Social Welfare Officer at Rwanda/Centre Cyprien et Daphrose Rugamba (CECYDAR): (Deadline 21 January 2024)

General job overview

Coordinating and providing comprehensive and integrated welfare support to vulnerable families and children in CECYDAR’s intervention zones, in collaboration with partners and local communities, to reach out to beneficiaries and address their social welfare and livelihood development.

CECYDAR

CECYDAR – Centre Cyprien & Daphrose Rugamba, based in Remera in the Gasabo district of Kigali (administrative headquarters) and active in the peripheral districts, is a non-profit organization under Rwandan law, founded in 1992 under the inspiration of the couple Cyprien and Daphrose Rugamba. This extraordinary couple were moved by the miserable living conditions of street children, and by their lively spirit and passion for charity: to see young children living off drugs and rubbish, and not going to school! This was the genesis of an initiative rooted in Rugamba’s philosophy: “…aba baterashozi bitaweho bavamo abaterashema”, to say that street children can become the pride of society. The couple were assassinated at the start of the genocide against the Tutsis in 1994, and since then, the Communauté de l’Emmanuel du Rwanda, of which they were the founders in Rwanda, has taken over.

CECYDAR’s vision is to accompany children and their families towards “A life of dignity and a promising future for every child”, as stated in its mission statement, which is to “Support vulnerable children and their families physically, psychologically, socially, economically, spiritually and intellectually”, through our values, which help to shape the organization’s culture, notably: Compassion, Hospitality, Hope, Catholic Faith and Professionalism.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Coordinate the service and teams under his/her responsibility;
• Identify, welcome and orient potential beneficiaries of the organization under his/her responsibility, analyze their priority needs and propose an appropriate response framework (intervention plan);
• Establish an integrated intervention plan to meet the individual needs (rehabilitation, education, health, psychosocial support, economic strengthening, etc.) of each family;
• Ensure the rehabilitation, reintegration and specialized follow-up of each family;
• Support the regrouping of families into Associations;
• Support families in developing and managing small income-generating projects;
• Provide a strategic framework for raising awareness, setting up and providing technical support to associations, creating links and collaboration with banks and other financial institutions;
• Coordinate and monitor parents’ associations in their respective communities;
• Advocate on behalf of vulnerable families to gain access to services available in the community;
• Collaborate with local authorities in research and capacity building for families;
• Carry out duties as requested by supervisors;
• Establish a strategic framework for post-reintegration follow-up of children ensuring their stability (i.e. home visits to families in need, school follow-up of vulnerable children, etc.);
• Assume the role of reference person for all social issues concerning children and families.

Other duties and responsibilities

• Participate in debriefing and orientation meetings to support families;
• Carry out field activities as directed by supervisor;
• Complete work tools according to instructions received from supervisors and the organization’s Program Evaluation;
• Prepare periodic operational reports for the department’s immediate supervisor, donors and other potential partners;
• Organize and coordinate the team’s activities in the field, in line with the organization’s mission;
• Contribute to the development, strengthening and maintenance of good relations and collaboration with other stakeholders working in the districts and in the same fields as those of CECYDAR;
• Contribute to the smooth running of collaboration with various stakeholders (i.e. donors, local authorities and partners, JADF, etc.);
• Contribute to the development of strategies, the elaboration of new projects, the mobilization of new resources and funds or any other strategy designed to support the viability of the organization’s programs.

Required qualifications

• Have at least an A0 degree in Social Sciences;
• Having at least 3 years’ professional experience working with NGOs for vulnerable children, families and community;
• Demonstrate the ability to work in a multidisciplinary and multicultural team.
• Ability to work with a minimum of supervision
• Ability to liaise and collaborate with local authorities and other stakeholders in the field of child protection and family welfare.
• Demonstrate the ability to be open-minded and to acquire new knowledge
• Demonstrates creativity and flexibility
• Demonstrate leadership skills
• Demonstrate organizational skills and ability to set priorities;
• Demonstrate team spirit and collaborative spirit
• Have human and social values; Christian values would be an asset;
• Excellent spoken and written language skills in Kinyarwanda, French and English;
• Familiar with office and electronic communication tools and software
• Being between 25 and 40 years old.

Application details

Interested candidates are requested to send (only) a one-page cover letter and a two-pages brief curriculum vitae (2 pages maximum) with 3 references details to info@cecydar.rw and the closing date for applications is January 21^st, 2024 before 5 p.m.

CECYDAR is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to offering equal employment opportunities without distinction or segregation. However, the responsibilities of this position require the employee to be in regular contact with children and their families; this in turn requires a high level of responsibility by precaution in the management of all risks and abuses sanctioned by Rwanda’s Child and Family Protection Law.

This job description summarizes the main duties of the position. It does not prescribe or limit the exact duties that may be assigned to carry out these functions. Under no circumstances should this document be construed as a contract of employment. CECYDAR reserves the right to review and revise this document at any time.

Late applications will not be considered and only selected candidates will be contacted for further consideration.