The Position:
The Programme Outreach Specialist is located in the Liaison, Policy and Advocacy Unit (LPAU), Humanitarian Office, New York. Under the direct supervision of the Coordination Adviser, the incumbent works as part of the integrated, multidisciplinary team in LPAU to provide substantive support for information management in emergencies, including advancing the development of the UNFPA Humanitarian Action Overview. The Programme Outreach Specialist works within an integrated, coordinated, and systems strengthening approach which is fundamental to the Humanitarian Office and UNFPA’s overall strategy.
The overall purpose of the Humanitarian Office is to facilitate the delivery of the UNFPA mandate by supporting humanitarian preparedness, response, and recovery actions in increasingly complex humanitarian situations, within globally agreed frameworks (2030 Agenda, Grand Bargain Commitments, Sendai Framework, etc.). The Humanitarian Office leads in leveraging and increasing effectiveness, efficiency and capacity of UNFPA staff and partners to scale up UNFPA’s role as a key global humanitarian actor. Through the Inter-Agency Standing Committee for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (IASC) and other associated entities, the Humanitarian Office acts as a point of convergence on humanitarian activities, including policy, coordination, programming, advocacy, field capacity development, resource mobilization, innovation, partnerships, technical guidance and, crucially, thematic integration, ensuring complementarity between humanitarian and development action within the organization.
HO advocates among humanitarian agencies to include sexual and reproductive health and rights needs and sexual and gender-based violence prevention needs and humanitarian concerns of population into the overall humanitarian preparedness and response frameworks. The HO facilitates the development of UNFPA capacities to prepare and respond to the emergencies and to ensure the fund is well equipped to deal with the context of fragility and disaster risk reduction.
The Programme Outreach Specialist provides technical support to advance the role of UNFPA in the domain of information management in emergencies. S/He will maintain strong collaborative partnerships across the organization and with external partners to ensure high-quality information products and services in the domain of UNFPA’s work in emergencies, and data management for better analysis and decision making. The Programme Outreach Specialist also builds strong collaborative relationships with Country Offices, Regional/Sub-regional Offices, and Headquarters to develop and maintain up-to-date the UNFPA global Humanitarian Action Overview.
Qualification and Experience:
Knowledge and Experience:
- 5 years of progressively responsible national and international experience in information management, outreach or communication, including at least four years working in international development.
- Excellent research and writing skills, with experience writing reports, newsletters and programme updates, and developing web content;
- Experience working on sexual and reproductive health, gender and population issues;
- Experience working as an organization’s focal point for communication, information management, partnerships, preferably for a UN agency.
- Excellent interpersonal communication and project implementation skills required
- Field experience working on humanitarian issues desirable.
Education:
- Advanced degree in social sciences, public information, information management, information systems or related field.
Languages:
- Proficiency in English is required;
- Knowledge of an additional UN language is an asset