Humanitarian Finance Officer (Ethiopia) – Terre des Hommes Netherlands
Accounting and Finance
Terre des Hommes Netherlands
Travelling child sex offenders too often go unpunished. Local police do not have the manpower to investigate these cases and moreover, collecting evidence is very complicated. Therefore, Terre des Hommes Netherlands will train local child protection officers in Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Nepal to identify perpetrators and assist local authorities with prosecution. Project Undercover is based on the successful approach of her project partner, Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), in Cambodia.
Terre des Hommes Netherlands identified Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Nepal as countries where, due in part to the Internet and the increase in tourism, child sexual abuse is prevalent. Being a taboo subject, child sexual abuse is often hidden behind a wall of silence, denial and indifference. With Project Undercover, Terre des Hommes Netherlands aims to protect more children against sexual exploitation. “We notice the approach in Cambodia is successful, therefore we want to copy this to other countries”, says Albert Jaap van Santbrink, executive director of Terre des Hommes Netherlands.
Background
Terre des Hommes Netherlands (TdH-NL) is an international NGO committed to stopping child exploitation globally, the most serious violations of the rights of the child, is the core of Terre des Hommes Netherlands’ work. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and International Labour Organization (ILO) standards as laid down in Conventions 138 and 182, our definition covers: child trafficking and unsafe migration; sexual exploitation of children; the worst forms of child labour; and child abuse including violations of the sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) of adolescents and retrogressive cultural practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation. In addition, humanitarian assistance is an integral part of our activities, in particular child protection and stopping child exploitation in emergency situations. We work a lot with local partners, so we keep a good view of the local problems. Our partners know the culture and know how best to help children who are being exploited. This allows us to better organise our programs.
In East Africa, Terre des Hommes Netherlands works in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia. We support child victims of exploitation with safeguarding, education, livelihoods support, psychosocial support, legal assistance, shelter, job opportunities and medical care; while at the same time targeting highly vulnerable children, who are at risk of being exploited, in our prevention activities. We launch public and media campaigns to create awareness on our focus issues and carry out local research into the extent and nature of abuse and exploitation of children.
Terre des Hommes Netherlands (TDH-NL) has been operational in Ethiopia since 2016 and registered in Ethiopia in 2017, carrying out child protection projects within four child protection themes: the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), the Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL), Child Trafficking and Migration (CTM), and Child Abuse (CA) in the form of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. With a management structure in Addis Ababa, TdH is currently implementing Emergency and Development projects in the Amhara regional state.
Our Vision: Terre des Hommes Netherlands works towards a world where all children have a decent life and can grow up to be independent adults. A world in which children are no longer exploited. We will continue our work until this is accomplished.
Our Mission: Terre des Hommes Netherlands prevents child exploitation, removes children from exploitative situations and ensures these children
Objective:
S/he is responsible for maintaining sound financial and accounting systems and controls for TdH -NL Ethiopia country office. The role entails performing day to day financial accounting tasks including, processing payments, filing and document retrieval, providing data for report preparation and data input for budgeting, financial accounting and reporting of assigned grants
In addition, S/he will take charge of reviewing payments, purchase requests, reviewing financial records for accuracy, prepare bank reconciliations, and conduct cash counts. S/he will ensure the strict compliance toTdH NL internal regulations, financial policies and procedures.
The Humanitarian Finance Officer works under the direct supervision of the Humanitarian Program Officer and liaises with the Finance Admin Officer and other program operations departments of TdH-NL in the field and Ethiopia country office.
Main responsibilities
Accounting and Finance
- Ensure that all financial transactions are carried out and recorded in accordance with TdH -NL and donors’ procedures, policies and ensure compliance.
- Reviewing travel expense reports, and procurement documents for accuracy before approval by respective signatories.
- Ensuring proper book of accounts are kept and maintaining a sound archiving (filing and retrieval) system.
- Preparation of various supporting schedules to the financial statements to facilitate annual audit and assist in the fieldwork process.
- Preparations of year end accruals and monthly reconciliation of the accruals and make journals where necessary
- Participate in the development of annual fiscal year budget together with the Finance Admin Officer
- Any other reasonable duty assigned by the line manager.
Contracts Management
Working closely with the Finance Admin Officer and support partner management
- Periodically visit partners and review their financial and administrative policies and procedures, identify shortcomings and train partners in such areas.
- Receive and review supporting documentation from partners
- Train finance staffs including partners
- Prepare and submit interim and final donor financial reports for review, at least one week before the due date.
- Prepare and circulate monthly Budget Follow Up (expense vs. budget) report to Humanitarian Program Officer as per the set deadlines for assigned project codes
- Promptly follow-up and make adjustments to monthly and interim donor reports based on feedback from the Humanitarian Program Officer.
- Discuss project budget utilisation with budget holder on a monthly basis
- Review monthly donor reports with the Humanitarian Program Officer and point out areas with financial risks in line with donor conditions to take proactive corrective action.
Budgeting
- Assist humanitarian Program Officer and partners in budget phasing and budget realignment.
- Support the preparation of Detailed Budget Sheets (DBS) for posting to the Quick book system for assigned projects.
- Support in production of Budget Follow Up ( BFU) information and review with the budget holder and project team.
Contract Duration: 12 months
Reports to: Humanitarian Program Officer
Qualifications and Experiences
- Bachelor degree in Finance, Accounting or related field.
- Five years of related experience, preferably within a humanitarian NGO setting.
- Good computer skill in MS Offices and operating office equipment (Scanning, Photocopy)
Skills and Competencies
- Knowledge of computerized Accounting, i.e. QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online, Saga, SUN etc
- Knowledge and practical skills in MS Excel, Google sheets and Word.
- Social skills required for communication with external relations and colleagues, the acquisition of clarifications of data, reports and the solving of problems
- Good communication skill
- Able to travel to project locations outside Addis frequently
Competence profile
Humanitarian Finance Officer
A. Driving for quality
- Set high demands on the quality of one’s own work and that of others; constantly strive for improvements.
Level 1: Applies the specified quality requirements within own work and repairs mistakes.
B. Planning & Organizing
- The effective alignment of activities, time and resources to achieve objectives.
Level 1: Plans and organizes own work in a logical way.
C. Care
- Possessing an eye for detail and doing things precisely as required.
Level 1: Has an eye for detail with regard to own work and that of others and in the way work is completed.
D. Customer Focus
- Anticipates and researches the expectations and requirements of the customer, connects with these and delivers added value
Level 1: Discovers the customer’s issue and delivers a suitable solution
