Organizational Context
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian network, with 191-member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. IFRC uses the Triple R – response, resilience and respect – to deliver on Strategy 2030. IFRC responds to disasters and crises, ensuring timely, coordinated and locally led humanitarian action. IFRC supports its members in building community resilience in the areas of climate and environment, health and wellbeing, and migration and displacement. IFRC promotes respect for our fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality, including in our work on values, power and inclusion.
The IFRC focuses throughout on our core mandate – our raison d’être – of strategic and operational coordination, humanitarian diplomacy, National Society development, and accountability. IFRC is led by its Secretary General and has its Headquarters in Geneva and five regional offices in Africa (Nairobi); the Americas (Panama); Asia Pacific (Kuala Lumpur); Europe (Budapest); and MENA (Beirut) as well as representation offices, service centres and delegations across the globe.
The IFRC has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination, and lack of integrity (including but not limited to financial misconduct). IFRC also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles.
The Ebola outbreak, declared mid‑May 2026, is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, with hundreds of suspected cases and hundreds of deaths reported across Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu provinces. It began with clusters of unexplained deaths in early May and is spreading in a context of weak health systems, population movement, insecurity, and community mistrust, which together increase the risk of sustained transmission and cross‑border spread to neighbouring countries such as Uganda and South Sudan. The absence of an approved vaccine or specific treatment for this strain makes the outbreak particularly complex and heightens the urgency of rapid containment.
The IFRC is scaling up a national society‑led response centred on community engagement, surveillance, and infection control, supported by an emergency appeal. Red Cross volunteers are mobilized in affected areas to conduct door‑to‑door awareness, counter misinformation, encourage early care‑seeking, and support safe and dignified burials, key to breaking transmission. At the same time, the IFRC is coordinating closely with governments and partners, strengthening cross border preparedness, mobilizing resources and surge capacity, and supporting logistics, infection prevention control, and community-based surveillance to contain the outbreak and reduce regional spread.
Job Purpose
The Safeguarding Officer will support the DRC Red Cross (DRC RC) and IFRC in the Ebola outbreak response. The Safeguarding Officer is responsible for developing and strengthening safeguarding within the Ebola operation and supporting the effective institutionalization of a zero‑tolerance policy towards inappropriate sexual behaviour, both within the organization and through the safeguarding mainstreaming across different sectors of the response.
Under the general supervision of operation manager, the incumbent will also assist the response coordination in implementing safe programming, enforcing safeguarding policies and action plans as well as coordinating with/developing the the local interagency PSEA network. This role will also involve regular field trips to the intervention areas.
Job Duties and Responsibilities
- Support the establishment of Safeguarding Field-level Focal Points in each branches and health zone offices, and support with their capacity-building by sharing tools, resources, and offering awareness-raising sessions/training;
- Help ensure that the identity of Safeguarding focal points is known throughout EVD and outreach locally and their contact details are made widely available.
- Work with AAP/CEA/ PGI and other relevant actors to inform communities of their absolute right to assistance without any conditions related to sexual favours, standards of behaviour expected of IFRC personnel and options for reporting incidents of Sexual Misconduct and to identify community preferences in reporting sensitive allegations
- In collaboration with AAP/CEA/PGI and other relevant actors advocate for and contribute to the mapping of existing complaint and feedback mechanisms (CFM) relevant to IFRC serviced communities to identify where there are capacities and/or gaps for reporting sensitive complaints.
- Socialise the availability and uptake of Integrity Line locally. Review and/or strengthen safe, confidential Sexual Misconduct -specific procedures for internal complaint and feedback mechanisms (CFMs) and referrals to victim/survivor assistance, informed by good practice and community consultations
- Act as an in-person channel (not investigator or case handler) for Safeguarding including sexual Misconduct concerns and complainants.
- Update mapping of locally available Sexual Exploitation & Abuse (SEA) or other Sexual Misconduct response services, including medical, psychosocial, legal and livelihood -wherever possible in collaboration with local PSEA Networks- in each geographical area of IFRC intervention, or location of IFRC serviced communities. Identify gaps and with other PSEA Network/PSEAH pilar Members establish alternative options for victims/survivors to assure their safety and immediate care
- Develop and or update a referral pathway guide for IFRC staff (including field monitors and others who may initially receive a complaint) on referrals to health and other services that victims/survivors of Sexual Misconduct may need following receipt of a complaint.
- Based on the CFM and SEA/ Other Sexual Misconduct service mapping and community preferences, strengthen existing and/or establish new entry points to fill gaps in reporting and capacity
- Train staff on PSEA/Sexual Harassment, Child Safeguarding, Whistleblowing and how to submit and receive complaints under internal and interagency reporting systems as appropriate.
- Support the implementation of various safeguarding (SEA, child safeguarding) risk analyses and regularly update the risk mitigation plan
Awareness-raising and training activities
- Plan and organize trainings for office/operations staff and partners on Safeguarding including but not limited to the IFRC Code of Conduct, PSEA, Sexual Harassment and Whistleblowing policies and complaint mechanisms for SEA concerns. Ensure the referral pathways are incorporated in Safeguarding trainings and understood by all actors
- Provide advice and guidance regarding Safeguarding to Senior leadership, managers, project and programme delivery staff and volunteers, HR and security,
- Support IFRC Staff and Partners locally to develop a collective communication strategy to raise awareness on key Safeguarding messages, including the rights of affected populations, the fact that assistance and services are never conditioned on sexual favours, and how to submit sensitive complaints
Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)
- Support and advocate with senior leadership to finalize and endorse contextually appropriate and informed Safeguarding relevant tools/documents
- Support the local PSEA pilar to hold inter-agency trainings on good practices in SEA complaint intake and referral for Safeguarding Focal Points, GBV and Child Protection actors, and all actors staffing CFM channels, so that all actors who may receive SEA complaints know how to recognize SEA and other sexual Misconduct and where to send allegations in the joint CBCM
Organisational Prevention
- Support Senior Leadership to carry out the Safeguarding risk self assessment specific to IFRC operations and/or programming in the local context to inform senior leadership on strategic decision-making. This will include collaborating with dedicated staffing and coordinating consideration of risks related to programme design, programme implementation by staff and IFRC partners and engagement with communities
- Advocate for the Implementation of Safeguarding including SEA prevention, risk mitigation, and response measures during planning, project development, and programming in each department and in each technical sector
- Working with PGI/CEA delegate facilitate a baseline Safeguarding assessment and development of a Safeguarding action plan.
- Work with senior management to strengthen internal protection structures, including adapting and briefing on the Safeguarding Policy, internal reporting channels and community-based complaint mechanisms available to affected people
- Update Country Profile and prepare regular reports to senior leadership on developments, trends and challenges in Safeguarding in-country to ensure continued engagement and address gaps in Safeguarding implementation
- Ensure that internal HR practices including screening and recruitment Misconduct Disclosure Scheme are in place in human resource departments that guard against hiring persons who have a (pending) allegation of misconduct against them, and include safeguarding content in staff induction, contracts and subcontracting, and job evaluation criteria
Coordination for Quality and safe Programming:
- Coordinate technical matters and support with Movement partners (ICRC and PNSs) and interagency groups.
- Maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of safeguarding in programming guided by common strategic, principled, and practical safeguarding objectives,
- Coordinate and guide the development of context-specific analysis of safeguarding-related risk patterns to determine priorities and establish corresponding strategies and actions.
- Identify needs and gaps in safeguarding capacity throughout the operation and guide the way forward to address them.
- Oversee adequate and relevant capacity-building activities to ensure NS staff and volunteers are adequately trained and acquire the requisite safeguarding knowledge and competencies to remain accountable and avoid doing harm.
Education
Required
- Bachelor’s degree or suitable work experience, within an area relevant to the subject, including gender, accountability to affected populations, child protection, community organisation/facilitation, social work, international humanitarian aid and/or development
Preferred
- Formal training in safeguarding and/or protection
Experience
Required
- At least 4 years’ experience of working with adults and children in vulnerable situations
- At least three years of working experience in gender/protection mainstreaming or standalone programming in humanitarian context, including proven track record in leading and delivering tools, and technical advisory outcomes.
- At least 3 years’ experience in working in a relevant role in a humanitarian context - e.g. protection, Gender and Diversity, PSS, violence prevention, trafficking prevention, etc;
- Experience of working directly with case-management and/or referrals of vulnerable individuals affected by protection concerns e.g. survivors of violence, conflict or trauma;
- Experience in conducting trainings and adapting interventions to the context;
- Experience of working in the field and having close interaction with communities;
- Experience in developing and implementing strategic frameworks on complex issues at a strategic level;
- Experience in developing monitoring and reporting systems;
- Demonstrated professional experience in an organization within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, or in an international organization or NGO.
Knowledge, Skills and Languages
Required
- Up-to-date knowledge of good practices in safeguarding/SEA, protection, accountability to affected populations and/or gender issues
- Building and maintaining partnerships and relationships, Ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders to influence practice, ensuring inclusive practice and promoting diversity
- Ability to facilitate trainings and workshops on technical matters
- Skills in active listening, empathy, communications, influencing, training, organising and attention to detail
- Excellent analytical skills and ability to identify problems and propose solutions;
- Ability to multi-task and work under pressure
- Ability to deliver multiple activities with a degree of diversity, ability to create integration across these activities
- Ability to complete tasks with minimal supervision
- Ability to work on MS applications e.g. Word, Excel, and Power Point
- Fluent spoken and written French
- Good command of English
Preferred
- Good command of local language
- Good command of another IFRC official language (Spanish and Arabic)
Competencies, Values and Comments
Values: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability
Core competencies: Accountability, Diversity, Teamwork, Communication, Innovation, Trust building, Empowering others and National Society Relations
