Justice Centres Uganda (JCU) is a Project of the Justice Law and Order Sector (JLOS) hosted and supervised by the Judiciary to provide Legal Aid. JCU through its 13 Centres and National Coordination office, is continuing to implement its JLOS mandate of delivering holistic legal aid services to vulnerable communities in accessing Quality Gender Based Violence (GBV) Services.
The Spotlight Initiative Joint Programme of the Gender for Development Uganda (G4DU) project and the Justice for Her project under ADA have a primary goal to eliminate Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), Harmful Practices (HP) against women and girls and to promote Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR), through awareness creation and provision of quality justice services.
The project will be implemented in the districts of Kampala, Tororo Kasese (G4DU) and Masaka High Court circuit for ADA) where the focus will be on women, girls and other marginalized groups in the districts of Kampala, Kasese Masaka High Court circuit and Tororo. These are districts with high incidents of GBV and have JCU Centres already established.
Against the above background, Justice Centres Uganda hereby invites applications from suitably qualified Ugandans to fill up the PSYCHOSOCIAL ASSISTANT position to be based at the JCU Masaka Centre.
The Psychosocial Assistant will report to the Manager Programmes (MP)
The Psychosocial Assistant will have to maintain an environment of strict adherence to JCU code of conduct and to ensure provision of standard psychosocial services that prevent exploitation of beneficiaries.
Key duties and responsibilities:
The Psychosocial Assistant will:
- Ensure planning and field coordination of project activities with internal and external stakeholders by participating in the monthly activity planning meetings and developing
of weekly and monthly field activity plans.
- Implement, facilitate and follow-up, on a daily basis, the project activities in accordance with the project implementation plans.
- Identify, receive and assess appropriate support cases for psychosocial needs of JCU clients according to the psychosocial assessment criteria.
- Provide professional psychosocial services based on the informed consent of JCU Clients and ensure adaptation to their needs, taking into account the limitations of the project.
- Detect any evolution of the cases and modify the action plan accordingly or make referrals to relevant key institutions, personnel or stakeholders.
- Offer secure and appropriate psychosocial support by:
- using secure and professional methods when working with beneficiaries;
- ensuring follow up of cases and proper documentation;
- ensuring the responsibility of the service provided to the beneficiary; and
- providing appropriate psychosocial sessions to people with disabilities, including caregivers, in coordination with relevant services based on the specific situation of the person.
- In collaboration with the M & E Team, participate in the data collection and activities of the project by:
- Maintaining complete individual files for each client, including detailed
descriptions of services provided and evolution of the case; - Ensuring that every complete client pack is properly filled and signed;
- Respecting all guidelines and documentation within the project;
- Producing weekly activity reports and contribute in the development of project reports using JCU reporting templates;
- Contributing to the development of the programme activity reports; and
- Participating in project review meetings.
- Participate in mediation of cases with a Legal Team where necessary.
- Demonstration of professional ethics, safe, secure and practices that promote humanity and inclusion principles at all times by:
– ensuring protection and respect to the JCU sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment policy, the
anti-fraud and corruption policy and report to your supervisor of any non-respect of JCU policies amongst the teams or partners; and
– reporting any incident or act that causes any harm to beneficiary/clients or to others.
- Offer evidence in court when required.
- Report cases that need immediate legal attention to your supervisor as soon as they are identified.
- Follow up clients and document outcomes of processes, especially mediations.
- Prepare and submit periodic reports.
- Update the clients’ database of cases handled and ensure proper records.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The Psychosocial Assistant at JCU should preferably hold a Bachelors Degree in Community Psychology, Social Sciences, Community Development or other relevant Bachelor Degrees with proven experience in Psychosocial, Mental Health and disability inclusion.
- At least 1 year of professional experience in an NGO at Officer level.
- Experience in the fields of accessibility of services/services to vulnerable communities.
- Experience in training of adults.
- At least 2 years of professional experience in Education is an added advantage.
Competencies:
- Strong comprehension of the psychosocial issues of adults.
- Proven project activity implementation skills in collaboration with stakeholders.
- Capacity building, training and coaching skills.
- Perfect fluency in written and oral English and strong report writing skills.
- Familiar with MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and internet.
- Fluently spoken local languages will be an added advantage.
Personal Attributes:
- Ability to work under high pressure;
- Strong interpersonal and inter-cultural skills;
- Strong communication and networking skills;
- Strong interest in the fields related to JCU legal aid mandate;
- Strong team player and ability to work independently.
HOW TO APPLY:
Candidates with the necessary qualifications, competences, skills and experience should submit an application letter, a current CV and copies of their academic/professional certificates. Applications should indicate a daytime telephone contact, email address and include three professional referees.
Applications should be addressed to the National Coordinator; and hand delivered at The Judiciary Registry of Planning & Development, Plot 6, George Street, P.O. Box 26365 Kampala, Uganda.
Applicants outside Kampala can send their applications to [email protected]
While we thank all applicants for their interest in working with JCU,
ONLY shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews.
