The Assistant Inter-Agency Coordination Officer will be based in the Regional Bureau for Southern Africa, which covers 16 countires in the region. S/he plays a crucial support role in ensuring UNHCR’s approach to partnership and inter-agency processes are coherent. The main aim is to assist senior management, as well as partner agencies, to ensure that UNHCR can fulfil its role to support the Governments in the region to lead the refugee response, coordinate other actors – and support the adherence to UNHCR inter agency commitments in IDP situations. This should be done in line with UNHCRs Mandate, the Global Compact for Refugees, the 2019 IDP policy, and agreed inter-agency commitments.
S/he is expected to support the Inter-agency planning and reporting activities by providing the appropriate support for the compilation of inputs to various appeal documents, required for advocacy, coordination and resource mobilization in the Southern Africa region, in particular the DRC Regional Refugee Response Plan, and the Global Humanitarian Overview, and other reports as may be necessary.
The incumbent will support the Senior Inter-Agency Coordination Officer in engagement with Regional interagency processes as required. S/he will further provide support in maintaining a constant dialogue with sector partners on the overall protection context in close collaboration with all partner agencies (UN and NGOs), as guided by the supervisor. S/he will undertake a mapping of national and regional coordination mechanisms in the Southern Africa Region, as guided by the supervisor, and identify gaps and areas for further strengthening. S/he will provide the appropriate support in organising Regional NGO consultations and Bureau level engagement with NGOs (Refugee led organisations and Faith Based organisations) to complement Global NGO Consultations.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.
Duties:
- Include partners in the refugee response, respecting their respective mandates and programme priorities.
- Provide appropriate support for operational planning and forward looking coordination of the inter-agency humanitarian and development response.
- Facilitate humanitarian response coordination activities and support coordination meetings as required, including by preparing meetings, drafting minutes and follow-up documentation.
- Manage the flow of information to/from the supervisor and other senior staff, including heads of field offices and field based coordination staff; identify priority matters that need to be urgently addressed by the Supervisor.
- Draft correspondence, documents and reports, and prepare tables and ensure follow-up.
- Prepare background information for meetings to be attended/chaired by the Supervisor (i.e. agenda, information on the person/organization, information on the topic).
- Assist the Sector Coordinators when necessary.
- Assist in ensuring appropriate coordination with all refugee partners (including national and international NGOs, the International Red Cross/Red Crescent movement, UN agencies, civil society actors ), through establishment/maintenance of appropriate sectorial coordination mechanisms, including working groups at the national and local level.
- Ensure appropriate links with national and local authorities, state institutions, local civil society and other relevant actors and ensure appropriate coordination and information exchange with them.
- Contribute to the development and maintenance of a common strategic framework and appropriate guidelines on the IA response by way of facilitating relevant group discussions.
- Identify geographical and thematic gaps in IA Coordination, and facilitate the appropriate response to those gaps.
- Establish technical groups or task forces as necessary to resolve ad-hoc issues as they arise.
- Ensure approval by all relevant national and sub-national authorities of the strategic documents produced by the IA Coordination Unit.
- Provide stakeholders with regular reports.
- Ensure review of coordination related information management products and work closely with the information management team.
- Perform regular field visits and take part in regional coordination meetings.
- Perform other related duties as required.
- Minimum Qualifications:
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level:
For NOA – 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree.
Field(s) of Education:
Social Sciences;
Development Studies;
Journalism;
International Relations;
Political Affairs;
or other relevant field.
(Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential)
**Certificates and/or Licenses:*** Not specified. (Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk are essential)
**Relevant Job Experience:
Essential: **Relevant experience in humanitarian or development programme implementation, including experience in facilitating inter-agency coordination at sector or macro-level. Good knowledge of the UN system, NGOs and related planning and coordination practises..
Desirable: Expertise in emergency response and preparedness planning and monitoring, including a good understanding of related standards and indicators. Experience in change management and innovation. Work experience in refugee settings.
Functional Skills: IT-Computer Literacy;
ER-Inter-Agency Coordination Mechanisms;
ER-Inter-Agency External Relations;
ER-Inter-Agency Leadership/Coordination;
ER-Inter-Agency Resource Mobilisation;
PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework;
CO-Public Speaking;
MS-Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation;
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Language Requirements: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
Competency requirements: All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.
Core Competencies: Accountability
Communication
Organizational Awareness
Teamwork & Collaboration
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Client & Result Orientation
Managerial Competencies:
Judgement and Decision Making
Cross-Functional Competencies:
Analytical Thinking
Planning and Organizing
Political Awareness
Eligibility: Candidates must be South African Nationals.
Interested staff members should consult the Administrative Instruction on Recruitment and Assignment of Locally Recruited Staff (RALS, UNHCR/AI/2020/1/Rev.1). If you have questions regarding your eligibility, you may also contact the HR Unit.
**In line with the RALS, the below category of candidates are eligible to apply for internally/externally advertised vacancies.
Group 1 candidates:** Current NPO staff members holding an indefinite or fixed-term appointment are eligible to apply to advertised positions in the NPO category at their personal grade and one grade below or above, as Group 1 candidates.
External candidates: All other candidates are eligible to apply to positions in the NPO category as external candidates, including GS staff members holding a university degree and fulfilling eligibility requirements, regardless of grade or length of service, who may apply to any vacant NPO position in their country of assignment for which they qualify. External candidates must meet the essential minimum requirements of the position.
Remuneration:
- A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. For information on UN salaries, allowances and benefits, please visit the portal of the International Civil Service Commission at: http://icsc.un.org
How to apply
Submission of Applications:
▪ Interested internal candidates need to apply through MSRP – Self-Service – Recruiting Activities – Careers (please search by JO number or by Location). Please update your personal profiles with all required information in order to be able to apply. Please consult the attached documents for further guidance on how to update the personal profile.
▪ Interested external applicants need to apply online and complete the mandatory motivation letter. For help with logging in to the MSRP External Portal, or with online applications, please contact the HR Unit well before the deadline to allow sufficient time for any technical problem to be resolved. External vacancies are posted on the external UNHCR website and applicants who do not have internal status must apply through the external UNHCR website. https://www.unhcr.org/careers.html – Careers – Career opportunities – Other Opportunities – Vacancies – sort by Location or search by Job Opening number.
▪ Applications will be accepted only via the online portals. Please do not send application via email.
▪ Not signed, incomplete and late applications will not be accepted. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Shortlisted candidates will be required to sit for a written test and oral interview. UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing or any other fees).
▪ The evaluation of applicants will be conducted based on the information submitted during the application. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.
▪ UNHCR strongly encourages qualified female applicants to apply. UNHCR seeks to ensure that male and female employees are given equal career opportunities. UNHCR is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms gender, disability, marital or civil partnership status, race, color or ethnic and national origins, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.
▪ UNHCR has a zero-tolerance policy against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA). SEA is unacceptable behavior and prohibited conduct for UNHCR personnel. It constitutes acts of serious misconduct and is therefore grounds for disciplinary measures, including dismissal. Any concerns or suspicions about a possible case of SEA should be reported immediately to the Inspector General’s Office (IGO) at [email protected] or through the online complain form at https://www.unhcr.org/php/complaints.php or by confidential fax: +41 22 739 73 80.
▪ For any technical problems encountered during the online application, please send an email to the below email address titled “Online VA Query-your name and surname”. Human Resources Pretoria [email protected]
The closing date for submission of applications is 23 November 2020 midnight Geneva Time.