HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS OFFICER (HAO) at United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - UNOCHA

Given the current crisis in Nigeria, OCHA has to scale up its support to the Humanitarian Coordinator in mobilization and coordination of an effective and principled humanitarian response. OCHA is particularly concerned about vulnerable communities and those at risk due to current conflict. Under the leadership of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, OCHA maintains an office in Abuja and a field presence in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe and Gombe states in North East; the primary objectives of OCHA Nigeria include the following:

1.Advocate for access to basic services, especially water, sanitation, education and health for vulnerable communities, including collection, analysis and dissemination of information and negotiation of access.
2.Coordinate the implementation of humanitarian response in Nigeria with UN agencies and programmes, national and international NGOs and local authorities/communities as appropriate with focus on strengthening the Cluster Approach.
3.Enhance a protective environment that respects the human rights of all, including IDPs, returnees and minority clan.

The HAO is expected to have comprehensive knowledge of North East of Nigeria, UNOCHA operations, humanitarian partners, operations of the government and NGOs. As such the HAO provides the elements of institutional memory and local networking essential to the credibility and authority of the statements and documents provided by OCHA and the Humanitarian Coordinator. They work with little supervision in the field, and are expected to prepare concise reports and analysis and are an integral part of the OCHA Team in Nigeria.

Core Competencies

• Demonstrating/safeguarding ethics and integrity
• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment
• Self-development, initiative-taking
• Acting as a team player and facilitating team work
• Facilitating and encouraging open communication in the team, communicating effectively
• Creating synergies through self-control
• Managing conflict
• Learning and sharing knowledge and encourage the learning of others. Promoting learning and knowledge management/sharing are the responsibility of each staff member.
• Informed and transparent decision making

Required Skills and Experience

Education:
Master’s Degree or equivalent in political science, sociology, law, international relations or other related fields with up to 2 years of relevant experience at the national or international level

Experience: 

• Up to 2 years of relevant professional experience, preferably in complex emergency and inter-agency contexts, dealing with relief and transitional issues.
• Familiarity with UN policies, rules and procedures, particularly in relation to humanitarian response and coordination, and knowledge of institutional mandates, policies and guidelines pertaining to humanitarian assistance, especially the humanitarian reform agenda.
• Ability to research, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information.
• Ability to express clearly and concisely, ideas and concepts in written and oral form.
• Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc) and experience in handling of web based management systems.

Language requirements: 

• Proficiency in both oral and written English
• Knowledge of local language is an advantage