Delegate, Socio-Economic Empowerment

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 191-member National Societies (NSs). The overall aim of IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by NSs with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.”  IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into four main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Coordination, (ii) Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization, (iii) Management and Accountability and (iv) People and Strategy.

IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas. IFRC also has country cluster delegations and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

IFRC has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination, and lack of integrity (including but not limited to financial misconduct). IFRC also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles.

The core function of the Country Cluster Delegation (CCD) for Central African Republic and Chad is to strengthen the capacities and support the cluster National Societies in disaster and crisis prevention, response, and recovery, as well as other key thematic/programmatic areas defined by key pan-African initiatives. The CCD also strengthens collaboration among Movement partners by facilitating context analysis and coordination toward common and harmonized approaches, alignment of plans, effective use of resources, and national development to carry out their humanitarian mandates.

The Sustaining Employment, Careers, and Resilience for Community Health Workforce (SECURE) program is a four-year initiative led by the IFRC and the Mastercard Foundation, implemented in partnership with the Central African Red Cross (CRCA) and the Ministry of Health in the Central African Republic (CAR). It aims to professionalize and economically empower 11,824 Community Health Workers (CHWs) across the CAR, with a focus on employability, entrepreneurship, ecosystem strengthening, and coordination.

The Socio-Economic Empowerment Delegate will lead the design, contextualization, implementation and monitoring of entrepreneurship and livelihoods strategies for Community Health Workers (CHWs) under the SECURE program in the Central African Republic (CAR). This includes developing inclusive business training curricula, coordinating transparent seed grant disbursements, strengthening financial inclusion, facilitating CHW market integration, and building institutional and community capacity to support sustainable micro-enterprise development.

In line with the IFRC's Strategy 2030 and the Pan-African Key Initiative on National Society Development (NSD), this role will be central in advancing locally led, youth-inclusive and gender-responsive economic empowerment models. The Delegate will ensure that entrepreneurship pathways for CHWs are embedded in resilient systems that are community-driven and National Society-owned. This will include supporting the co-development of policies, capacity-strengthening frameworks, and sustainability plans anchored in the outcomes of Organisational Capacity Assessment and Certification (OCAC), Branch Organizational Capacity Assessment (BOCA), and Preparedness for Effective Response (PER).

The Delegate will further contribute to operationalizing the IFRC’s Renewal and the Grand Bargain Workstream 2 by enhancing local capacities and reinforcing CHW-led enterprise systems that promote volunteer retention, dignity, and decent livelihoods. The position will ensure strategic alignment with Mastercard Foundation's Young Africa Works Strategy, reinforcing IFRC’s broader efforts to build a robust and inclusive health and economic ecosystem in a fragile context. Through deliberate collaboration with the Croix Rouge Centrafricaine (CRCA), the CAR Ministry of Health, private sector actors, and microfinance institutions, the delegate will champion shared leadership, localized implementation, and scalable entrepreneurship pathways that contribute to long-term community resilience and stronger regional membership.

The Socio-Economic Empowerment Delegate will provide catalytic, high-impact technical support to accelerate early implementation, systems set-up, capacity building and strategic positioning for the entrepreneurship components of the SECURE program.

• Lead the rapid co-development and contextual adaptation of entrepreneurship and livelihoods strategies for Community Health Workers (CHWs), ensuring they are fit-for-purpose in fragile and conflict-affected contexts in CAR.
• Support the development and piloting of inclusive, modular training curricula on foundational business skills, financial literacy, and sector-specific entrepreneurship (e.g., agribusiness, crafts, digital services).
• Facilitate initial rounds of Training of Trainers (ToT) and guide early-phase cascade delivery of entrepreneurship training to an initial cohort of CHWs, ensuring tools are gender-responsive and literacy-accessible.
• Provide technical oversight for the start-up and monitoring of milestone-based seed grant mechanisms (targeting the first tranche of CHWs), establishing transparent criteria, templates and quality assurance standards for future scale-up.
• Initiate partnerships with local SMEs, cooperatives, and chambers of commerce to enable early-stage CHW market linkages and co-identify viable local value chains.
• Advise on the design of CHW integration into local procurement systems and support introductory participation in product fairs or market testing opportunities.
• Develop guidance and orientation packages to support CHW navigation of business registration, compliance, and informal-to-formal enterprise transition pathways.
• Forge initial collaboration frameworks with microfinance institutions (MFIs), mobile money providers, and digital financial service actors to support the early rollout of financial inclusion for CHWs.
• Support the design and piloting of financial literacy training tailored for CHWs, with simple, scalable delivery formats appropriate for low-literacy users.
• Introduce and test digital financial tools (e.g., mobile wallets, digital bookkeeping) that can enhance business transparency and resilience from early implementation.
• Design the structure for a mentorship model and coordinate the launch of initial mentorship pairings between CHWs and local entrepreneurs or SME coaches.
• Provide technical guidance to establish the first regional Communities of Practice (CoPs) to foster CHW peer exchange, shared learning, and technical collaboration.
• Identify opportunities and develop a roadmap for future business incubation or acceleration initiatives tailored for CHW-led enterprises.
• Collaborate with PMER and digital transformation teams to integrate entrepreneurship indicators into monitoring systems, including Kobo-based tools for business performance tracking.
• Co-lead early learning reviews on entrepreneurship activities and contribute to narrative and financial reporting during the deployment period.
• Produce 2–3 knowledge products (e.g., briefs, case studies, toolkits) capturing early lessons, innovation, and promising practices from CHW entrepreneurs.
• Ensure all entrepreneurship activities under the 15-month deployment are aligned with IFRC’s Strategy 2030, Pan-African Key Initiatives (especially National Society Development), and the Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works framework.
• Engage with national stakeholders to position CHW entrepreneurship as a viable pathway for youth employment and public health resilience.
• Support policy dialogue and early technical documentation to influence CHW integration into broader financial inclusion and micro-enterprise development policy frameworks.

Ethical Conduct of IFRC Staff

IFRC maintains a code of standards of conduct that must govern the performance of its employees engaged in the awarding and administration of contracts.

No employee, officer, or agent shall participate in the selection, award, or administration of a contract funded by donor funds if a real or apparent conflict of interest is involved.

IFRC officers, employees, or agents shall not solicit or accept gratuities, favors, or anything else of monetary value from contractors or parties to secondary agreements.

These standards provide for disciplinary measures to be applied in the event of a violation of these standards by IFRC officials, employees, or agents.

Safeguarding and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

“Sexual exploitation” means taking advantage of, or attempting to take advantage of, a position of vulnerability, power, or trust for sexual purposes, including for financial, social, or political gain from the sexual exploitation or abuse of another person.

Staff must actively promote PSEA (Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) standards within the IFRC and among the beneficiaries served by the IFRC. 

• University degree in Business Administration, International Relations, Development Economics, Entrepreneurship, Livelihoods, Social Innovation, or a closely related field.
• Master’s degree in any of the above fields, with additional training or certification in microfinance, youth economic empowerment, or enterprise development is preferred.

Required:

• A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience within international humanitarian or development organisations
• Experience designing and delivering youth and adult training, especially for low-literacy populations.
• Experience in entrepreneurship development, youth livelihoods, or enterprise incubation in fragile or low-income settings.
• Significant experience in communication and information work

Preferred:

• Experience integrating entrepreneurship indicators into MEL systems and using digital tools (e.g., Kobo, mobile data collection)
• Experience setting up and managing milestone-based seed grants, monitoring business performance, and ensuring transparent processes
• Red Cross Red Crescent Movement experience

Required:

• Proven experience in communication and computer skills, including writing, editing, photography, layout, production, web design, etc.
• Able to undertake strategic thinking and translate this into practice
• Skilled in creating and facilitating inclusive, modular ToT and entrepreneurship training
• Strong knowledge of microfinance, mobile money, and digital financial services for marginalized populations
• Capability of working with sensitivity in a multi-cultural environment and with virtual or/and dispersed teams
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Able to network effectively and influence and inspire others, including the membership, governments, other agencies, peers, staff and partners
• Focused on quality and standards, results, and accountability
• Teamwork and trust-building, inclusive National Society relations
• Proactive approach to finding creative and constructive solutions to difficult issues
• Skilled in policy dialogue and positioning entrepreneurship within youth employment and financial inclusion frameworks
• Ability to design and coordinate mentorship models and peer learning frameworks for small entrepreneurs
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Google environment, etc.); proficiency in accounting management software used in the humanitarian sector (SAGA, NAVISION, etc.).
• Ability to work without boundaries and support NSs in the region.

Preferred:

• Proven ability to establish collaborations with SMEs, cooperatives, chambers of commerce, and financial institutions
• Understanding of local market dynamics, value chain mapping, and pathways for informal-to-formal enterprise transitions

Languages:

• Fluent spoken and written English
• Fluent spoken and written French

Values: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability

Core competencies: Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; National society and customer relations; Creativity and innovation; Building trust