Senior Officer, Humanitarian Diplomacy

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 192-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies 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.”  The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

The 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 the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

The IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services.

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

The IFRC Secretariat Strategy 2030 was approved and adopted by the Governing Board in December 2019. IFRC Africa Region is positioning itself to ‘work for and with’ membership to ensure strong, relevant and sustainable African National Societies that are able to directly and collaboratively implement the five strategic priorities and the three Enabling Approaches and deliver on the Strategy 2030.

To operationalise Strategy 2030, the global Agenda for Renewal was developed to position the IFRC as a Focused, Engaged, Accountable and Trusted Secretariat. The Agenda for Renewal also outlines transformative priorities to enable it to meet the four objectives above. The Africa region has therefore developed an Africa’s Agenda for Renewal which seeks to transform the African National Societies to achieve Strategy 2030, and the objectives set on the Plan and Budget 2021-2025. The Africa Agenda for Renewal focusses on four major Pan-African flagship initiatives on which the region will focus from 2021 to 2030, these are centred around National Society Development and Sustainability, Food Security and Livelihoods (Zero Hunger Initiative), Tree Planting and Care, Red Ready disaster preparedness.

The Senior Officer, Humanitarian Diplomacy will take lead on all aspects of Humanitarian Diplomacy for the Abuja Country Cluster Delegation. The post holder will be responsible for creating and implementing plans to influence policies and decisions for the benefit and enhancement of IFRC and the National Societies.

With a strong focus on delivering the Africa Agenda for Renewal and the four flagship initiatives, the Senior Officer, Humanitarian Diplomacy will actively lobby and advocate for specific outcomes with major African bodies and organizations in Abuja country cluster (like the ECOWAS, AU, UN, etc) and will position IFRC and the National Societies as partners of choice and agents of humanitarian change within the delegation.

The Senior Officer, Humanitarian Diplomacy will work closely with the Head of Delegation(HoD). He/she will provide the head of the delegation with in-depth information to develop advocacy content and activities. The post holder will also have a strong collaboration with the regional humanitarian diplomacy unit to provide support to the cluster.  

• Lead under the guidance of the Head of Delegation, the diplomatic engagements of the Abuja country cluster delegation
• Represent and maintain IFRC on behalf of the HoD at various platforms and international organizations to advocate for the position of the IFRC and national societies
• Lead on planning and delivering Humanitarian Diplomacy and advocacy to achieve the Africa Agenda for Renewal and four Pan-African Flagship Initiatives
• Act as the Humanitarian Diplomacy focal point for the Abuja Country Cluster region, advising IFRC and the National Societies on Humanitarian Diplomacy approaches and tools
• Position IFRC leadership among key institutions and forums to achieve maximum influence
• Research and identify decision-makers and power structures, and develop engagement plans
• Identify key policy opportunities and processes (such as those within key international policy frameworks and related platforms for the Abuja Country Cluster Region, Inter-Agency initiatives, etc), events, conferences and forums
• Lead on IFRC Abuja Country Cluster region’s participation, including positioning IFRC and representation, preparation for the meetings, organizing side events, briefing colleagues and following up on actions and next steps
• Develop and deliver advocacy plans in line with IFRC’s principles and strategic priorities, including identifying opportunities, developing key messages, identifying policy targets and entry points and representing IFRC at key fora
• Lead on policy engagement on relevant topics such as Climate Change, Sustainable Development Goals, Disaster Risk Reduction and set traction indicators for ACCD in the Decade of Action
• Engage with key stakeholder institutions in Africa, including governmental and inter-governmental bodies (e.g. AU, SADC, ECOWAS) to influence policies in support of humanitarian principles and IFRC strategic priorities
• Prepare and promote policy position papers and briefs on relevant topics
• Coordinate with Movement and external partners on policy and advocacy efforts to ensure strategic use of Movement capacities and resources
• Coordinate with and support IFRC Geneva and other regional offices to ensure alignment of messaging and approaches.
• Coordinate with IFRC Humanitarian Diplomacy offices in New York, Brussels and Addis Ababa to promote the humanitarian and development work of African National Societies to High-level decision and policymakers.
• Foster knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices on Humanitarian Diplomacy via a network of Movement actors and stakeholders

• Actively work towards the achievement of the Federation Secretariat’s goals
• Abide by and work in accordance with the Red Cross and Red Crescent principles
• Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager

• Master’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience
• Undergraduate degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience

• At least 5 years of work experience within the same or related position. Required
• Work experience in the international humanitarian and development sector. Required
• Extensive experience in Humanitarian Diplomacy, advocacy, policy and strategy. Required
• Proven track record of influencing policy or decision-making in line with agreed strategic priorities. Required
• Successful experience in the development of policy campaigns, including strategy-building, inter-governmental advocacy, and evidence-building. Required
• Experience supporting multidisciplinary and complex programs. Required
• Experience in building strategic partnerships with tangible outcomes. Required
• Work experience in the ACCD (Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Benin). Preferred
• Experience in the UN system, ECOWAS, AU, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other intergovernmental organizations and/or development banks. Preferred
• Experience in the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement. Preferred

• Strong understanding of policy frameworks, systems, and initiatives relevant to humanitarian organizations in Africa. Required
• Excellent understanding of the dynamics, institutions and political context of the international humanitarian and development sectors. Required
• Strong understanding of the issues which impact humanitarian organizations. Required
• Knowledge of international financing systems. Required
• Exemplary influencing and networking skills. Required
• Self-sufficient with the ability to plan and deliver own work to a high standard. Required
• Culturally sensitive and comfortable working with people from diverse backgrounds. Required
• Excellent relationship management and networking skills. Required
• Strong strategic planning and project management skills. Required
• Ability to exercise initiative with discretion and judgment and apply risk management controls as needed. Required
• Excellent presentation and public speaking skills. Required
• Fluently spoken and written English. Required
• Fluently spoken and written French. Preferred

• Values: Professionalism, Respect for diversity; Integrity; Accountability
• Core competencies: Proactive outreach and innovative creativity; Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; National Society and customer relations;