Humanitarian Affairs Officer / Civil-Military Coordination (TJO) at United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - UNOCHA

Location: Maiduguri
Grade: P4
Slot: 20-Humanitarian Affairs-OCHA-134958-J- (X)

Org. Setting and Reporting

• This position is located in the Operations and Advocacy Division (OAD), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which is the part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response efforts. OCHA's mission is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies; advocate the rights of people in need; promote preparedness and prevention and facilitate sustainable solutions.
• This temporary job opening is being advertised for the position of Humanitarian Affairs Officer/Civil-Military Coordination and is located in Maiduguri with OCHA Nigeria. The HAO/Civil-Military Coordination Officer reports to the OCHA Head of Access/Civil Military Coordination Unit.

Responsibilities

Within delegated authority, the Humanitarian Affairs Officer/Civil-Military Coordination will be responsible for the following duties:

• Serve as the operational focal point for the conduct of a UN-CMCoord assessment, formulation and implementation of a UNCMCoord strategy and action plan, and related operations in the area of responsibility in accordance with any higher level UNCMCoord strategy as outlined by the RC/HC through the Head of Office, OCHA Nigeria.
• Development of Strategy: Conduct an assessment and analysis of the civil-military environment in order to formulate and implement a UN-CMCoord strategy and action plan, which should be fully integrated with the activities of the OCHA Nigeria and include specific UN-CMCoord outputs in the OCHA Nigeria Work Plan. Continually evaluate the implementation and effect of the plans and revise as appropriate.
• Development of Guidance: Assist, advise and facilitate the development of country-specific guidance on civil-military relations and use of Military and Civil Defense Assets (MCDA), based on the current “IASC Reference Paper on Civil-Military Relationship in Complex Emergencies”, “Guidelines on The Use of Military and Civil Defense Assets in Disaster Relief (Oslo Guidelines)”, “Guidelines on the Use of MCDA to Support UN Humanitarian Activities in Complex Emergencies” and the “Use of Military or Armed Escorts for Humanitarian Convoys”, and any applicable Security Council resolutions and other relevant instruments.
• Dissemination of Guidelines: Ensure that applicable civil-military coordination guidelines, country-specific or generic guidelines are properly disseminated and understood by both, humanitarian actors and the military and/or police forces present, as well as by local actors, as appropriate. Promote and advocate for adherence to the applicable guidelines within the entire humanitarian community and advise on potential consequences if the guidelines are compromised.
• Liaison with Humanitarian Organisations: Establish and maintain a contact network with other UN Agencies, Mission-based personnel, who is responsible for civil-military relations, as well as, NGO focal points responsible for civil-military relations in Nigeria.
• Support Humanitarian Coordination: Support the Humanitarian Coordination structure in Nigeria, by advising on an appropriate mechanism to interface with military representatives. Advise both humanitarian actors and military representatives on the appropriateness of the use of military access to support humanitarian activities. Support Cluster Leads and/or humanitarian organisations in requesting military support for humanitarian activities, ensuring the requests are appropriate and in line with applicable guidelines. Monitor activities by military forces to support of humanitarian organisations. As directed by the line management, establish a Civil-Military Working Group with relevant civil and military stakeholders to raise civil-military coordination operational issues and report policy and strategic issues to the HCT through the Head of Office and the UN-CMCoord Team Leader. Participate in work groups, meetings and consultations with other UN agencies and humanitarian partners; organize meetings with Heads of Agencies on UN-CMCoord matters.
• Military Liaison: Facilitate the establishment and maintenance of communication with the military forces in South
• Nigeria and establish mechanisms to resolve operational issues and ensure appropriate mutual exchange of information, regarding ongoing relevant activities. Advise and educate the military and/or exchange of information regarding ongoing relevant activities. Advise and educate the military and/or police forces in Nigeria on the structures and dynamics of coordination with and within the international humanitarian community and the practicalities of implementation. Monitor the
• military presence in Nigeria by communicating with incoming / outgoing international military forces.
• Reporting: Monitor, analyze and report on implementation of humanitarian civil-military coordination activities well as identify difficulties and challenges in the interaction between the humanitarian and military communities. Provide periodic situation reports to the OCHA Head of Office, and/or the UN-CMCoord Team Leader on ongoing civil-military activities and the overall civil-military relations situation in Nigeria. Upon concurrence with the OCHA Head of Office and/or UNCMCoord Team Leader, these reports should be disseminated to the UNCT, HCT, UNOCHA/CMCS, CRD Desks and PDSB as appropriate. Reports may also be disseminated to other agencies if relevant and appropriate.
• Serve as the advisor to the OCHA Head of Office for UN-CMCoord issues in Nigeria; support the development of a CNCoord strategy in Nigerian line with the priorities of the RC/HC of OCHA Head of Office and international humanitarian community; advise humanitarian agencies on policy or specific civil-military coordination issues related to UNCMCoord; undertake monitoring of Military support to Humanitarian organisations and assessment missions of civil-military coordination needs in Nigeria on a regular basis or as required by the UN-CMCoord Team Leader and/or the OCHA Head of Office.
• Monitors, analyzes and reports on humanitarian developments, disaster relief/management or emergency situation in Nigeria.
• Organizes and prepares studies on humanitarian, emergency relief and related issues; organizes follow-up work, including interagency technical review meetings to support policy development work and decision-making on important issues.
• Participate in large, complex projects, to include disaster assessment or other missions; assists in the coordination of international humanitarian/emergency assistance for complex emergency/disaster situations and in ensuring the necessary support (e.g. staff, funding, specialized equipment, supplies, etc.); drafts situation reports to the international community, apprising of situation to date and specifying unmet requirements of stricken countries.
• Partners with other humanitarian agencies to plan and evaluate humanitarian and emergency assistance programmes and help ensure that latest findings, lesson learned, policy guidelines, etc. are incorporated into these activities, including gender-related considerations.
• Performs other tasks as required.

Competencies:

• Professionalism: Knowledge of a range of humanitarian assistance, emergency relief and related human rights issues, including approaches and techniques to address difficult problems. Solid understanding of Civil Military Coordination issues. Knowledge and understanding of the UN Security Management System. Analytical capacity and in particular the ability to analyze and articulate the humanitarian dimension of issues which 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 ability to evaluate and integrate information from a variety of sources and assess impact on the humanitarian rights situation in assigned country/area. Ability to work under extreme pressure, on occasion in a highly stressful environment (e.g. civil strife, natural disasters and human misery); ability to provide guidance to new/junior staff.
• 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.
• Teamwork: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.
• Communication: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailor's language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in Political Science, Social Science, Public Administration, International Studies, Economics, Engineering, Earth Sciences or a related field. A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible professional experience in humanitarian affairs is required.
• Experience in humanitarian or other fields at the international level is required.
• Humanitarian experience in the field (actual setting where a mission and/or project is being implemented) in complex emergency is required.
• At least four (4) years experience in civil-military coordination is desirable.
• Experience in working with military and humanitarian organizations at senior level is desirable.
• Experience in dealing with armed actors in complex emergencies is desirable.
• Completion of the UN-CMCoord Course and UN-CMCoord Officers’ Course is desirable.
• Experience in the UN Common System is desirable.
• Experience in the region (West and/or Central Africa) is desirable.

Languages:

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another UN official language is desirable.

Assessment:

• Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.