Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.
We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.
Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.
We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.
We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.
The Opportunity
Under the supervision of Director of the Sub Region (DSR) Coastal West Africa and in close coordination with the entire WACA RH Core Management Team (Regional Director, DSRs and Director for Influencing, Partnership and Business Development) and the DRM Director at Plan International’s Global Hub (GH), the Regional Head of Disaster Risk Management will support and monitor the implementation of the humanitarian scope of Plan International’s Global Strategy ‘100 Million Reasons’, the global DRM strategy and compliance with the DRM Policy at regional and country level and contribute to global policy and practice in the sector.
This is intended to be a pro-active role with significant influence within country and regional programmes. Some reactive work is required in meeting requests for support, but the post-holder will proactively engage with country programmes and regional initiatives to improve preparedness levels, responsiveness and quality of the humanitarian work throughout the West and Central African region.
The post is a key linkage/coordination point between global DRM work (International Headquarter a.k.a. Global Hub and National Offices) and the implementation of the DRM policy at Country Office (CO) level.
The post holder manages a small team of regional specialists and project coordinators (including a DRM Specialist specializing in preparedness, an Education in Emergencies specialist and a deployable Gender in emergencies Specialist) subject to further growth and has indirect oversight of a significant humanitarian budget managed by individual COs.
Key Objectives for the role:
- All Country Offices (Cos) in the region maintain an appropriate level of readiness (capacity/skills/procedures) through adequate preparedness and capacity building processes, adopted to the risk level of the CO.
- COs in the region have responded to all significant disasters, as per international acceptable humanitarian standards and received appropriate support.
- Basic DRM training targeting Country Management Teams and Emergency Response Teams has been carries out at country level, comprising both operational and programmatic aspects of humanitarian response.
- All COs have a contingency plan in place for managing disasters, including standardized operational protocols, contingency funds and adequate stock of prepositions.
- All new Country Strategies have included risks/hazards related to natural disasters, conflict and environment in their child rights analysis and designed programmatic responses.
- An increase in the volume of regional grants raised for DRM, with a focus on Gender in Emergencies, Climate Change Adaptation, Girls in Crisis and Resilience.
- Plan International’s professional profile within the DRM sector has been raised through regular attendance/contributions in coordination meetings and relevant forums.
- Prepared and updated disaster preparedness plan for the region.
- Monitoring progress towards strategy and regional learning is reflected in global policy and practice.
More Information
- Job City Dakar
