Humanitarian Affairs Officer/ Ecowas Liason Officer

Job Description

Location :	Abuja, NIGERIA
Application Deadline :	03-Apr-13
Type of Contract :	FTA Local
Post Level :	NO-B
Languages Required :	English
Duration of Initial Contract :	Initial duration of one year

The Liaison function will contribute to strengthening the partnership and engagement with the ECOWAS in order to coordinate principled humanitarian response and effectively engage Member States on disaster preparedness and response and other humanitarian issues with regional implications The Humanitarian Affairs Officer / ECOWAS Liaison Officer will work within the Department of Humanitarian and Social Affairs of ECOWAS in coordination with the Humanitarian Advisory Team (HAT) in Nigeria

The Humanitarian Affairs Officer / ECOWAS Liaison Officer will report to the OCHA Head of Humanitarian Advisory Team (HAT) in consultation with OCHA ROWCA.

Summary of key functions for the job:

• Engage dialogue with ECOWAS in her/his role of strengthening preparedness and response and provide support on policy and operational aspects relating to acute poverty, complex emergencies and impact on disasters.
• Participate and support ECOWAS’ initiatives including the measuring of the impact of natural disasters such as floods in West Africa, strengthening regional early warning mechanisms, drafting a model institution framework for disaster management at country level as well as any other initiatives related to humanitarian preparedness and response.
•  Assist in the elaboration of ECOWAS MoUs with regional agencies and institutions on DRR/Preparedness and provide support to the operationalization of the ECOWAS Emergency Response Team.
• Assist in the development of short and medium-term strategy, policy, planning and priorities, especially in implementing ECOWAS humanitarian policy and its  5-year humanitarian action plan.
• Maintain day to day and technical liaison with the humanitarian department of ECOWAS as well as other key entities within the organization such as ECOWARN and to provide timely and relevant information to the Head of HAT Nigeria and ROWCA on all urgent and important humanitarian issues with regional implications.
• Keep abreast of all key developments through regular monitoring and analysis of developments in the member states of ECOWAS and their impact on the humanitarian situation, regional early warning mechanism, development of regional and preparedness in a consistent and well-coordinated manner.
• Provide regular feedback to ROWCA and use public information and advocacy tools (reports; updates, special bulletins; websites) to keep ECOWAS humanitarian department, the RC and the ROWCA Head of Office, abreast of humanitarian developments and support coordinating plans and resource mobilization efforts for humanitarian activities

Functional Competencies for the job: 

Advocacy/Advancing A Policy-Oriented Agenda

Preparing information for advocacy

• Identifies and communicates relevant information for a variety of audiences for advocating for the advancement of ECOWAS’ humanitarian policy

Results-Based Programme Development and Management

Contributes into results through primary research and analysis

• Assesses project performance to identify success factors and incorporates best practices into project work
• Researches linkages across programme activities to identify critical points of integration
• Monitors specific stages of projects/programme implementation
• Analyzes country situation to identify opportunities for project development
• Participates in the formulation of project proposals and ensures substantive rigor in the design and application of proven successful approaches and drafts proposals accordingly

Building Strategic Partnerships

Maintaining a network of contacts

• Maintains an established network of contacts for general information sharing and to remain up-to-date on partnership related issues
•  Analyzes and selects materials for strengthening strategic alliances with partners and stakeholders

Innovation and Marketing New Approaches

Enhancing processes or products

• Generates new ideas and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies/best practices/new approaches

Resource Mobilization

Providing inputs to resource mobilization strategies

• Analyzes information/databases on potential and actual donors
• Identifies opportunities for project proposals for presentation to donors

Promoting Organizational Learning and Knowledge Sharing

Basic research and analysis

• Generates new ideas and approaches, researches best practices and proposes new, more effective ways of doing things
• Documents and analyses innovative strategies and new approaches

Client Orientation

Core Competencies for the job:

·         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 is the responsibility of each staff member.

·         Informed and transparent decision making

Educational qualification for the job:

·         University degree in political science, sociology, law, international relations, or related field

Language Requirements for the job:

·         Fluency in English (written and oral). Knowledge of French desirable.

Click here to apply online now