Sudan faces increasing explosive ordnance risks as civilians return to contaminated urban and rural areas. Victim assistance is recognized under IMAS 13.10 as a core pillar of mine action, but most support — emergency medical care, rehabilitation, psychosocial support, social protection, education and livelihood inclusion — is delivered outside the mine action sector, requiring strong referral and coordination systems. DRC’s own programme analysis identifies significant gaps in victim assistance and the need to use DRC’s protection, case management and referral expertise to support local partners and the National Mine Action Center (NMAC). DRC is recruiting a consultant to support in launching victim assistance programming in Sudan, and in parallel, a full-time staff member to support in operationalizing the work of the consultant to map referral pathways and build the initial strategy.

The Victim Assistance Officer will be responsible for planning, implementing, and monitoring victim assistance activities for individuals affected by explosive ordnance incidents in the DRC Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) project locations. The role ensures survivors and affected families have access to quality services including medical care, psychosocial support, rehabilitation, livelihood assistance, and referral pathways

Programme start-up

• Lead mapping of medical, physical rehabilitation, assistive technology, MHPSS, protection, disability inclusion, legal aid, social protection and livelihood services available to EO survivors and affected families in priority locations.
• Identify referral gaps, quality concerns, access barriers, costs, documentation requirements and transport constraints affecting survivors’ access to care.
• Develop and regularly update a practical service directory and referral pathway for EO victims, including hospitals and physical rehabilitation providers.
• Support DRC to identify suitable local partners, including disability-led organizations, survivor networks, health providers and national NGOs with relevant expertise.

Implementation 

• Receive and safely screen referrals from HMA teams, EORE/community liaison staff, protection teams, community structures, NMAC, hospitals and local partners, in line with NMAC procedures
• Conduct basic survivor needs assessments in line with informed consent, confidentiality, data protection, do-no-harm and survivor-centred approaches.
• Facilitate referrals to emergency medical care, rehabilitation, prosthetics/orthotics, assistive devices, MHPSS, protection services, transport support and economic recovery opportunities, in line with national standards.
• Follow up referred cases to confirm whether services were accessed, identify barriers, and escalate urgent or unresolved cases.
• Ensure survivors and affected families receive clear information on available services and their rights.

Coordination

• Maintain close coordination with National Mine Action Center (NMAC), NGO partners, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and protection actors
• Represent DRC in relevant mine action, protection, health, disability inclusion and victim assistance coordination forums, as delegated.
• Promote survivor participation in programme design and feedback mechanisms, consistent with global VA standards and inclusion principles
• Internally coordinate with DRC protection, economic recovery, and HMA teams – to link survivors with other types of referrrals and assistance pathways, and ensure accident reporting informs EORE. 

Monitoring, Reporting, and Documentation

• Collect and maintain beneficiary data confidentially and accurately. 
• Prepare weekly, monthly, and activity reports. 
• Monitor progress of victim assistance interventions and flag implementation gaps.
• Maintain secure, anonymized tracking of referrals, service gaps, response times, barriers and outcomes, disaggregated by sex, age and disability where safe and appropriate.
• Support MEAL and IM colleagues to analyse trends and use VA data to inform EORE, survey, clearance prioritisation and advocacy.

Capacity Building and Community Engagement

• Conduct awareness sessions on available victim assistance services. 
• Train community focal points and relevant stakeholders on referral mechanisms. 

Support inclusion of EO survivors in community-based programmes

• Minimum 2–3 years of relevant experience in victim assistance, protection, disability inclusion, case management, or mine action programming.  Ideally at least 1-2 years in direct case management.
• Strong understanding of confidentiality, informed consent, data protection, survivor-centred approaches and do-no-harm.
• Experience working with persons with disabilities, injured persons, survivors of violence, or people with complex protection and health needs.
• Good reporting, documentation and basic data management skills.
• Knowledge of EO risk education and victim assistance standards preferred. 
• Strong coordination, and communication skills. 
• Experience working with humanitarian organizations preferred.