- The Humanitarian Affairs Officer (Cash Coordination) reports to the Head of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit and works in close conjunction and liaison with all units within OCHA ROSEA, including when providing surge and support to countries across the region. The Humanitarian Affairs Officer (Cash Coordination) is expected to be a senior and highly experienced member of the ROSEA EPR team and to regularly deploy to support humanitarian preparedness and response—particularly with respect to cash coordination—across the region (and beyond as required).
- The candidate will be based in Nairobi, Kenya. This position will require regular surge deployments within and potentially outside the region. Candidates are expected to be available and willing to surge for up to three months at a time.
- OCHA ROSEA strives to foster a diverse and inclusive work environment. Female and multilingual candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.
Position Purpose
Key Duties And Accountabilities
Under the supervision of the Head of Emergency Preparedness and Response Unit, the National Humanitarian Affairs Officer will be responsible for the following duties:
- Provide frontline surge in response to new emergencies, the escalation of existing emergencies, and/or fill critical gaps, particularly to facilitate/lead coordination arrangements related to cash and voucher assistance and localization, as well as linkages with social protection.
- Support coordinated humanitarian operational preparedness for, and response to, emergencies in Southern and Eastern Africa, including through frontline surge, and support (remote and in-person), with a focus on cash coordination, including in relevant processes and products such as operational coordination, inter-cluster coordination, contingency plans, the Humanitarian Programme Cycle, flash updates, humanitarian financing (e.g. CERF), etc.;
- Monitor analyze and report on humanitarian developments and cash coordination arrangements in assigned areas of Southern and Eastern Africa;
- Follow developments in countries assigned by the supervisor, regularly update on active cash coordination arrangements, keep relevant country profiles up-to-date, lead interactions with the Resident Coordinator’s Office coordination specialist for assigned countries, and highlight any issues of concern to feed into the daily operational update and flag for the attention of OCHA’s senior leadership;
- Support OCHA ROSEA to partner with other humanitarian agencies to plan and evaluate humanitarian and emergency assistance programmes in countries in Southern and Eastern Africa, and help ensure that the latest findings, lessons learned and policy guidelines, etc. are incorporated into these activities, including gender-related considerations, particularly with respect to cash coordination and linkages with social protection.
- Support engagement with relevant authorities and humanitarian partners to triangulate humanitarian information and effectively identify and map humanitarian needs and response activities in assigned areas of Southern and Eastern Africa, particularly with respect to cash coordination and linkages with social protection.
- Support the preparation or contribute to the preparation of various written reports, response monitoring, and gap analysis. particularly with respect to cash coordination and linkages with social protection;
- Contribute to the review of various documents on policy issues related to safeguarding humanitarian principles and ensuring the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance, particularly with respect to cash coordination and linkages with social protection;
- Support as appropriate the production of appeals for international assistance - including Humanitarian Needs Overviews, Humanitarian Response Plans, and Flash Appeals - in the region, including incorporating humanitarian cash assistance (especially multi-purpose cash) and linkages to social protection.
- Support as appropriate the preparation of relevant Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) applications and reports in countries under ROSEA’s coverage without OCHA country offices, including providing advice and guidance on the use of cash as a modality in relevant responses;
- Participate in work groups, meetings, conferences, trainings, and consultations with other agencies and partners with the aim of improving humanitarian and emergency relief-related matters in the region, particularly as it pertains to the coordination of cash and voucher assistance;
- Track information required for early warning of potential humanitarian emergencies in assigned areas and as appropriate promote preparedness measures, including inter-agency contingency planning;
- Prepare briefing materials and presentations providing up-to-date analysis of trends and developments in the humanitarian situation and the use of cash and voucher assistance in assigned areas;
- As appropriate, support, organize, and/or participate in coordinated assessment missions to build consensus on humanitarian needs and priorities in assigned areas, including in relation to cash and voucher assistance;
- Maintains a network of contacts among key stakeholders, including national and international NGOs, national and regional authorities, and the humanitarian community, with a particular emphasis on ongoing engagement with experts and practitioners in cash and voucher assistance;
- Cash Coordination
- Under the guidance of the head of the EPR section provide assistance and support to OCHA Country Offices, OCHA Humanitarian Advisory Teams (HATs) on humanitarian cash coordination and related policy issues, upon request;
- Under the guidance of the head of the EPR section support OCHA Country Offices, and OCHA Humanitarian Advisory Teams (HATs) to identify operational challenges and gaps in humanitarian cash preparedness and response;
- Under the guidance of the head of the EPR section support the integration of cross-cluster issues and cross-cutting issues (e.g. gender, protection, accountability to affected people, and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse) in humanitarian programming in the region, including through identifying opportunities (and challenges) with the use of cash and voucher assistance;
- Support the engagement with relevant inter-governmental organizations (including IGAD and SADC), when requested, on issues related to humanitarian cash preparedness and response;
- Attend relevant meetings on issues related to humanitarian cash preparedness and response in the region and represent OCHA ROSEA, when requested, at the same.
- Meetings
- Participate in meetings convened by ROSEA—including the Regional Humanitarian Partnerships Team (RHPT) for the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes and Regional Inter-Agency Standing Committee (RIASCO) for Southern Africa--to strengthen the linkages between decision-making and operational coordination forums, and provide expertise on cash and voucher assistance, as requested;
- Participate in meetings focused on cash and voucher assistance at the regional and country levels and represent OCHA in the same;
- Participate, as requested, in other relevant regional forums convened by humanitarian partners on key issues, especially those with cross-border implications and consequences (e.g. coordination of health crises across borders, coordination of refugee responses in the region etc.).
- EPR Duties:
Early Warning Preparedness & Contingency Planning
- Support the EPR unit work to enhance early warning and operational readiness for emergencies in the region, including contingency planning processes and Standard Operating Procedures, with a particular emphasis on readiness for cash and voucher assistance.
Analysis & Planning
- Promote and contribute to comprehensive multi-threat risk analysis as the basis for humanitarian analysis and planning in the region, including issues related to the feasibility of cash and voucher assistance;
- Contribute to the identification of high-risk, low-capacity areas in the region—including with respect to cash and voucher coordination capacity—to help identify priorities for OCHA ROSEA’s support;
Advocacy & Reporting
- Highlight key humanitarian issues in countries of concern through inputting to the Daily Operational Update and other relevant updates for OCHA’s management;
- During emergencies, support the preparation of updates on crises, including Flash Updates, Situation Reports, Dashboards, and Snapshots, in close coordination with ROSEA’s Communication and Information Management Unit (CIMU).
- Other tasks that may be required
- Act as OCHA ROSEA Focal Point on cash coordination;
- Perform other tasks that may be assigned by the Head of Unit to support the coordination of humanitarian action in the region, or any other duties requested by the OCHA Head of Office or Deputy Head of Office.
Qualifications
Education:
- Master’s Degree preferably in Political or Social Science, Law, International Studies or other relevant science is required;
- A bachelor’s degree in combination with 2 additional years of relevant and qualifying experience in the field of humanitarian affairs may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Experience, Knowledge, And Skills
- A minimum of five years of directly relevant progressively professional responsible experience in humanitarian affairs roles (especially those dealing with humanitarian cash and voucher assistance), or other related areas is required.
- Experience implementing or coordinating humanitarian cash programming is highly desirable.
- Experience working with a UN organization, NGO, or civil society organization is desirable.
- A thorough understanding of the humanitarian situation in Southern and Eastern Africa, excellent communication, report writing & analytical skills are necessary.
- Necessary personal qualities should include diplomacy, tact, integrity, and the ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment, under pressure, and sometimes in arduous circumstances.
Language Requirements
- Fluency in written and spoken English and Swahili is required. Knowledge of French and/or Arabic is highly desirable.
COMPETENCIES
Corporate Values
- Integrity
- Professionalism
- Respect for diversity
Functional Competencies
- PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge of a range of humanitarian assistance, emergency relief, and related humanitarian issues, including approaches and techniques to address difficult problems and knowledge of cash and voucher assistance. Analytical capacity and in particular the ability to analyze and articulate the humanitarian dimension of issues that require a coordinated UN response. Ability to identify issues and judgment in applying technical expertise to resolve a wide range of problems. Ability to conduct research, including the ability to evaluate and integrate information from a variety of sources and assess the impact on the humanitarian rights situation in an assigned country/area. Ability to work under extreme pressure, on occasion in a highly stressful environment. Shows pride in work and in achievements; demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines, and achieving results; is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations. Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.
- PLANNING & ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.
- CLIENT ORIENTATION: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be "clients" and seeks to see things from clients' point of view; establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; identifies clients' needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients' environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.
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- The project will showcase a consultative and inclusive model involving national and county governments, civil society, communities, development partners and other stakeholders to collaboratively shape peace, human security and sustainable development initiatives that subsequently address the structural causes of conflicts in the target counties. The focus will be on inclusive governance, strengthening social accountability mechanisms at the local level, building trust between communities and security forces actors through Civil- Military Cooperation (CIMIC) and the implementation of micro ‘peace dividends’ livelihood projects. Further, the project will enhance collaboration, coordination and inclusivity amongst actors implementing projects under the larger North and Northeastern Development Initiative. Improved coordination of these initiatives will contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) Kenya 2022 – 2026 and strengthen avenues for meaningful participation of the communities in their planning and implementation to enhance Northeast Kenya’s development, prosperity, and long-term stability. The project is set to be catalytic, piloting a transformative model for community engagement and participation in human security and development initiatives and processes, thereby enhancing their effectiveness and sustainability. If this model is proven successful through this project, it can be scaled up through the interventions and investments of development partners deployed in borderland areas of Kenya.
Key Duties And Accountabilities
Implement and participate in the design of the project’s monitoring and evaluation framework, systems, and tools, and as applicable, conduct project quality assurance in keeping with corporate policies and PBF guidelines:
- Support the project manager in designing the results-based management, monitoring and evaluation frameworks and plans in line with UNDP Programme and Operations Policies and Procedures (POPP) and PBF guidelines with appropriate tracking tools;
- Help in ensuring the application of UNDP social and environmental safeguards as applicable;
- Serve as the project’s focal point for the provision of overall technical and policy advisory support on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and results-based management (RBM) requirements and activities;
- Advocate the adherence to UN/UNDP policy positions on monitoring and evaluation, results-based management, and quality assurance, as applicable, and ensure their mainstreaming into all aspects of the project’s interventions;
- Provide guidance on the systematized, effective application of RBM, M&E and quality assurance tools throughout the full project cycle from the design to implementation, reporting and during the timely closure of projects;
- Support the mapping of business processes and elaboration of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in project oversight. Act as custodian for evaluation quality assurance checklist to ensure quality check from the TOR formulation to final evaluation report and timely implementation of the recommendations;
- Provide input to project’s annual planning processes that includes the Integrate Work Plan; and participate in defining targets and indicators to ensure consistency with approved country programme and project documents and with UNDP POPPs;
- Ensure gender equality, disability inclusion, and Leave No One Behind (LNOB) principles are an integral part of project and operations and that these considerations are fully mainstreamed into programming and reflected in programme/project design, monitoring, reporting and evaluations in line with the UNDP Gender Equality and Disability Inclusion Strategies, UNSDG Operational Guide for Country Teams on LNOB, and available regional guidance;
- Contribute to joint UN planning and reporting processes, by coordinating UNDP’s adherence to agreed standards in the UNSDCF.
Ensure coordination and efficient support to monitoring, reporting, evaluation and results-based management of the project:
- Coordinate implementation and application of efficient and evidence-based results monitoring and, as applicable, quality assurance work for project development and delivery. Advise the project management team on delivery implementation challenges and provide support in resolving obstacles and bottlenecks;
- Develop templates for project and work plan monitoring and quality assurance visits. Collect reliable and coherent data to assess project progress and results. Provide regular updates to project team using latest M&E and IT tracking tools to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the monitoring processes;
- Prepare reports analyzing progress and results of projects. Advise project team on financial reporting requirements for cooperating partners, donors, Government stakeholders and UN counterparts to ensure transparency relative to committed resources and timetables and to highlight transformational changes;
- Ensure consistent maintenance and monitoring of relevant scorecards and quality assurance tools such as the Social and Environmental Safeguards. Provide support to the management and coordination of third-party monitoring and/or any other data collection interventions in the country office;
- Analyze requirements and synthesize proposals for the planning, preparation, and management of specific thematic, project evaluations and other types of evaluations. Draft and revise Terms of Reference (TOR) for specific project/thematic/sectoral monitoring and evaluation missions and/or desk evaluations/reviews. Participate in consultant and evaluation team selection and provide technical feedback on evaluation inception reports and draft evaluations and budget oversight. Draft and review management responses to the evaluations;
- Consolidate evaluation findings, lessons learned and recommendations to be disseminated in learning events and channeled into decision-making processes. Analyze and synthesize monitoring and evaluation reports and other data sources to assess the effectiveness and impact of the project. Follow up on implementation of audit and evaluation recommendations by CO and project teams;
- Contribute to the establishment of statistics database and dashboards.
Support capacity building and facilitate knowledge building and sharing on monitoring, evaluation, and results-based management in CO:
- Organize learning, training, and capacity building activities on monitoring and evaluation, RBM, data collection and survey methods, gender mainstreaming for project team;
- Support the identification, synthesis, documentation, and dissemination of key lessons learned and good practices derived from monitoring and evaluation activities on what works, what does not work, revised theories of change to identify innovative ideas for their scaling or replication;
- Provide sound contributions to local and global knowledge networks, communities of practice, and other knowledge management mechanisms. Proactively participate in UNDP regional and international fora on relevant thematic areas (including engaging in thematic discussions, contributing with analytical papers, etc.);
- Contribute to the implementation of Evaluation Knowledge Management and Learning Strategy.
Implement internal/external communication strategies and outreach and contribute to their development:
- Prepare and conduct communications needs assessments for the project;
- Draft and edit the project’s communications and outreach strategy based on country office strategic priorities and the UNDP External Communications Action Plan;
- Provide communication input during the project formulation stage to integrate communication needs and strategies in all aspects of the project;
- Maintain increased coverage and understanding of the project in the country or practice area through local and global media stories as guided by the UNDP External Communications Action Plan.
Implement the project’s publications strategy and plan based on the corporate publications policy:
- Identify and develop storylines for publications, and draft substantive articles that contribute to and generate conversations on key development issues;
- Coordinate and manage the project’s publication activities, such as content management in line with corporate guidelines;
- Provide technical support to the project’s digital communications that includes social media, web site, intranet, and CO web-based knowledge management system;
- The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.
Core competencies
- Achieve Results: LEVEL 2: Scale up solutions and simplifies processes, balances speed and accuracy in doing work.
- Think Innovatively: LEVEL 2: Offer new ideas/open to new approaches, demonstrate systemic/integrated thinking.
- Learn Continuously: LEVEL 2: Go outside comfort zone, learn from others and support their learning.
- Adapt with Agility: LEVEL 2: Adapt processes/approaches to new situations, involve others in change process.
- Act with Determination: LEVEL 2: Able to persevere and deal with multiple sources of pressure simultaneously.
- Engage and Partner: LEVEL 2: Is facilitator/integrator, bring people together, build and/or /maintain coalitions/partnership.
- Enable Diversity and Inclusion: LEVEL 2: Facilitate conversations to bridge differences, considers in decision making.
Functional/Technical competencies
Business Direction & Strategy
- System Thinking: Ability to use objective problem analysis and judgement to understand how interrelated elements coexist within an overall process or system, and to consider how altering one element can impact on other parts of the system.
Partnership Management
- Strategic Engagement: Ability to capture and sustain attention, interest and agreement of high-level, influential policy and decision makers and secure their buy-in of high-level vision and objectives.
Business Development
- Knowledge Facilitation: Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externally.
Business Management: Client Satisfaction/Management
- Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs.
- Provide inputs to the development of customer service strategy.
- Look for ways to add value beyond clients' immediate requests.
- Ability to anticipate client's upcoming needs and concerns.
Business Management
- Results-Based Management: Ability to manage programmes and projects with a focus at improved performance and demonstrable results.
Business Management
- Project Management: Ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.
Business Management: Portfolio Management
- Ability to select, prioritize and control the organization as programmes and projects, in line with its strategic objectives and capacity;
- Ability to balance the implementation of change initiatives and the maintenance of business-as-usual, while optimizing return on investment.
Education
Required Skills and Experience
- Advanced university degree (master's degree or equivalent) in Development/Development Studies, Economics, Statistics, Business Administration/Management, Public Administration, Social Policy/Sciences, International Relations, or related field is required.
- A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience will be given due consideration in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Experience
- Minimum 2 years (with master’s degree) or 4 years (with bachelor’s degree) of relevant experience at the national and/or international level in project management, monitoring and evaluation of development portfolios and projects in relevant thematic areas; demonstrated experience in collaborating with cross-functional teams;
- Knowledge of and previous experience in UNDP/UN agency and/or similar organization is desired;
- Experience with Peacebuilding Fund or a fund with both financial and impact targets is desirable;
- Demonstrable experience in project and knowledge management.
Required Skills
- Proven technical knowledge of the results-based management cycle and monitoring and evaluation;
- Proven experience in designing monitoring and evaluation systems and designing development projects or integrated portfolios;
- Proven ability to work with quantitative and qualitative data, and appropriately use qualitative data /information collection tools in innovative ways;
- Experience in the use of computers, office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc.), and web-based management systems, and up-to-date, advanced knowledge of data management tools and database packages;
- Experience in designing, implementing and/or managing assessments and/or data collection exercises/processes is desired;
- Experience conducting applied research projects and reporting on findings is desired.
Desired Additional Skills
- Active interest in peace, development, human rights in the Northeast region of Kenya;
- Strong knowledge of communications, monitoring and evaluation for sustainable development, with ability to apply it to strategic and/or practical situations;
- Ability to work in a multicultural environment, with a willingness to travel to the project locations;
- Computer literacy, including proficient use of research and applied software.
Language
- Fluency in written and spoken English is required.
Professional Certificates
- Professional certification in communications/monitoring and evaluation is an asset.
Apply Before
10/12/2023
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