Specialist in humanitarian issues in UN OCHA

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is looking for a Humanitarian Specialist.   

Posting Title: Humanitarian Affairs Specialist/Access

Deadline: 28/08/2024

This position is open to Ukrainian nationals ONLY

Context

The position is located in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Dnipro, Ukraine. OCHA is 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. 

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Head of Humanitarian Access and Civil-Military (CMCoord) Unit, the Humanitarian Affairs Specialist/Access will provide respective support to the Access and CMCoord Unit, ensuring consistency of activities in line and full compliance with security requirements and relevant guidelines and demonstrating the highest standards of professional behavior, including dealing with confidential information. 

Humanitarian Affairs Specialist/Access will provide support to the OCHA office ensuring high quality of work, accurate, timely and properly recorded/documented service delivery. He/She will promote a client, quality and results-oriented approach.

Task description

Under the guidance and direct supervision of the Head of Humanitarian Access and CMCoord Unit, the Humanitarian Affairs Specialist/Access will:

Information management and operations support:

• Maintain a record/database of missions to high-risk areas/very high-risk areas 

• Develop required documents for missions, for example Concept of Operations (CONOPS) and Mission Security Clearance Requests (MSCR), as required. 

• Record and process notifications of movements submitted by humanitarian partners through the Humanitarian Notification System (HNS) within established deadlines. 

• Liaise with key civilian and military counterparts to ensure that notifications are received and disseminated. 

• Inform Local SecurityAssociate (LSA) of mission-related issues on safety and security. Monitoring, analysis and reporting 

• Monitors and analyses trends and challenges related to humanitarian situation and access, and more specifically on humanitarian notifications. 

• Support the management and updating of the database of security incidents (AMRF) with potential humanitarian implications. 

• Support the preparation of bi-monthly Access Snapshots and other reports on access incidents and impediments. Coordination 

• Support the Humanitarian Operational Planning Cell (HOPC) and UN joint missions and convoys: 

• Prepare HOPC meetings, send invitations, take notes, and share draft minutes with HOPC co-chairs 

• Liaise with HOPC members, clusters, and OCHA field coordination colleagues to follow up on HOPC action points 

• Support the update of the HOPC convoy dashboard, HOPC planning matrix, and other related tables and documents 

• Continually liaise with UNDSS at relevant levels to facilitate humanitarian access, including SRMs. 

• Any other related tasks that may be required or assigned by the supervisor. 

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. 

As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities: 

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); 

• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; 

• Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities. 

• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; 

• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; 

• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible. 

Results/expected outputs: 

• Processing of mission documents: timely processing of these documents along with related actions such as communication with UNDSS and the HNS processing 

• Mission Documents Tracking: A documented process for tracking the submission and approval status of CONOPS and MSCRs, including timelines and parties, is established. 

• Missions Database and Dashboard: An updated and organized database and dashboard containing records of all missions, categorized by those with and without CONOPS, is maintained. 

• Processed Notifications in HNS: timely processing of humanitarian notifications submitted in the HNS System 

• Analysis Reports: contribute to the regular reports, challenges, related to access and insights related to humanitarian notifications. 

• Access Reports: Records of interactions with UNDSS, including outcomes related to humanitarian access and any SRM adjustments, are maintained. 

• Meeting Minutes: Detailed minutes from unit meetings and interactions are maintained 

• Updated Incident Database: A regularly updated database of security incidents in AMRF with potential humanitarian implications is maintained. 

• Bi-Monthly Access Snapshots: Well-prepared snapshots that summarize access incidents and challenges over the reporting period are produced. 

• HOPC Meeting Materials: Prepared agendas, invitations, and notes for HOPC meetings to ensure all participants are informed and engaged. 

• Updated HOPC and HNS Dashboards: A regularly updated dashboards reflecting current convoy status and HNS status is maintained. 

• Task Completion Reports: Documentation of any additional tasks completed as assigned by the supervisor.