Duty Station: Mekelle, Tigray

Summary of Key Functions

Within the limits and delegated responsibilities, the Humanitarian Affairs Officer will be responsible for facilitating coordination in Tigray Region on behalf of OCHA and the HC. He /She will work under the overall supervision of OCHA Head of Tigray hub The incumbent will be based in Mekele and work closely with regional, zonal and woreda authorities in coordinating humanitarian actions and engendering a scalable suite of coordination amongst humanitarian agencies in Tigray Region.

Specific duties include

• Spend one-third of his/her time visiting and monitoring current relief operations and traveling extensively in vulnerable crisis prone areas, obtaining information, assessing or monitoring either independently or jointly with relevant stakeholders.
• Liaise closely with regional and zonal government officials and humanitarian counterparts in coordination of humanitarian program cycle in his/her area of assignment (needs assessment and analysis, joint planning, response and monitoring).
• Facilitate and undertake joint assessments of vulnerability to emergencies and disasters insecure and other crisis-prone areas in Tigray
• Work closely and consistently with the regional authorities, UN agencies, NGOs and other partners as appropriate and as required to ensure functional, accountable, predictable and scalable suite of coordination systems in designated areas of assignment.
• Facilitate the establishment and strengthening of effective sectoral task forces in the designated region with relevant regional and zonal line bureaus taking leadership and supporting humanitarian cluster leads 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 assigned areas.
• Work with regional counterparts to strengthen or establish the appropriate disaster or 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 Bureau of Disaster Preparedness, civic and nongovernmental 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 facilitating the creation of a platform for effective involvement of local NGOs and CBOs in various humanitarian program cycles.
• 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
• Participate in early recovery and development forums to ensure that regional humanitarian concerns are integrated and addressed by development tools such as UNDAF and PASDEP.
• 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 to his/her designated area of assignment, including organizing appropriate briefs on humanitarian situations and facilitate local field travel.
• Work with OCHA Information Management Unit and partners to enhance information management by ensuring that information products such as zonal profiles, 3Ws, contact list and briefing packs are in place for his/her area of assignment and updated regularly.
• Work with humanitarian counterparts to ensure that cross-cutting issues such as gender and protection are embedded more thoroughly in the humanitarian program cycle in his/her assigned area.
• 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 Head or the Deputy Head of OCHA

Impact of Results

The OCHA Country Office has determined, based on the humanitarian need in the designated region that the function of the HAO is crucial and significantly contributes to improved co- ordination in identifying humanitarian gaps and responding to the needs of affected populations.

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
• Field experience in Ethiopia would be an advantage
• Availability for travel in country
• Cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skills essential
• Ability to build and lead a field team under difficult and insecure conditions is important.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English and languages of the region- Tigrigna (oral and written), is required. Being able to interpret/translate relevant communications, offices’ reports and/or documents from local language into English is a requirement

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

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

Functional competencies:

• Professionalism
• Planning and Organizing
• Client Orientation
• Analytical and Conceptual Thinking
• Communication & Networking
• Teamwork