About Search
Search for Common Ground (Search) is an international non-profit organization that promotes the peaceful transformation of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC, and Brussels, Belgium, Search’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict—moving away from destructive approaches and towards cooperative solutions. With more than 700 staff worldwide, Search implements projects in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and North America.
Search seeks a professional, motivated, and creative EWER Consultant, to support the collation, analysis and dissemination of early warning information. The EWER Consultant will work closely with the National Conflict and Policy Analyst, the EWER Coordinator, the EWER interns and other EWER focal points across projects towards the effectiveness of Search’s centralized EWER system.
Position Summary
Search’s Centralized EWER system makes for a permanent structure that will provide complete early warning information and will serve as a stopgap where any project that has EWER as a component can always leverage on in the interim before setting up its own structures. The centralized EWER system seeks to reduce the risk of attacks and other dangers posed by insecurity in the Country to staff, partners and community members by leveraging on already existing systems and structures. Search will sensitize all those interacting with the information on the need to protect the safety, security, and privacy of all involved.
All components of the reported incidents will be desegregated, verified and triangulated against independent sources. Independent sources to be leveraged on will include: the Community Response Networks (CRN), Community Security Architecture Dialogue (CSAD), Peace Architecture Dialogue (PAD) and other relevant external platforms such as WANEP, PLSO, INSO, PIND, ACLED, TTT or DTM. In addition to these sources, digital listening tools would also go a long way as the digital space would be scanned for early warning signals. The Centralized EWER system will work with a database of contacts from both current and past interventions of Search across the country for triangulation and in other cases reverse engineering to authenticate the findings and provide accurate and reliable analysis of the conflict dynamics and creating
pathways for formal and informal collaboration across a range of stakeholders that play a key role in peace and security in the country.
With the centralized EWER system being the focus of this engagement, the consultant will directly manage the data repository and organize periodic training on Do No Harm and risk mitigation to reduce the risks posed to community observers, Staff and beneficiaries of our project activities. While maintaining a commitment to cultural sensitivity, trained project staff and data repository users will ensure that the EWER system is not serving to reinforce negative cultural and gender norms.
Duration: Six(6) Months Consultancy
Roles and Responsibilities
- Undertake Do No Harm and risk mitigation training.
- Operationalize the centralized EWER system and generate reports, and a database of early warning signals.
- Ensure measures of sensitization on the need to protect the safety, security, and privacy of allthose interacting with the information.
- Engage community networks to carefully monitor indicators of rising dispute/conflict and measures taken to mitigate the crises from escalating.
- Work closely with other projects with EWER components to support and strengthen the EWER platform.
- Produce periodic Conflict Analysis /trend bulletin on evolving conflict dynamics.
- Supervise the Interns in the tracking, triangulation of EW signs and conflict indicators, and keying of data into the SCITAAP.
- Work with the National Conflict and Policy Analyst (NCPA) in strengthening the capacity of the EWER team with tools to enable data collection, analysis, presentation and reporting.
- Work with the NCPA and the Training Specialist in training the EWER volunteers.
- Coordinate the dissemination list for the EWER bulletins as agreed with the PDQR Team.
- Coordinate real-time tracking of incidents, trending online and offline
- Track and monitor conflict and security incidents across different credible internal and external platforms across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria
- Identify conflict triggers and violence to understand the conflict dynamics and spike in violence over a period of time
- Triangulate information across different platforms and community networks to authenticate information.
- Serve as a reference point in providing data (information) for national and international level engagement
- Projects with EWER components can leverage the existing centralized EWER system to strengthen their project deliverables
- Establish a data repository that can provide a platform of harmonized conflict and security information across different credible sources
- Work with the NCPA to establish a framework for a referral pathways across thematic conflict issues
- Provides a standardized process for learning and data Analysis
- The consultant may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above key duties.
Qualification & Requirements
- Education:
- Bachelor degree or equivalent in Conflict studies, Development studies, Statistics or Data Science.
- A certification in Conflict Analysis.
- Good understanding and use of analytics and presentation tools especially Excel, Power Bi, and Canva and other statistical tools etc
- Experience in the use of online listening tools
Core Competencies:
- Demonstrate integrity and promote Search values and ethical standards;
- Promote the vision, mission, and strategic objectives of Search;
- Demonstrate capacity to adapt to a multicultural context, tolerance, and respect for issues related to gender, religion, race, and nationality;
- Proficiency in the use of MS Office, Statistical and analytical tools as well as listening tools
- Demonstrate capacity to work effectively under stress, on multiple assignments simultaneously and adapting to changing demands.
Experience
- Proven experience in setting up a similar EWER system in Nigeria. A minimum of 10 years experience in establishing and leading EWER initiatives in Nigeria.
- Required experience includes; experience in monitoring, tracking and analysis of early warning signs and indicators of conflict, inter-group dynamics, collective action or issues related to Freedom of Religion and Belief.
- Experience in managing and coordinating EWER mechanisms and EWER focal points across Nigeria
- Experience in developing conflict snapshots/ EWER bulletin or a harmonized report of Conflict trends.
- Experience in data management and analysis.
- Excellent writing, planning and coordination skills, with proven ability to work independently.
Ethical Considerations
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
Search for Common Ground (Search) considers all forms of abuse towards children, youth and vulnerable adults to be unacceptable. Our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy set out the measures we will take to safeguard children, youth, and vulnerable adults. This includes proactive actions to prevent situations of abuse and harm occurring, and reactive actions to respond to situations where a child, youth or vulnerable adult is, or may be, suffering abuse.
Who is a child? A child is any human under the age of 18 as stipulated by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989.
Who is considered youth? Youth is the transitional period between adolescence and adulthood, for this policy we focus on the group of individuals ages 15 to 25 years old.
Who is a vulnerable adult? A person who by reason of disability, age, gender, social and economic status, illness, or the context they are in, may be unable to take care of or protect him or herself against abuse, harm or exploitation.
As part of our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy, it is a requirement that all staff including but not limited to all permanent and temporary members of staff; Community based staff or incentive worker; Volunteers and interns; Consultants; Translators; Search’s Board of Directors; Invited visitors (including donors/ funders; media/ journalists); Partner organizations; Third-party contractors (i.e. supplies, builders, etc); Members of research bodies, academic institutions, associates, and all Search’s affiliates, agree to abide by the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy and have signed it before commencing any work with the children. The umbrella term ‘Search affiliates’ will be used to refer to all people associated with Search.
It is a Mandatory requirement that any form of unacceptable behavior which breaches this safeguarding policy must be reported. In the case of situations which are not covered by the safeguarding policy, Search expects its representatives to apply common sense whilst focusing on the “child’s best interests”.
To apply:
Interested candidates should send the following to our portal on or before October 11, 2024.
Current resume
Proposal (which includes expectations of compensation and projected start date)
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Please note that the system only has the functionality to upload two documents per application. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Only applicants invited for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please. Please see our website:
www.sfcg.org for full details of our work.
Commitment to Search Values:
Trust, Breakthrough and Collaboration
