SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH - GBV ENGAGEMENT OFFICER
International Rescue Committee
Remote
IRC Summary
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people survive, recover, and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC provides lifesaving assistance and supports people affected by conflict, displacement, and disaster to rebuild their lives with safety, dignity, and hope.
In Nigeria, conflict, displacement, and insecurity continue to create significant barriers to accessing essential health and protection services. Women and girls are particularly affected by sexual and gender-based violence, unintended pregnancy, maternal and reproductive health risks, stigma, and limited access to confidential and appropriate care. These challenges are often compounded by insecurity, social norms, limited information, weak referral pathways, and the physical and financial barriers associated with accessing services.
IRC works with government authorities, health facilities, communities, and local partners to strengthen integrated health and protection services. Through its Health and Women’s Protection and Empowerment programming, IRC seeks to ensure that women and girls can access services that are safe, confidential, accessible, respectful, survivor-centered, and responsive to their needs and preferences.
Position Summary
The SRH/GBV Engagement Officer will support IRC's efforts to increase access to and utilization of quality sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV) services among women, girls, adolescents, and other vulnerable populations affected by conflict and displacement.
The position will serve as an important link between communities, health facilities, WPE/GBV services, and referral partners, helping to ensure that women and girls understand available services, can safely access them, and receive appropriate support throughout the referral process.
The Officer will work closely with community health workers, community volunteers, women's and youth groups, health providers, WPE staff, government counterparts, and other community-based structures to identify barriers to service access and develop appropriate engagement strategies. This will include community dialogue, targeted awareness activities, social and behaviour change approaches, feedback mechanisms, referral support, and engagement with trusted community influencers.
The role will also support the integration of survivor-centered principles into community engagement and referral activities, ensuring that all interactions uphold confidentiality, informed choice, dignity, safety, non-discrimination, and the autonomy of survivors and clients.
The SRH/GBV Engagement Officer will report to the Roving SRH Manager and contribute to IRC's broader objective of improving equitable access to quality SRH and GBV services in humanitarian and underserved settings.
Major Responsibilities
Community Engagement and Service Uptake
- Develop community activities that raise awareness and encourage people to use available sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV) services.
- Work with community health workers, volunteers, women’s groups, youth groups, traditional and religious leaders, and other trusted community members to share clear and relevant information with women and girls.
- Organize community meetings and small-group discussions on SRH, GBV prevention, available services, referral options, and challenges people face when seeking care.
- Identify barriers to accessing services, including social, cultural, financial, distance, and other practical challenges, and work with communities and programme teams to find realistic solutions.
- Promote informed, voluntary, and respectful access to SRH services, including family planning and maternal health care, while raising awareness of GBV support services in ways that protect survivors from further harm.
- Ensure activities are inclusive and suitable for different ages, genders, abilities, languages, literacy levels, and cultural backgrounds, with particular attention to adolescent girls, women with disabilities, displaced people, and other underserved groups.
- Support the development and sharing of clear, accurate, and culturally appropriate information on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV).
- Make sure community messages explain where, when, and how women and girls can safely access available services.
- Help address misinformation, stigma, misunderstandings, and harmful beliefs that may prevent people from seeking support.
- Raise awareness of available services, including family planning, maternal health, post-violence care, psychosocial support, and protection services.
- Use suitable ways to reach different groups, such as one-on-one discussions, community meetings, radio, women’s groups, youth groups, and other local communication channels.
- Ensure all communication respects people’s right to make their own informed choices, and work with health and WPE teams to ensure that information is accurate and consistent with approved programme guidance.
- Put the safety, privacy, choices, and needs of survivors first in all community engagement and referral activities.
- Support safe and confidential referrals for people who choose to access GBV-related services.
- Keep up-to-date information on available health, GBV case management, mental health and psychosocial support, legal, child protection, and other services.
- Clearly explain available support and referral options so individuals can decide what is right for them, without pressure.
- Do not pressure survivors to share personal information or use any service against their wishes. Collect and share only the information that is necessary and with appropriate consent.
- Work with WPE and health teams to address challenges that may prevent survivors from getting timely and appropriate support, while following established procedures for urgent safety, protection, and safeguarding concerns.
- Build strong connections between community groups and IRC-supported or government health facilities.
- Help community members understand available SRH and GBV services and how to access them safely.
- Work with health facility teams to identify and address barriers that prevent women and girls from using services.
- Maintain regular communication between community representatives, outreach teams, and service providers.
- Share community concerns and referral challenges with the supervisor and support practical solutions.
- Engage men and boys as partners in preventing GBV and supporting better SRH outcomes.
- Work with traditional, religious, youth, women’s, and other community leaders to promote support for women’s and girls’ access to services.
- Encourage open discussions about harmful gender norms, stigma, discrimination, and practices that limit access to care.
- Promote community values based on safety, dignity, equality, and respect for women and girls.
- Identify community champions who can share accurate information and promote positive attitudes while protecting survivors’ privacy and safety.
- Create safe and accessible ways for women, girls, and other community members to share their views about SRH and GBV services.
- Collect and review feedback regularly to identify concerns, service gaps, and barriers to care.
- Handle feedback confidentially and refer concerns through the appropriate channels when action is needed.
- Work with programme teams to use community feedback to improve services and community engagement.
- Make sure feedback channels are accessible to adolescents, people with disabilities, displaced people, and other groups who may face additional barriers.
- Work closely with Health, WPE, Protection, MHPSS, and other IRC teams to coordinate community activities and services.
- Participate in programme meetings, community assessments, outreach planning, and service mapping.
- Maintain good working relationships with government health authorities, LGA structures, community leaders, local organizations, and referral partners.
- Train and mentor community health workers, volunteers, peer educators, and other community actors on approved SRH and GBV approaches.
- Provide refresher training and coaching on services, referrals, confidentiality, safeguarding, and survivor-centred support.
- Keep accurate records of community activities, outreach, referrals, training, feedback, and other programme work.
- Track community reach, awareness of services, referrals, and other key programme results, and use the findings to improve activities.
- Document lessons learned, community concerns, successful approaches, and challenges, and share timely reports with the supervisor.
- Protect the privacy and safety of survivors by collecting and sharing only necessary information and following IRC confidentiality, safeguarding, and information-sharing procedures.
- Apply principles of safety, dignity, informed choice, confidentiality, and non-discrimination, and report safeguarding or protection concerns through established IRC channels.
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification in Public Health, Community Health, Nursing, Midwifery, Social Work, Psychology, Gender Studies, Development Studies, Sociology, or a related field.
- At least 3–5 years of relevant experience in SRH, GBV, community engagement, health promotion, protection, or humanitarian and development programmes, with hands-on experience working with communities and local groups.
- Practical experience working with women and girls, adolescents, displaced people, and other vulnerable groups, including leading community discussions, training, awareness activities, and outreach.
- Good knowledge of SRH and GBV services, referral systems, survivor-centred support, confidentiality, informed consent, safeguarding, protection, and the principle of doing no harm.
- Strong communication, coordination, facilitation, and reporting skills, with the ability to work with government health teams, community organizations, humanitarian partners, and service providers. Fluency in relevant local languages (Hausa and/or Kanuri) and willingness to travel regularly to communities and supported facilities, including hard-to-reach areas, are highly desirable.
- Strong understanding of SRH and GBV/VAWG and the ability to engage communities and promote access to appropriate services.
- Ability to mobilize communities, create awareness, encourage positive behaviour change, and facilitate meaningful discussions.
- Skilled in communicating with survivors in a respectful and sensitive manner, while supporting safe referrals and protecting confidentiality.
- Ability to work effectively with women, girls, adolescents, men, boys, community leaders, and other local groups in an inclusive and gender-responsive way.
- Strong skills in coordination, partnership building, community feedback, data collection, reporting, and programme learning, with a clear commitment to safeguarding and accountability.
- Ability to Travel: 30–40% of time, depending on programme requirements, geographic coverage, and security/access conditions.
Cookies: https://careers.rescue.org/us/en/cookiesettings