Inter-Agency Coordination Off

Inter-Agency Coordination Officer

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
Turkey continues to host the largest refugee population in the world, providing protection to nearly three million refugees and asylum-seekers. By the end of 2015 the Government of Turkey hosted 2,750,000 refugees. With 2,5 million Syrians granted temporary protection by the Turkish Government, Syrians constitute the largest refugee group. In addition, Turkey hosts over 260,000 non-Syrians persons of concern to UNHCR. 

The Government of Turkey undertakes the leadership in the protection of and assistance to all persons of concern in Turkey. UNHCR¿s overall strategy is to support Turkey in developing and implementing its national refugee response strategy, as well as coordinate the response of various humanitarian actors.

UNHCR Turkey co-leads two major appeals, the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) with UNDP, and the Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RRMRP) with IOM. In addition, it is leading the Pillar 4.1 (International Protection and Migration) of the Turkey UN Development and Cooperation Strategy (UNDCS) 2016-2020.
In the context of 3RP, UNHCR is coordinating the Refugee Response and UNDP is coordinating the Resilience Response. The 3RP coordination is also evolving from heavily field based to an increased focus on the national level coordination to resonate with the shift in the government coordination structure.

For non-Syrian persons of concern, UNHCR will remain the lead agency, working closely with concerned authorities to further strengthen the national asylum framework, and advocate for increased participation of UN and NGO partners to this population group. In addition, UNHCR will continue to organise the inter-agency Contingency Planning exercise.

The Inter-Agency Coordination Officer, under the supervision of the Head of Sub-Office, and in coordination with other units of the Branch Office and the field, ensures that UNHCR maintains predictable and effective leadership in all sectors or areas of activity.  The aim is to ensure a more coherent and accountable response by enhanced coordination with government partners and mobilizing groups of agencies, organizations and NGOs to respond in a strategic manner across all key areas of activity.

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT
Accountability
- UNHCR¿s leadership and participation in the inter-agency coordination for broader humanitarian response is enhanced and ensured.
- Inclusion of key refugee partners for all sectors, respecting their respective mandates and programme priorities; sectorial participants are aware of relevant policy guidelines, technical standards and relevant commitments that the Government has undertaken under international refugee laws and human rights laws.
- Responses are in line with existing policy guidance, technical standards, and relevant Government human rights legal obligations.
- Adequate contingency planning and preparedness for new emergencies is in place.

Responsibility
- Support the Head of Sub-Office to ensure coordinated support is provided to the country team/Syrian Response Group for strategic planning, assessment, monitoring and analysis of the Syria crisis, effectively monitor the implementation of the sector strategies and the country response plan.
- Support the Head of Sub-Office in Gaziantep in maintaining a dialogue with donors on the overall inter-agency funding/resource status of the humanitarian programmes, organizing periodic meetings with donors as well as preparing appropriate briefing materials for visiting delegations.
- Support the Head of Sub-Office in all aspects related to inter-agency and partner communication with a focus on NGO partnerships. This includes inter-agency and inter-sector meetings as well as regular meeting with the relevant NGOs forums, international organizatons and local authorities.
- Head the Inter-Agency Coordination Unit (IACU) in Gaziantep Sub-Office, compromising of two sector coordinators and information management staff.
- Lead and coordinate the Inter-Sector Working Group (ISWG) for the South-East of Turkey to ensure technical coherence and consistency throughout all phases of the response and across all sectors and areas of intervention.
- Establish and maintain inter-sector coordination mechanisms to allow sector coordinators and other sector technical actors to maximise the use of resources, address strategic objectives and avoid duplication.
- Support coordination capacity building initiatives, identifying and addressing inter-sector training needs.
- Support the integration of cross-cutting and cross-sector issues in all phases of the response.
- Facilitate inter-sector needs assessments and analysis.
- Ensure standard information management tools and procedure to enable inter-sector analysis are in place and available.
- Ensure strategic objectives are addressed and coherent across all sectors.
- Assist in the regular monitoring including monitoring coordination performance, supporting sector coordinators in identifying changing needs and gaps and promoting joint actions to address them.
- Support technical level emergency preparedness efforts, including contingency planning.
- Ensure accountability to affected population is integrated across all sectors and throughout all phases of the response.

Authority
- Represent UNHCR at meetings as necessary.
- Enforce adequate monitoring mechanisms are in place to review impact of the sectorial working group and progress against implementation plans.
- Enforce adequate reporting and effective information sharing.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
- Advanced university degree in Law, Social Science, Economics, Business Administration or related field.
- Minimum 8 years (6 years with advanced university degree) of experience in progressively responsible functions in coordination.
- 2 or more years of coordination experience at a sector or a cluster.
- Previous experience in one of the following areas: CBI, Shelter, NFIs and/or WASH.
- Field experience in programme implementation and coordination.
- Thorough understanding of UNHCR's RCM, protection mandate and core mission.
- Understands recent inter-agency developments, notably the IASC humanitarian framework.
- Knowledge of refugee protection principles and framework.
- Good knowledge of the UN system, its operational procedures and exposure to provision of support services in an International Organization.
- Excellent computer skills and knowledge of MS applications.
- Excellent communication skills with strong interpersonal and negotiation skills.
- Can develop and foster relationships with national and international aid actors including senior staff.
- Excellent command of English and another relevant UN language (written, oral, comprehension) and highly developed drafting skills.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES
- Working experience in refugee settings.
- Experience with operational research, teaching or administration.
- Demonstrated expertise in community services, community development/organization, social work, social surveys/assessment, counselling, or related areas.
- Exposure to UNHCR specific training/learning activities.
- Knowledge of other relevant UN languages and knowledge of Turkish language.