INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT, Humanitarian & Fragile Contexts Branch, Surge Assistant (National Position)

Hiring Office: Humanitarian and Fragile Contexts Branch (HFCB)

Duration: 6 months (with possibility of extension) beginning March 2016

Purpose of Consultancy

Under the direct supervision of the HFCB GBV Capacity Development Specialist, the Surge Assistant will work closely with the Surge Manager to support Surge related activities including but not limited to tracking of deployments, selection of candidates, logistical organization of trainings and overall capacity development initiatives etc. Reducing risk of GBV by implementing GBV prevention and mitigation strategies from pre-emergency to recovery stages of humanitarian response

Background

UNFPA’s mission is to work towards delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every child birth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. In humanitarian contexts, UNFPA works in collaboration with partners to provide lifesaving sexual and reproductive health services and to implement and coordinate gender based violence prevention, protection and response programs. Risk mitigation and preparedness are also core interventions in order to build countries’ and communities’ resilience.

The number of disasters and people affected have increased globally and we are faced with growing humanitarian needs. Although emergencies are becoming more complex and more frequent, the gap between humanitarian needs and the resources available to meet those needs continues to grow.

This increased demand for UNFPA to respond to humanitarian situations has led to a doubling of the organization’s humanitarian requirements, from $78 million in 2006 to $175 million in 2014 –the largest ever appeal in UNFPA history. This growing trend mirrors the global humanitarian trends. More is expected of UNFPA than ever before to provide life-saving assistance.

In line with the US Government’s Safe from the Start initiative and global Call to Action on Protecting Women and Girls in Emergencies, UNFPA is working with the US State Department’s Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration (BPRM) to fund a two-year project to scale up our efforts to address GBV in humanitarian contexts. To assist in this effort UNFPA has set up a global Surge roster of personnel to be rapidly deployed to support UNFPA’s humanitarian response in developing countries affected by acute/rapid onset emergencies.

Roles/Responsibilities

Maintain and regularly update a functional database with UNFPA Surge roster candidates (names and personal details, partnership reference, training received, deployment track, time availability, etc).
Lead the logistical organisation and day-to-day administration of Surge events and training organisation.
Keep track of assessment processes for candidates (sending assessments to candidates, supervising the completion and deadline of them, sending reminder to candidates, helping in ranking the assessments).
Establishing and regularly managing a filing/archive system with all correspondences among UNFPA departments and partners (memo, Mou, LOA, etc).
Assist with the recruitment, briefing and debriefing process of the candidates and deployees throughout the whole Surge assessments and/or deployment process.
Support in the initial drafting of a Deployment Briefing Toolkit with all necessary information on pre-deployment, during the deployment, after the deployment, lessons learned etc. Information should include at least an overview of UNFPA and its mandate, UNFPA operations and programs in the field, logistical and administrative information, maintain a list of contacts.
Support the Surge Manager in developing UNFPA Surge policies and SOP.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Completion of secondary school education with supplemental training in: office management, communication and computers.
Proficiency in the use of Excel, Word processing and computerized applications.
At least 5 years of admin related work experience.
Familiarity with ATLAS and UN accounting systems desirable.
English is required. A second UN language will be considered an asset.
Short listed candidates may be required to undertake a position related exam

Ø Other Desirable Skills:

Excellent writing and communication skills.
Excellent organizational and analytical skills
Ability to work in a multi-cultural team and must be able to work under pressure.

Ø Values: