Duty Station: Geneva, with some travel expected
Start date: Immediate
Duration: 11 months
Type of contract: Temporary appointment
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:
A constructive relationship between the humanitarian community and crisis-affected populations is crucial to ensuring a well-informed, effective and accountable humanitarian response. In addition to efforts and achievements of individual organizations in this regard, recent emergencies have highlighted the need for meaningful, collective and coordinated engagement with communities as a core priority.
On 26 April 2016, UNICEF convened a workshop to examine how the humanitarian system can communicate and engage more systematically with affected communities to ensure a well-informed, accountable, appropriate and effective humanitarian response.
The workshop built on an existing community of practice that has grown over the past years and on several months of consultations with key stakeholders, in particular including the CDAC Network, Ground Truth Solutions, IFRC, Internews, Plan International and World Vison International, OCHA and the ETC Cluster.
The process begun in mid-2015 under the auspices of the CDAC network, and was informed by experiences in the Ebola response, CAR and findings in recent Operational Peer Reviews (including Iraq and Syria).
Building on lessons learnt from emergency contexts, as well as the consultation process, participants at the workshop identified a number of key characteristics that should guide the establishment of future efforts to collectively strengthen community engagement.
The Coordinator will work, in close collaboration with key stakeholders, to facilitate continued collaboration towards operationalizing the Communication and Community Engagement Platform by further defining field objectives and global level support requirements.
The individual will support the work of a group of key partners in the identification of strategic priorities and organize and lead key partners meetings. He/she will have to ensure and constantly seek political support from key stakeholders (UN agencies, NGOs and donors), build and manage a portfolio of donors, coordinate the work of and ensure achievement of the objectives of the Communication and Community Engagement Platform as identified during the consultation process.
The Communication and Community Engagement Platform bases its work on 4 key principles:
- Compliance with the IASC Commitments to Accountability to Affected Populations
- Compliance with the Commitments of the Core Humanitarian Standard
- Bridging the gap between development and humanitarian action
Focus on localization and proximity
Additional note on reporting/collaboration lines:
The Coordinator will report to the Chief, Global Cluster Coordination Unit, EMOPS – Geneva
However due to the collective and partnerships nature of the role the Communication and Community Engagement Platform coordinator is expected to work closely and be accountable to key partners’ group members.
The Coordinator will be guided by UNICEF’s Communication for Development Chief/Section in New York on the technical areas related to communication and engagement.
Tasks and Deliverables:
The Coordinator will be responsible for the management and implementation of the Communication and Community Engagement Platform.
The exact tasks and responsibilities will include but may not be limited to the following
- Consultations
- Consult with the key partners group members and other stakeholders as necessary on the best and most appropriate ways forward toward the operationalization of the Platform
- Consult with national and sub-national Governments offices and country based humanitarian stakeholders to help identify gaps and propose solutions
- Building and maintaining partnerships
- Build and maintain strong partnerships with key stakeholder in the humanitarian and development community with particular focus on ensuring broad and active involvement of civil society organizations
- Build and manage positive and constructive relations with relevant focal points from major NGOs, UN agencies and the CDAC network with the aim to keep a constant understanding of the perception on these stakeholders on the value to engage with and benefit from the Communication and Community Engagement Platform and to learn from their feedback
- Ensuring development and humanitarian communities wide buy-in / endorsement of the Communication and Community Engagement Platform:
- Work with key partners to identify and develop the most effective global level structure for the Communication and Community Engagement Platform
- Work with UNICEF senior management to get IASC and / or UNDG endorsement of the Communication and Community Engagement Platform by actively advocating with IASC focal points and UNDG members focal points
- Fundraising and donor liaison:
- Build and manage a portfolio of donors most interested in financing the specific area covered by the Communication and Community Engagement Platform and seek to demonstrate the value of engaging with and its impact on cost effectiveness and value for money;
- Draft and implement a fundraising strategy
- Write project proposals and progress/final reports to donors
- Advocacy and awareness raising:
- Advocate for the importance of a strengthened approach to communication and community engagement in humanitarian response by identifying advocacy champions and best practices
- Raise awareness of and advocate for the adherence to available standards and application of available guidance, methodologies
- Technical and secretariat support:
- Provide technical advice and recommends relevant tools and methodologies for field practitioners
- Integrate communication and community engagement into preparedness and response
- Facilitate the work of the Steering Committee (including decision making processes regarding deployments)
- Manage the Platform’s roster and deployments
- Coordinate the development of guidance on/mainstreaming of AAP/Communication and Community Engagement into existing guidance documents (HC, Heads of UN country offices, cluster coordinators etc.)
- Interact with Humanitarian Country Teams to develop requests
- Support deployment of Communication and Community Engagement Advisors
- Learning and knowledge management:
- Collect good practices, research and lessons learnt for field practitioners
- Develop and implement a knowledge management strategy
- Develop training material and conduct/facilitate/support trainings as required
QUALIFICATION AND COMPETENCIES
Education
University degree (minimum preference at Master’s Degree level) in the area of international development, humanitarian affairs, law or similar. Note that work experience may substitute for higher degree qualification.
Work Experience
- Minimum of ten years of relevant experience including having worked with the UN and/or NGO with specific focus on coordination, program management and donors’ liaison.
- Solid experience with Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), communication and engagement with affected communities, including feedback and complaints mechanisms.
Language Proficiency
Fluency in English (verbal and writing). Strong working knowledge of French would be an advantage.
Competency Profile
i) Core Competencies
• Communication
· Drive for results and
· working with people
ii) Functional Competencies
· Networking
· Formulating strategies and concepts
· Relating and networking
· Persuading and influencing
· Learning and researching
· Planning and organizing
iii) Technical Knowledge
a) Common Technical Requirements
- Knowledge of humanitarian reform principles, international humanitarian law, inter-connectedness and reform pillars & reform updates;
- Knowledge of the Cluster approach guidelines and terms of Reference ( and knowledge of how to apply them);
- Knowledge of cluster participants (their mandates, capacities, attitudes, limitations,) and how to integrate them into the cluster approach;
- Ability to mitigate and mediate conflict and disagreements among partners.
b) Function-Specific Requirements
- Previous experience in implementing Accountability to Affected Populations, communication and engagement with affected communities, including feedback and complaints mechanisms is an advantage;
- Demonstrated capacity to lead and coordinate an inter-agency and diverse group of stakeholders;
- Ability to strategize how cross-sectoral needs are met through collective delivery;
- Ability to use and adapt cluster coordination tools;
Strong understanding of the humanitarian architecture and its dynamic interactions at field level.
HOW TO APPLY:
Please click on the following link to apply:
