Voice of Older People and Family (VOP-Fam) is a Humanitarian non-profit nongovernmental organization working to achieve a better life for older people and their family members on the basis of a human rights approach. VOP is registered with Kurdistan regional government (according to letter no. 9901 dated   October 6^th, 2004 issued by the Ministry of Interior).

The main office is located in Dohuk Governorate, but runs projects and activities in a number of other Iraqi cities and towns such as Sulaymaniyah Governorate and Shekhan district. VOP – Fam has well established itself in the last twelve years of its age as focusing on undertaking social activities for the elderly and family members with a strong component in child protection, legal aid, and peaceful coexistence activities through involving communities in dialogues and involving art activities for disseminating peace messages.   

VOP has experienced personnel in areas of Programming, administration and finance, field implementation, and monitoring as well as emergency coordination, the staff is further supported with the good reputation and strong coordination VOP has with the local authorities and communities it has worked with.     

Mission Statement 

VOP works with and for older people and their families by providing care and emergency requirements in order to achieve a better life.

Child Protection Program

VOP FAM has been implementing Child Protection (CP) programs since 2012. where UNICEF is our main partner, we have implemented a variety of CP projects with the support of many other local and international NGOs During the emergencies, we were among the first NGOs who responded to child protection concerns such as identifying and registering the Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC) and implementing Child Protection in Emergencies (CPiE) projects. Furthermore, after the emergency, VOP FAM is running more development and sustainable projects in the affected communities such as Community-Based Child Protection projects.  

Applicant must be  a resident of Shingal

Caseworker job summary

Our organization is looking for a Caseworker who can objectively analyze a situation and make determinations that are best for the children and family involved. The Caseworker will be responsible for attending regular home visits with families and reporting on the children’s welfare, and collaborating with foster care to come up with temporary living arrangements for children if necessary. If you have previous experience working with families as a social service professional, we encourage you to apply for this position.

Description (Case Worker)

1- Supporting individual children and families through the provision of case management services and increasing the community’s capacity to identify and respond to child protection concerns.

2- Identity, document support children and families in need of individual support, including but not limited to separated and unaccompanied minors.

3- Refer cases with specific needs to the competent service providers, follow up and document referred cases. Ensure that urgent and challenging cases are immediately discussed with direct supervisors.

4- Conduct follow-up and monitoring visits and provide psychological first aid or other support, depending on the child’s needs.

5- Support community-based mechanisms on identifying cases.

6- Work with cultural sensitivity and respect the dignity of vulnerable children and families and members of the host communities at all times.

7- Registers information collected through appropriate reporting tools and report this information to the CP manager.

8- Able to work under pressure and in all circumstances.

Caseworker responsibilities and duties

• Schedule monthly interactions with foster families, care workers, and families involved in ongoing cases
• Work with families to help them understand how to create a more productive environment for each family member, especially their children
• Provide counseling to family members and schedule follow-up meetings with families that have been reunited
• Collaborate with other public resources to get the best results possible for each family
• Attend case summary reviews and other official procedures involved in the resolution of each open case file

Core Values:

• Accountability:
• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modeling Child safeguarding values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance, and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.
• Ambition:
• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for child safeguarding, engages and motivates others.
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.
• Collaboration:
• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members, and external partners and supporters.
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength.
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.
• Creativity:
• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
• Willing to take disciplined risks.
• Integrity:
• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates the highest levels of integrity.
• Child Protection and Wellbeing: Members of VOP FAM have a commitment to prevent child abuse or any type of violations against the children during their work in the office and the field and to provide what is needed for the protection of the children. Potential candidates must ensure the safety and well-being of all children coming into contact with VOP FAM. Candidates should not have any direct or indirect harm towards children.
• Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse: VOP-FAM adopts a zero-tolerance approach towards sexual exploitation and abuse. VOP-FAM is committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse both within the organization and within the framework of VOP-FAM programs and VOP-FAM beneficiary populations.

Qualifications & Preferred Skills

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Be able to prioritize tasks.
• The ability to think critically and to recommend good solutions to problems.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Ability to conduct outreach at the community level.
• Fluency in Kurdish, Arabic.
• Ability to work to sharp deadlines and under pressure.

Experience:

• At least 1 year of Experience in a GBV related field
• Computer literate in financial management software
• Experience in logistics and accounting.Good technical understanding of child protection and community-based approaches.
• Experience with community development, working with children and schools.
• A basic understanding of MS Word and MS Excel required

Education: Diploma or higher, preferably any field relevant to GBV

How to apply:

Exclusive to Applicants from Shingal Only.

Interested applicants who meet the above criteria should submit the following documentation to vacancies@vopiraq.org before 28/06/2021:

• A cover letter summarizing your interest in VOP-FAM and the position, qualifications, and compensation requirements

• Current resume
• List of three professional references.

Note: the email should be titled Caseworker (GBV Shingal) otherwise it will not be visible to the employment committee.