Safety & Protection Officer – Humanitarian HUB, Brussels

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Position description

Médecins du Monde is an international medical development NGO and a member of a global network. We provide medical assistance to vulnerable populations in Belgium and worldwide.

We want universal health coverage where each person has access to healthcare, without obstacles (financial, cultural, geographical, etc.).

To achieve our mission, we rely on three core pillars:

• Care: provide real access to healthcare for populations.
• Change: more than helping, we want to change things in the long term.
• To bear witness: we do not remain silent. Thanks to our experience and our presence in the field, we call on authorities (local, regional, and (inter)national) with facts, figures, and realities.

Our projects follow a series of values shared across our entire organization: Social justice, Empowerment, Independence, Commitment, Balance.

THE ESSENTIAL

The Humanitarian Hub is a frontline reception and orientation centre, open during the day, which brings together a multitude of services and partners for people on migration journeys whose access to fundamental rights is restricted or compromised. The Humanitarian Hub is coordinated by a consortium comprising Médecins du Monde, the Belgian Red Cross and BelRefugees.

The Humanitarian Hub is distinguished by its cross-cutting approach: bringing together, in a single location and with harmonised opening hours, a multidisciplinary range of services capable of responding to a wide spectrum of often interconnected needs. Thanks to the coordinated organisation of 14 services, the Hub addresses basic needs (food, hygiene, clothing, shelter), access to healthcare and socialisation, as well as specific needs related to certain situations of vulnerability (women, minors, children, elderly people).

Each role involves close collaboration, flexibility and the ability to propose concrete solutions to serve users according to the following cross-cutting principles:

• An approach focused on people’s rights, dignity and autonomy.
• Neutrality, non-discrimination and fairness in guidance.
• Continuous improvement of the quality and consistency of pathways.

As a frontline staff member, the Safety and Protection Officer (SPO) ensures the prevention of tensions, promotes the safety and dignity of individuals, and contributes to the smooth running of services. The SPO also plays a key role in welcoming, guiding, and providing intercultural mediation to Hub users.

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

As a Safety Officer:

• Maintain a regular and visible presence to build trust with users.
• Prevent tensions through proactive engagement, dialogue, and active listening.
• Promote respect, inclusion, and peaceful coexistence among users.
• Prioritise mediation, de-escalation, and constructive conflict resolution.
• Support the management of user flows and access (opening, queues, closing procedures).
• Work closely with teams to ensure the smooth implementation of daily activities.
• Facilitate intercultural communication and mediate misunderstandings or conflicts linked to socio-cultural differences.
• Apply and uphold the Hub’s safety rules, SOPs, and internal protocols.
• Identify risks, sensitive situations, and potential incident triggers.
• Report tensions, incidents, and security concerns to the relevant supervisors.
• Raise awareness among users, staff, and volunteers on safety and prevention measures.
• Participate in emergency responses, including evacuations and incident management.
• Act as the security focal point in the absence of the Safety & Protection Manager.
• Document incidents and contribute to reporting and follow-up analysis.
• Monitor and report the presence of external visitors, contributing to overall Hub coordination.

As a Protection officer:

• Identify and report health, social, and psychosocial vulnerabilities among users to specialized services.
• Provide frontline reception, information, and guidance in a respectful and accessible manner.
• Inform users about available services (healthcare, accommodation, food, transport, legal assistance).
• Refer users to appropriate internal and external service providers.
• Provide interpretation support between users and service providers when needed.
• Identify and report barriers to equitable access to services.
• Apply an inclusive and protection-sensitive approach (gender, age, disability, LGBTIQ+ considerations).
• Contribute to community engagement and user participation within the Hub.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 2 years’ experience in crowd management and/or cultural mediation roles.
• Experience in social work and/or with vulnerable populations.
• Aptitude for cultural mediation, with initial professional experience in this field.
• Excellent stress management skills.
• Team spirit, effective and efficient communication with others, calm in all situations.
• Neutrality, respect and confidentiality.
• Previous experience with an NGO in a humanitarian setting.
• Languages :
  • Fluency in French and English is required.
  • Knowledge of one or more of the following languages is an asset: Arabic, Tigrinya, Amharic, Pashtu, Dari, Tigre, Oromo, Somali or any other language spoken by the target audience.

WE OFFER

• A rewarding and essential role at the heart of the projects of Médecins du Monde Belgium
• A full-time fixed-term contract through December 31, 2026 (100% – 5 days per week – 39 hours)
• Meal vouchers (€8, of which €1.09 paid by the employee and €6.91 by the employer) – Hospitalization insurance – 100% reimbursement of public transportation costs
• A gross salary of €3.143,57 for 2 years of experience; a gross salary of €3.238,83 for 5 years of experience; a gross salary of €3.404,04 for 10 years of experience
• Leave (to be prorated): 20 statutory days + 6 RTT days + 4 extra-legal days between Christmas and New Year
• Location of the position: Brussels – Humanitarian HUB
• Start date: 01/08/2026

Application instructions

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