Libya – A Humanitarian Affairs Officer based in Tunis and Benghazi 172 views0 applications

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a Humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit, non-political and non-religious international aid organization. Our teams are committed to supporting civilian victims of marginalization and exclusion, or hit by natural disasters, wars and economic collapses, by addressing their fundamental needs. Our aim is to provide emergency relief to uprooted people in order to help them recover their dignity and regain self-sufficiency. The association leads on average 200 projects per year in the following sectors of intervention: food security, health, nutrition, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures, water, sanitation, hygiene and economic recovery. PUI is providing assistance to around 6 million people in more than 22 countries – in Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Europe.

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Humanitarian situation

Crisis context

After more than forty years in power, the revolution of 2011 put an end to Mouammar Kadhafi’s reign. Libya has been ever since confronted to a challenging political instability due to the state breakup. Since 2014, a new civil war has been underway. In this context, the country is divided between different military and political forces. This instability has a strong impact on the Libyan population’s living conditions. It reduces day after day its access to essential services.

In 2019, thousands of persons remain displaced in camps across the country while some went back to their household. These persons, displaced or “returnees”, are facing a high level of vulnerability. Simultaneously, numerous refugees, asylum seekers and migrants fleeing authoritarian regimes or poverty are passing through Libya. Some of them are into the hands of human traffickers before risking their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Recurrent armed conflicts, political instability and economic collapse have led to a complex humanitarian crisis. The United Nations estimate 823,000 persons are going to need humanitarian assistance this year in Libya (OCHA, HNO 2019).

Thus, after eight years of crisis and instability, access to essential services remains largely limited, in particular for the most vulnerable persons. Première Urgence Internationale has identified an extremely concerning situation in terms of psychosocial disorders and access to healthcare. To a great extent, the former is due to the persisting conflict and the dysfunction of basic services. The latter is explained by infrastructure destructions, breaks in drug supplies and a shortage of medical material and qualified human resources.

In the Southeast of the country, the tensions between the Tebu and the Zway tribes seriously affects the health system and the access to basic services. Tribe communities, when they are a minority in the area, are suffering from segregation in most of Al kufra’s institutions, including health care facilities. This occurs in a context of underdevelopment and poverty that exacerbates the impact of the conflict on the population in the region. Indeed, this area has been suffering, even before the conflict, from a poor investment from the central government. However, few information are available on this area and its humanitarian needs due to a poor, if not almost inexistent, presence of NGOs.

Our actions in the Field

In this context, Première Urgence Internationale intervenes for the improvement of both Libyan and migrant populations’ living conditions. Since the Libyan mission implementation in 2017, Première Urgence Internationale has been developing access to primary healthcare and psychosocial assistance in Benghazi and its surroundings.

In the framework of quick impact projects, our teams have led the restoration of three healthcare centers as well as the refurbishment of the import control Agency and of the Al Jala hospital’s emergency service. In addition, our five mobile clinics have been providing primary healthcare activities in the region of Benghazi. They provide free support for primary, maternal and child healthcare, chronic disease treatment and access to psychosocial support. PUI has also led healthcare activities in migrant detention camps located in eastern Libya. Refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in general are caught in a vice. On one hand, being victims of discriminations, they face difficulties to access essential services. On the other hand, they are compelled to live hidden from human traffickers.

This year, in partnership with other organizations, PUI launched a two-year project whose objective is to improve Libyan healthcare authorities’ capacities to treat chronic diseases, specifically in terms of personnel training and disease prevention.

Besides, Première Urgence Internationale has extended its intervention to the water, hygiene and sanitation sector. First, by restoring a pumping station in a district of Benghazi. Our teams also organize regular distributions of hygiene kits to families living in camps and precarious accommodations.

Furthermore, in 2018, PUI conducted an exploratory mission in the Al Kufra region (south-east Libya) in order to identify the specific needs of this isolated area and develop an adapted humanitarian response.

Click here for more information about our response to the crisis.

As part of our actions in Libya, we are looking for a Humanitarian Affairs Officer based in Tunis and Benghazi

Under the overall supervision and direct line management of the Head of Mission, the Humanitarian Affairs Officer (HAO) is a specialist position leading on the integration of humanitarian analysis, civilian protection, and advocacy’s strategy into PUI’s operational response, in line with PUI policies and values.

The HAO is responsible for the monitoring, analysis, and reporting regarding the humanitarian response and context developments in Libya. He/She provides sound analytical inputs and advice that contribute to develop an advocacy agenda, as well as improving institutional and capacity to articulate PUI operational strategy in Libya within the framework of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law.

Main responsibilities:

Under the direct supervision of the Head Of Mission:

Context follow up and analysis: He/She ensures the monitoring and analysis of local and regional context and stakeholders’ analysis, in order to provide a sharpened understanding of the Libyan situation and to produce briefing materials and other reports for dissemination to PUI staff.

Communication and advocacy: Through the gathering of information and context analysis, he/she develops advocacy materials and dissemination activities to enhance the protection of civilians and humanitarian principles into PUI’s operational response. He/She actively contributes to PUI’s communication plan design and implementation. He/She produces external communication tools.

Internal & External Coordination/Representation & Networking: At the sight of the local context and external developments, He/She provides advices and ensures that humanitarian principles and good practices are transversely integrated in the mission’s projects. . He/She represents PUI before external actors (NGOs or clusters) or in humanitarian coordination forums.

Protection mainstreaming: He/She supports the technical coordinators by focusing on protection/”Good practices” inputs in the projects’ design, implementation and monitoring.

Training and Experiences:

Training: Master’s degree in Law (IHL and/or IHRL), Social Sciences or a related university degree, or equivalent professional experience.

Experience: Field humanitarian experience in similar contexts (conflict, disasters, resource-poor environments) with PUI or another humanitarian NGO.

Previous experience in developing and implementing advocacy strategy

Experience of writing, reviewing and editing narrative reports, intended to diverse audiences, and including an excellent attention to detail. Experience in networking and building relationships.

Experience in mainstreaming protection in other sectors

Knowledge and skills: Strong knowledge of Humanitarian Principles, Core Humanitarian Standards, and International Human Rights Law

Good understanding of current humanitarian debates and of the dilemma/compromise nature of modern humanitarian interventions.

Capacity to build consensus and facilitate collaboration with other humanitarian agencies

Languages: Excellent command in writing and editing documents in English.

Required Personal Characteristics :

• Proven first-rate writing skills and excellent research/analytical skills;
• Ability to write and edit reports under deadline pressure;
• Ability to guarantee effective and timely outputs;
• Excellent communications kills for public presentations;
• Strong diplomacy and negotiations skills;
• Ability to work on own initiative and collaboratively as part of a diverse team and manage a varied workload
• Self-motivated, flexible and adaptable to the needs of the team and organization
• Strong commitment to support/develop capacity of national staff and developing second layer of leadership;
• Proven management ability and inter-personal skills – team player;
• Problem solving and leadership skills;
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities in personal workload.

Proposed Terms

Fixed-term contract: 6 months

Starting date: May 2019

Monthly Gross Income: from 1 815 to 2 145 Euros depending on the experience in International Solidarity + 50 Euros per semester seniority with PUI

Cost Covered: Round-trip transportation to and from home / mission, visas, vaccines…

Insurance including medical coverage and complementary healthcare, 24/24 assistance and repatriation

Housing in collective or private accommodation

Daily living expenses: (« Per diem »)

Break Policy : 5 working days at 3 and 9 months

Paid Leaves Policy : 5 weeks of paid leaves per year + return ticket every 6 months

To know more about our offer, look at the complete job description on our website!