The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations organization tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. Headquartered in New York City, it is the largest UN development aid agency, with offices in 170 countries.

Job Summary

The Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) continues to strengthen its capacity in Afar region to respond to humanitarian needs on the ground. OCHA supports humanitarian coordination efforts both at the Federal and regional levels. OCHA works in support of the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator to facilitate a coordinated, well-resourced and effective international relief response and the bridging of the transition from relief to recovery. Functionally, the work of OCHA breaks into four main areas: (1) coordination and operational support; (2) field monitoring and analysis; (3) information management and humanitarian reporting; and (4) resource mobilization.

OCHA Ethiopia recognizes the need to keep robust capacity in field offices to fulfill its mandate to ensure effective and predictable protection of and assistance to the most vulnerable populations through principled and hands-on field-level coordination of humanitarian actions. In this regard, the office is recruiting a full-time National Humanitarian Affairs Officer (NHAO) to be based in Semera, Afar with the relevant competencies to support OCHA operations in the region.

Summary of Key Functions:

• Facilitate and undertake joint assessments of humanitarian needs in Afar region to inform response planning and implementation.
• To coordinate and represent OCHA in over all operation in Afar Region.
• Work closely with the regional authorities, UN agencies, NGOs and other partners as appropriate and as required to ensure functional, accountable, predictable and scalable coordination mechanisms in the region.
• Facilitate the establishment and strengthening of effective sectoral task forces in Afar region with relevant regional and zonal line bureaus taking leadership and supporting humanitarian cluster partners to assume their respective cluster leadership roles.
• Work closely with relevant regional officials, UN and NGO counterparts to monitor, analyze and report on humanitarian development, emergency or relief management in Afar region.
• Work with regional Government counterparts to strengthen or establish appropriate emergency preparedness tools and activate ad-hoc coordination mechanisms to respond in a more timely and predictable manner in the event of quick onset or deteriorating emergencies
• Maintain a close working relationship in the field with regional, zonal and woreda government officials especially the Regional Disaster Preparedness and Food Security Coordination Office (DPFSCO), civic and non-governmental aid organization, UN agencies and the Red Cross Movement in order to establish a cooperative network for the exchange of humanitarian information.
• Work with regional counterparts to enhance community participation, including but not limited to involvement of local NGOs and CBOs in humanitarian response.
• Work with other humanitarian actors to identify gaps in the capacity of regional government humanitarian coordination apparatus and endeavor to marshal resources locally to address those gaps
• Work closely with and support the regional early warning system in monitoring and reporting on hazards and its impact on communities in designated regions of assignment.
• Organize and facilitate OCHA and humanitarian donors’ field missions in the region, including organizing appropriate briefs on humanitarian situations and facilitating local field travels.
• Work with OCHA Information Management Unit and partners to enhance information management by ensuring that information products such as zonal profiles, 3Ws, contact lists and briefing packs are in place and are regularly updated.
• Work with humanitarian counterparts to ensure that cross-cutting issues such as gender, Protection against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), Accountability to Affected People (AAP) and protection are embedded more thoroughly in the humanitarian program cycle
• Promote the dissemination and understanding of OCHA’s mandate, the humanitarian principles and humanitarian code of conduct amongst partners in assigned areas.
• Perform other duties as may be required by the OCHA head of sub-office in Afar region.

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNOCHA’s mission vision and values
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability

Functional Competencies:

• Team work
• Planning and Organizing
• Communication
• Accountability
• Client Orientation
• Commitment to Continuous Learning

Job Requirement

Education: Advanced university degree (Master’s degree) in political science, social science, public administration, international studies, economics or related area. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• Minimum 2 years of progressively responsible and relevant professional experience in humanitarian affairs, emergency preparedness,  rehabilitation    and    development,    with significant   field   experience   in   complex   emergencies, including humanitarian emergency efforts with Advanced degree  and  4  years  of  progressively  responsible  and relevant professional experience with a Bachelor’s degree is required;
• UN or NGO experience required
• Proven ability to work in an inter-agency environment and experience in working with government officials and technical staff in a cooperative manner is essential
• Cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skills are essential
• Ability to build and lead a field team under difficult and insecure conditions

Language and other skills:

• Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
• In addition, proficiency in the language of the duty station is desired