Roving Response Preparedness Advisor (French and English Speaking) 154 views0 applications

We help to strengthen resilience of vulnerable people exposed to hazards and crisis situations and we respond to disasters and conflicts to save lives and alleviate suffering. In the Netherlands with more than thirty thousand volunteers and internationally through technical assistance, supplies and money. Together we act before, during and after disasters to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people.

We do this without regards to nationality, ethnicity, religious beliefs, class or political opinion. Our seven principles guide our humanitarian work: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

The International Assistance division is responsible for all Netherlands Red Cross (NLRC) international support for victims of disasters and conflicts and for vulnerable people exposed to hazards.

In this role you provide technical advise to the francophone Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in the Africa Region, in implementing the Response Preparedness Program. The support will focus on the Central African Republic (CAR), Côte d’Ivoire, and Mali. Your goal is to help them to enhance their capacities to act timely and professionally throughout the disaster phases.

Roving Response Preparedness Advisor (French and English Speaking)

Duty station: Abidjan

Time period: 1 year

Starting Date: as soon as possible

Position in the organization

As a (Roving) Advisor you are part of the Water Advisory Innovation (WAI) unit of the Netherlands Red Cross (NLRC). The WAI team includes 10 experts on water climate and environment, among those two Roving Response Preparedness advisors supporting National Societies to prepare to respond to crises and disasters . Your position is based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire . You report to the Unit Lead of the WAI unit and work in close collaboration with the team of advisors and share tasks with the other Response Preparedness (RP) Advisor. You will work closely with the country teams (NLRC Project Manager, Country Representative as well as National Society project staff), the other technical implementing partners in the RP program (e.g. RC Climate Centre, NLRC Data & Digital Team) and IFRC (according to their global coordination mandate). The NLRC Country Representative in Côte d’Ivoire will have the responsibility for security rules, security instructions and logistical planning and arrangements (in country transport, office space etc.) when in Côte d’Ivoire.

Purpose of the position

This position of Response Preparedness Advisor is a technical Advisor that supports the francophone National Societies in the Africa Region, in implementing the Response Preparedness Program, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The support will focus on the Central African Republic (CAR), Côte d’Ivoire, and Mali. Occasional support to the other countries may be requested in collaboration with the Response Preparedness Advisor at NLRC HQ and the IFRC Cluster. The Roving nature of the position entails travel to the support countries (at least one visits per year for each country) while maintaining the coordination between countries at the regional level also in collaboration with IFRC (Cluster Offices). The position may evolve into a partial secondment to IFRC regional set up, functional and management links with the IFRC Cluster will be defined based on the support identified.

The Response Preparedness program aims at enhancing response preparedness of targeted National Societies to ensure that there are capacities in place to act timely and professionally throughout the disaster phases. As a Technical Advisor you support the country teams by providing technical guidance in alignment with the Response Preparedness global tools developed by IFRC (eg Preparedness for Effective Response (PER), Anticipatory Action and Multi-hazard approaches), identifying gaps and needs in terms of capacity strengthening and facilitating the NS in filling them by either providing trainings and guidance or connecting to the relevant technical counterpart. As a RP expert you keep an overview of the RP programs and activities and ensure synergy and a coordinated approach within NLRC in collaboration with the other RP Advisor. You also ensure close coordination with Movement Partners on RP activities.

You participate in regular meetings in the WAI team and provide regular updates to the team and the Unit Lead and participate in team activities of shared learning and joint coordination.

Key roles and responsibilities

• Technically support the country teams of CAR, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali and potentially to the IFRC cluster after further discussions with Movement partners, in the day-to-day implementation of activities within the current Response Preparedness programs.
• Provide trainings and guidance on the set-up, implementation and use of PER tools and response preparedness/anticipatory action approaches.
• Review & contribute to the reports produced by the RP delegates in country.
• Provide quality and timely input to the RP program manager for status updates and reporting.
• Generate and promote cross- and peer learning between the countries implementing RP programs.
• Contribute to the collection and dissemination of lessons learned and best practices of the implementing NSs via regional and international platforms.
• Support the PMEAL advisors in the development and implementation of Project Monitoring & Evaluations plans, data collection and case study development for the RP programs in your portfolio.
• Contribute to strategy and tool development with colleagues from IFRC and other NSs and connect the NSs you support to the relevant IFRC regional initiatives.
• Showcase to NSs in the region the existing NLRC products that are relevant to response preparedness (eg IBF portal, Water Management Toolkit).
• Support NSs for a consistent participation and coordination in existing national interagency working groups and advocate for inclusion in policies, standard operating procedures, and programs, in coordination with the IFRC.
• Provide input to the Resource Mobilization team for additional resource mobilization for response preparedness in the region, by identifying funding opportunities via your network.
• Work closely with the NLRC WASH and Water Management advisors to include sectorial support in the RP programs and with the NLRC Design and Innovation Strategist to include localized innovation elements.
• Support the Unit Lead of WAI in the strategic planning of anticipation and response preparedness work within NLRC.

Skills and experience

• At least 10 years’ professional experience in an international organization in the field of Disaster Management.
• Extensive field experience in disaster management, both at institutional and community levels (in emergency response, response preparedness and community preparedness).
• Experience in working in (one of) the program countries is of added value
• Advanced technical knowledge of Emergency Response, Response Preparedness, and Cash and Voucher Assistance.
• Experience with the Preparedness for Effective Response (PER) approach of IFRC or similar approaches within other organizations/agencies. Programming, and Forecast-based Financing (approaches, strategies and implementation).
• Experience in the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in this or a related field is an asset.
• Demonstrable skills in institutional capacity building and coordinating with stakeholders and networking in Response Preparedness.
• Ability to monitor project objectives both qualitatively and quantitatively.
• Knowledge of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation methodologies and tools, such as Theory of Change, case studies, facilitation of focus group discussions and Logical Framework.
• Excellent command of both English and French languages spoken and written.

We offer

• A full time appointment (based on 40-hour work week) for 1 year, with the possibility of extension
• Please note that this is an International mobile staff position. This means that you will need to be eligible to be dispatched to Ivory Coast. Abidjan is a family posting.
• A flexible and human centered working environment in an international environment with a variety of international organizations.
• Well balanced employment conditions with space for initiative and development.