United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian (UNOCHA) Vacancy for a Humanitarian Affairs Officer
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian (UNOCHA), is
the part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing
together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to
emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each
actor can
contribute to the overall response effort.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Humanitarian Affairs Officer (HAO)
Location: Gombe
Type of Contract: Service Contract
Post Level: SB-4
Duration of Initial Contract: Initial duration of 6 months with a possibility of an extension
Background
- Given the current crisis in Northeastern Nigeria, OCHA has to
scale up its support to the Humanitarian Coordinator in mobilizing and
coordinating an effective and principled humanitarian response. OCHA is
particularly concerned about vulnerable communities and those at risk
due to current conflict. Under the leadership of the Humanitarian
Coordinator for Nigeria, OCHA maintains an office in Abuja and is about
to establish field presence in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe and Gombe states;
the primary objectives of OCHA Nigeria include the following:
- Advocate for access to basic services, especially water,
sanitation, education and health for vulnerable communities, including
collection, analysis and dissemination of information and negotiation of
access.
- Coordinate the implementation of humanitarian response in
Nigeria with UN agencies and programmes, national and international NGOs
and local authorities/communities as appropriate with focus on
strengthening the Cluster Approach.
- Enhance a protective environment that respects the human rights of all, including IDPs, returnees and minority clan.
- The humanitarian response to crisis in northeastern Nigeria does
not only involve traditional national and international humanitarian
agencies such as the United Nations and Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs), but also private individuals and companies who contribute to
meeting the needs of the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and their
host communities.
- The HAO is also expected to have either experience or solid
knowledge of humanitarian operations conducted by UN agencies and NGOs
and operations of the Government. As such the HAO provides the elements
of institutional memory and local networking essential to the
credibility and authority of the statements and documents provided by
OCHA and the Humanitarian Coordinator.
- They work with little supervision in the field, and are expected
to prepare concise reports and analysis and are an integral part of the
OCHA Team in Nigeria.
- In this regard, OCHA and the humanitarian community in Nigeria
acknowledge the need to forge deeper and more effective partnerships
with businesses in the private sector in an effort to align our work and
maximize the use of limited resources and to improve the overall
quality of the humanitarian response.
- The HAO is expected to have comprehensive knowledge of the
private sector and its engagement in humanitarian action, with
particular focus on the current crisis in northeastern Nigeria.
Duties and Responsibilities
Summary of key functions:
- Information Collection in support of Humanitarian Analysis and Response,
- Information Sharing
- Development of coordination and cooperation mechanisms among stakeholders
- Monitoring and Reporting
Ensure accurate Information Collection in support of Humanitarian
Analysis and response, focusing on the achievement of the following
results:
- Formulate and develop an OCHA strategy for engagement with the private sector in Nigeria,
- Gather and verify information on issues from the private sector
affecting the humanitarian situation, emphasizing opportunities for
response and collaboration,
- Develop a clear and concise business guide for the private sector on the humanitarian system,
Ensure facilitation of information sharing among partners focusing on achievement of the following:
- Pro-actively share information with OCHA and private sector
stakeholders on pertinent issues and vice versa to the humanitarian
community,
- Arrange sessions to provide briefings to private Sector on humanitarian operations,
- Identify key pieces of information that will assist with
organizational decision-making with a particular focus on improving
humanitarian response,
Ensure the development of coordination and cooperation mechanisms among
stakeholders focusing on the achievement of the following results:
- Establish and strengthen relationships with private sector
business platforms (i.e. Chambers of Commerce, private foundations and
other business platforms in Nigeria) to ensure humanitarian information
flow from OCHA to private sector partners and vice versa and facilitate
their participation in operations,
- Map out of Nigeria business networks and establishing relationships, produce and maintain a 3xW database,
- Dissemination of Information Management (IM) products to new audiences,
Ensure proper monitoring and reporting focusing on achievement of the following:
- Support the collection of information from the private sector
and prepare weekly/monthly reports as appropriate for internal and
external purposes,
Impact of Results:
The key results have an impact on the overall coordination of
humanitarian and emergency assistance and facilitate operational
agencies/organizations in succeeding in their core objectives, building
of strong partnerships with relevant parties and the achievement of
OCHA’s objectives. Specifically, the impact of this position is:
- Improved basis for private sector stakeholders to take informed decisions on their support to humanitarian action,
- Humanitarian response is becoming more coordinated and organized
based on clear identified needs and priorities thereby increasing
cost-effectiveness and value for money,
- Greater adherence to the humanitarian principles in humanitarian response,
Competencies
Preparing information for advocacy:
- Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating OCHA’s priorities
Building Strategic Partnerships:
- Maintaining a network of contacts
- Maintains an established network of contacts for general
information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related
issues
- Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders
Resource Mobilization:
- Providing inputs to resource mobilization strategy
- Collects, researches and analyzes information on resource
mobilization and utilization, drafts reports and documents and maintains
information/databases on potential and actual donors and donor funded
projects
Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing
- Basic research and analysis
- Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things
- Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches
Job Knowledge/Technical Expertise
- Fundamental knowledge of own discipline
- Understands and applies fundamental concepts and principles
of a professional discipline or technical specialty relating to the
position
- Strives to keep job knowledge up-to-date through self-directed study and other means of learning
- Demonstrates good knowledge of information technology and applies it in work assignments
- Demonstrates in-depth understanding and knowledge of the
current guidelines and project management tools and utilizes these
regularly in work assignments
Global Leadership and Advocacy for OCHA’s Goals:
- Preparing information for global advocacy
- Identifies and communicates relevant information for advocacy for OCHA’s goals for a variety of audiences
- Maintains a functioning network of contacts in the media and
civil society, to promote a better understanding of OCHA’s priorities
and to support advocacy efforts
Client Orientation:
- Establishing effective client relationships
- Researches potential solutions to internal and external
client needs and reports back in a timely, succinct and appropriate
fashion
- Organizes and prioritizes work schedule to meet client needs and deadlines
- Establishes, builds and sustains effective relationships within the work unit and with internal and external clients
Core Competencies:
- Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity
- Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
- Self-development, initiative-taking
- Managing conflict
- Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of
others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing are the
responsibility of each staff member.
- Informed and transparent decision making
- Acting as a team player and facilitating team work
- Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively
- Creating synergies through self-control
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
- Master’s Degree or equivalent in Political Science, Business
Administration & Economics, Law, International Relations or other
related fields with up to 3 years of relevant experience at the national
or international level.
Experience:
- 5 years of relevant professional experience, preferably gained from working in the private sector/industry.
- Ability to express clearly and concisely, ideas and concepts in written and oral form.
- Experience in the usage of computers and office software
packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and experience in handling of web based
management systems.
- Familiarity with UN policies, rules and procedures, particularly
in relation to humanitarian response and coordination, and knowledge of
institutional mandates, policies and guidelines pertaining to
humanitarian assistance, especially the humanitarian reform agenda.
- Ability to research, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information.
Language Requirements:
- Proficiency in both oral and written English.
- Knowledge of local language is an advantage.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates can
Click here to apply
Application Deadline 13th November, 2015.