Programme Intern

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 Delegation in Türkiye is currently supporting the Turkish Red Crescent Society (TRCS) to implement the Emergency Social Security Fund (ESSN), the largest cash programme in the world, where more that 1.5M refugees benefit from cash assistance to cover their basic needs. The IFRC is also supporting the TRCS in implementing activities under its Community Based Migration Programme (CBMP) through an IFRC Migration Plan, in addition to supporting the delivery of interventions targeting Ukrainian and Afghani refugees.

The Programme Intern reports and follows the direct supervision of the Programme Officer (CBMP) with oversight by the Deputy Operations Coordinator – Field, and provides related support to the migration-related technical areas in the IFRC Delegation for Türkiye.

As the Syrian crisis enters its 12^th year, Türkiye is either hosting or being a transit route for a considerable number of non-Syrian refugees accompanying Syrians fleeing their country. Today, the migration movement from Afghanistan to Türkiye, which relatively has a longer history than the Syrian crisis, and the Ukraine conflict that broke out at the beginning of the year are among the most featured refugee and migration movements closely followed by the Government of Türkiye (GoT) and humanitarian actors.

While millions are being displaced due to the ongoing war and conflict in Ukraine and Afghanistan, many difficulties arise associated with their mental health and basic needs. The refugee population living in urban areas or transitting through Türkiye may experience protection risks and difficulties accessing basic services, particularly health and hygiene facilities either along the way or their residence in Türkiye. Difficulties faced may emerge not only due to language barriers, cultural factors, or financial reasons, but also derive from the insufficient infrastructure of the receiving country. In this case, both the refugee and the host community may deprive of the necessary instruments to safely sustain their daily lives. In order to prevent communities against suffering from being unable to cover their essential and medical needs, specific and systematic humanitarian interventions are required.

The protracted nature of refugee crisis and the volatile situation of the recent refugee flow from Afghanistan and Ukraine create uncertainties on estimating when refugees staying in Türkiye may return to their countries of origin or pass to a third country.  Given this, the TRCS supports the existing refugee population in Türkiye through community centre services and activities, seeking to sustain resilience and well-being of the refugees in the longer term. The IFRC continues to support the TRCS in its response to the growing humanitarian needs of the vulnerable population in Türkiye as part of the refugee crisis including the ongoing war in Syria and Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

• Assist the IFRC and the TRC in analysing the results of the needs assessment and the development of relevant programme activities.
• Follow up on the implementation of the Ukraine Appeal Project Plan and the Government of Japan (GoJ) proposal.
• Technically and logistically support the preparation of field visits as needed.
• Contribute to the development of external and internal reports as per the reporting requirements agreed on with TRCS.
• Proofreading documents as needed.
• Any other task as required by the supervisor and the technical manager.

Required

• Academic and technical background in social sciences (e.g. communication sciences, political sciences, international relations, migration studies, sociology)

Required

• At least 3 years’ working experience in a development or voluntary organization.
• Experience working on migration-related files.

Knowledge and Skills

Required

• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and in a team
• Good command of Microsoft Office tools and apps
• Good verbal and written communication skills 
• Excellent networking skills
• Ability to prioritize and meet deadlines
• Ability to adapt working style according to the situation

Language

Required 

• Fluently spoken and written English

Preferred

• Good command of another IFRC official language (French, Spanish or Arabic)

• Communication
• Collaboration and Teamwork
• Judgement and Decision Making
• National Society and Customer Relations
• Creativity and Innovation
• Building Trust.