Cultural Mediator onboard the OV – Roster Position

About SOS MEDITERRANEE

SOS MEDITERRANEE is a civil European rescue association founded in 2015 to face the humanitarian tragedy and the lack of adequate state rescue capacity in the Mediterranean on the deadliest maritime migratory route in the world since 2014. Created by a group of European citizens, our maritime and humanitarian organisation has three missions:

1. To rescue people in distress at sea.
2. To protect and assist survivors on board our ship.
3. To bear witness and raise awareness about the tragedy unfolding in the central Mediterranean.

Today, SOS MEDITERRANEE is a network composed of four European entities (Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland) sharing the objective to support our rescue operations at sea. Search and Rescue (SAR) operations have been carried out since February 2016 in the Central Mediterranean off the Libyan coasts with the chartered ships Aquarius and Ocean Viking. To date, over 38.000 people have been rescued by SOS MEDITERRANEE.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

In coordination with the post-rescue care team, including the medical team, this person will facilitate the communication with people rescued by providing information about access to medical care, life on board the vessel until disembarkation, safety, and security measures, collect information about specific needs and use this opportunity to identify those in need of further support and refer to appropriate services on board.

As an Arabic /French– English facilitator and interpreter, they will provide vital support in communicating not only with survivors but other actors, including authorities as required, to support the overall.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES :

• Support registration process when embarking and act as focal point for communication with the team.
• Ensure relevant information are transmitted and shared to rescued people so to be aware of the services and living measures in place on the vessel.
• Be able to appropriately capture and report needs for further support including for protection issues.
• Ensure that information related to life on board is disseminated and safety is ensured for all, work closely with the Relief and Protection team and other teams on board to deliver key messages.
• Refer people with medical needs to the medical team and support as necessary.
• Apply PFA principles and processes, including empathic communication while upholding privacy and dignity, when interacting with persons and/or translating for consultations
• Provide translation in communication with various actors like Libyan Coast Guard, requiring clarity and precision in the communication for security reasons and to safeguard effective operations (under direct supervision of SARCO)
• Support with the organization of distributions.
• Contribute to de-escalate tension and aggressive behaviors.
• Support registration process when embarking and act as focal point for communication with the team.
• Ensure relevant information are transmitted and shared to rescued people so to be aware of the services and living measures in place on the vessel.
• Be able to appropriately capture and report needs for further support including for protection issues.
• Ensure that information related to life on board is disseminated and safety is ensured for all, work closely with the Relief and Protection team and other teams on board to deliver key messages.
• Refer people with medical needs to the medical team and support as necessary.
• Apply PFA principles and processes, including empathic communication while upholding privacy and dignity, when interacting with persons and/or translating for consultations
• Provide translation in communication with various actors like Libyan Coast Guard, requiring clarity and precision in the communication for security reasons and to safeguard effective operations (under direct supervision of SARCO)
• Support with the organization of distributions.
• Contribute to de-escalate tension and aggressive behaviors.
• Ensure communication channels, feedback loop, and methods for collecting people perceptions and insights are regularly monitored and analyzed and share findings with key operation teams and decision makers to inform action.
• Ensure complaints and feedback are appropriately directed and shared with the responsible team-members following safeguarding policies (PSEA and child safeguarding)
• In collaboration with Medical and Relief and Protection colleagues, identify and refer those in need of specialized support.
• Provide continuous relevant and accessible information to people on their situations, their rights and expected processes, protection services and mechanisms, and coping strategies, and on options to restore family links in collaboration / under supervision with Relief and Protection delegates.
• Support the organization of recreational activities for people, as per needs
• All staff must be flexible and willing to focus not only on their specific duties but on general tasks to meet the needs of rescued populations (such as food/NFI distribution, deck cleaning, deck watch, etc.)

SPECIAL CONCIDERATIONS :

• This position is on board a ship and candidates must be physically fit and “seaworthy” having spent some time at sea (be aware that sea sickness can be significant)
• Space is limited on the ship and rooms will be shared with other colleagues with little to no personal space.
• Candidate must have effective coping skills to deal with stress during high intensity rescues.
• Due to the current context and several uncertainties, flexibility is necessary.
• Transit with rescued people on board may last longer than usual waiting for a place of safety.
• Candidates must be able to handle a very high intensity workload during rescue and transit, as well as “down time” between rescues.
• Workload can be extremely exhausting depending on the weather conditions, the number of rescued people on board, and their condition during transit.
• All staff should be open minded, proactive, and constantly readjust the set up and strive to contribute to the development of an efficient operation.
• Candidates may be asked to participate in recording audio and video messages for the media.

Profile :

Essential needed requirement :

• Training in facilitation, or cultural mediation and/or interpretation
• Trained to administer Psychological First Aid
• Able to and experience working in high-pressure, low resource environments.
• Previous experience supporting people in complex environments and under severe distress.
• Previous experience in facilitation and interpretation with survivors or possible survivors
• Experience in crowd management and conflict resolution within a humanitarian/ emergency response setting.
• Strong organizational skills
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and diplomacy skills across differing audiences
• Flexibility and readiness to support on other onboard services provided as required.
• Ability to ensure sensitive working practices with vulnerable groups of people in line with confidentiality and privacy.
• Strong ability to communicate with people in distress and in hectic situation.
• Fluently spoken and written English, Arabic.

Desirable :

• University Degree
• Experience in crowd management and conflict resolution within a humanitarian/ emergency response setting.
• Experience in Search and Rescue (SAR) operations, preferably on water.
• Knowledge of PGI concepts, best practices, and concerns of target population.
• Good command of spoken and written French
• Additional advantageous language skills: Italian, Amharic, or Tigrinya.

Interpersonal Competencies :

• Good interpersonal and conflict resolution skills
• Ability to cope with uncertainty and frequent change of plans and to respond to requests quickly and accurately.
• Ability to cope with stress and work in an environment where team security is a top priority.
• Teamwork, flexibility, and adaptability. Flawless detail-orientation.
• Empathic and able to adapt to the situations and willing to help out in case of a change of plan.
• Committed to the vision, mission, and values of SOS MEDITERRANEE

Terms of contract:

• This recruitment is for a pool of individuals.
• Commit to rotations of 6-7 weeks.
• Ship-based position
• Evenings and week-end work.
• Europe-wide travel.
• Salary : based on SOS salary grid.
• Insurance on-board and off-board
• Contract Type : SPOT contract