching out to Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic groups in the SE region.
• Establish strong cultural ties and ensure effective liaison with refugees from Dom, Abdal communities and other refugees from similar backgrounds and encourage and support their access to a range of services and assistances locally available for them.
• Identify barriers that prevent Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic groups accessing to available services and assistance in Gaziantep, Adana and Sanliurfa; advice the PICO, DPMs and LINK teams to effectively engage with vulnerable individuals and families from these communities.
• Establish networks with Dom, Abdal and nomadic/semi-nomadic community leaders in the SE region including both from Turkish and refugee communities and connect LINK supervisors and teams with these community leaders.
• Establish networks with local NGOs lead by Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic groups in the SE region and connect PICO, DPMs, other LINK supervisors and teams with this NGOs.
• Sustain effective and productive working relationships with community leaders, local CBOs and NGOs from Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic groups in the SE region
• Develop and maintain strong partnerships with regional and national organizations advocating on behalf of and providing services to Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic groups in Turkey.
• Encourage Dom and semi-nomadic community leaders, individuals and families to use the Link social services centres (SSCs) and services.
• Support Link teams to design and deliver culturally appropriate and competent practices to refuges from the Dom, Abdal and nomadic/semi-nomadic groups in the SE region
• Contribute to developing a culturally attractive and safe workplace for Doms, Abdal and nomadic/semi-nomadic groups in the SE region.
• Work with refugees and community leaders from Doms, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic groups to identify and utilize community spaces where groups activities can be organized.
• Follow up and record important community days and events of Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic groups (both from refugee and host communities) and participate in community events and activities organised by these communities.
• Support LINK teams in encourage state and none-state social/humanitarian service providers to extend their services to Dom and semi-nomadic groups in SE of Turkey.
• Adopting a grassroots approach to reach to vulnerable and underserved communities and support LINK teams to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach, information, PSS, awareness sessions and IPA services to these communities.
• Ensure that LINK’s messages and information materials are appropriate and relevant to the needs/issues of target groups and vetted with the community groups to which the messages and materials are to be directed.
• When and as requested by supervisor, provide practical assistances to identified individuals from targeted communities to access health, education, protection and registration services, etc.
• Provide input into the planning, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the LINK Program.

Person Specifications

• Turkish Citizenship
• Identify his/herself as being from Roma, Dom, Abdal, etc. backgrounds and/or be an active member of one of those communities.
• Demonstrated ability to take direction, determine priorities and manage own workload in order to meet agreed timelines and objectives.
• Previous experiences working with Roma, Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic individuals and families.
• An understanding of the causes and pathways of exclusion.
• Social work outreach experience 
• Demonstrated understanding of issues affecting Roma, Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic individuals and families.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively engage and communicate sensitively with Roma, Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic individuals and families.
• Experience in developing and maintaining successful partnerships with Roma, Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic organisations and communities.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with various professionals from social and humanitarian services in the SE region.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills including liaison, negotiation and advocacy skills and the ability to provide written responses and reports.
• Ability to use computer efficiently and familiar with MS Office applications.
• Good working knowledge of English grammar, spelling and usage.
• 1 to 2 years related work experience or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Knowledge and understanding of the issues faced by refugees from Roma, Dom, Abdal and other nomadic/semi-nomadic background are an essential requirement of the post.
• Applications from candidates identifying as Roma, Dom, Abdal, etc. and that are able to speak an ethnic language spoken by one of these communities would be particularly welcome.

General terms and conditions

GOAL has a Staff Code of Conduct and a Child Protection Policy, which have been developed to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants and children from exploitation. GOAL also has a confidentiality policy ensuring the non-disclosure of any information whatsoever relating to the practices and business of GOAL, acquired in the course of duty, to any other person or organisation without authority, except in the normal execution of duty. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to these policies any job offer made is also subject to police clearance. GOAL is an equal opportunities employer.

This Job Description only serves as a guide for the position available. GOAL reserves the right to change this document. Any published closing dates are estimated.  Due to the nature of GOAL’s work we aim to fill vacancies as quickly as possible. This means that we will close adverts as soon as we have found the right candidate and this may be before the published closing date.  We would therefore advise interested applicants to submit an application as early as possible.

Interested? Then apply for this position by clicking on the apply now button and fill out the application form. All applicants must send a cover letter and an updated CV (no longer than four pages). Both must be in English. Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Applications close 23 September 2019.

Thank you.