Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) Delegate

The CEA Delegate will work from the IFRC Country Cluster Delegation for South Caucasus, which is located in Tbilisi, Georgia, and extends IFRC’s regional support to the three National Societies in the South Caucasus region, i.e., Georgia Red Cross Society (GRCS), Armenia Red Cross Society (ARCS), and Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society (AzRCS).

Community engagement and accountability is at the core of Red Cross and Red Crescent programming and operations. It is an approach geared towards putting people and communities, vulnerable to and affected by crisis, at the center of what we do. It encompasses a set of activities that embed and integrate participation, communication, feedback and learning throughout the programme cycle, in service delivery and in strategy development.  The goal is to enable people and communities to lead and shape positive, sustainable change in their own lives, communities and society.

IFRC together with the Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in the South Caucasus region are working towards institutionalizing and mainstreaming community engagement and accountability in all our actions and programming and towards advocating for a consistent and systemic approach to community engagement with relevant state and non-state actors. Capacity building efforts started in 2021 and a dedicated CEA position was established in the South Caucasus country cluster delegation in the beginning of 2022. Through this role the IFRC aims to promote a joint and collective approach among its network in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia towards realization and fulfilment of the RCRC Movement-wide commitments for Community Engagement and Accountability which was adopted by the Council of Delegates in 2019.

The CEA Delegate has the primary responsibility of supporting the National Societies in South Caucasus to enhance their capacity in CEA and institutionalise the approach, both at HQ and branch level, and to ensure that CEA is sufficiently and systematically integrated into IFRC’s operations in South Caucasus. The CEA Delegate will work closely with the IFRC network in South Caucasus, i.e. the host National Societies, PNSs and IFRC country teams to foster relationships with the wider community and to ensure strong community engagement approaches as part of Red Cross and Red Crescent operations in South Caucasus.

Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are prone to natural and manmade disasters. The prevalent humanitarian challenges in Southern Caucasus region are generated as a result of extreme weather conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the recurring escalation or the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in the past two years. Climate changes are causing more frequent floods, flash floods, landslides, and mudflows, which may have devastating effects on critical infrastructure in the region. The Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies are leading actors in the humanitarian field in their respective country and have been in the forefront of the national and local responses to the current crises in accordance with their statutory mandates and will continue to serve the most vulnerable communities affected by disasters and emergencies across their respective country. IFRC continues to bring relief to those affected by disasters while encouraging and coordinating the participation of the National Societies in activities for safeguarding public health and the promotion of social welfare in cooperation with the public authorities. IFRC’s guiding principle in the region centers around strengthening the capacities and capabilities of the National Societies as independent, sustainable and leading actors in the humanitarian field.

The CEA delegate will report to the IFRC Programme Coordinator for South Caucasus and will maintain technical coordination with the CEA Coordinator for the Europe Region in Budapest.

The humanitarian challenges in the South Caucasus region are complex and diverse consequences of disasters that are unprecedented in recent history, including the NK conflict escalation and the COVID-19 pandemic. The three National Societies in South Caucasus have all identified CEA as a priority area to ensure their accountability and to support diverse programme delivery, including in response to COVID-19, as well as Health and DRR programming. Furthermore, there is a great need to extend IFRC’s technical support to other local CSOs to ensure that the most vulnerable communities are supported in a manner that adheres to the humanitarian principles.

The Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) delegate supports the IFRC network, including three host National Societies, PNSs and IFRC operations teams to enhance the impact, reach, relevance and effectiveness of RCRC longer-term and emergency response operations through the integration and coordination of CEA activities and approaches. This includes participatory approaches, feedback systems, risk communication and evidence-based advocacy, including a focus on building trust and acceptance towards COVID-19 vaccination and health authorities in the South Caucasus region.   

The position will provide strategic and technical advice and training to build the capacity of staff and volunteers to integrate a more systematic approach to CEA and strengthen participatory processes in response and recovery approaches. The CEA delegate will be responsible for guiding and coordinating the rolling out of CEA activities across the South Caucasus region. The CEA delegate will develop or participate in active networks and coordination groups with external organisations and actors to ensure that CEA approaches and activities are integrated with wider sector initiatives.

• Oversees and facilitates the process of enhancing the capacities and capabilities of the three National Societies to mainstream and institutionalize CEA
• Supports the recruitment and training of a national CEA officer for the country cluster delegation with the aim to hand over the CEA responsibilities to this new position by the end of the assignment
• Designs, plans, and coordinates community engagement assessments and other operational research to understand socio-cultural and contextual factors that can inform planning and guide community engagement efforts
• Defines the plan and strategy to mainstream community engagement effectively into the operations of the IFRC network in the South Caucasus region and to meet the specific needs of affected people and ensure their participation
• Leads and coordinates the strengthening of NS central feedback mechanisms
• Works in close cooperation with the Information Management and PMER experts to ensure data-driven decisions and inclusive presentation of datasets, capacity building in data literacy, production of graphs and reports required for the IFRC membership in the South Caucasus region.
• Assess/synthetize qualitative and quantitative information, data and evidence relevant to community engagement to support key operation teams and decision makers and inform action
• Support evidence-based learning by assessing and monitoring levels of community engagement through research, impact surveys, perceptions studies and case studies.
• Ensures the most vulnerable groups participate in key decision-making processes, have equal access to information channels and feedback mechanisms and any specific protection issues are taken into account
• Leads the operationalisation of the Movement minimum actions and commitment, policies and guidelines relevant to CEA and ensures the roll out and adaptation of CEA tools, methodologies, trainings and activities
• Oversees the rolling out of CEA approaches across the operations and makes recommendations on operational strategies to ensure strengthened engagement of and accountability to people and communities
• Guides coordination efforts across the Movement components and supports inter-agency coordination with a wide range of partners and stakeholders to ensure synergy, integration, coherence, and harmonization of community engagement actions, including the rolling out of technological solutions and innovative approaches
• Engages in dialogue with key stakeholders’ leadership to ensure community engagement issues and insights drive humanitarian action
• Identifies partnership opportunities with key local and international partners
• Coordinates National Society’s support to integrate CEA in their strategies, frameworks, and plans, setting out how community engagement activities and approaches will be institutionalised in the longer term

Coordinates capacity building efforts on essential CEA aspects within the Movement and outside.

Required: 

• An advanced university degree in a relevant area such as social sciences/behavioral/communication sciences or equivalent experience
• Basic delegate training course, IMPACT or equivalent knowledge
  

Required:

• 5 years of experience in a CEA related role, for example, beneficiary communication, social mobilisation, community engagement, communication for development, accountability officer.
• 3 years of experience in the Global South, including in emergency response settings
• Experience in leading community engagement approaches and capacity building efforts of local organizations
• Experience of designing and implementing assessments, community consultations, research activities
• Experience in leading teams and managing people

Preferred:

• Experience in a coordination role, including with multi-sectoral stakeholders
• Experience in planning targeted and appropriate behaviour change approaches
• Experience within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
• Experience in an international organization or NGO

Required:

• Good understanding of current developments in the field of communication with communities, behavioural and social sciences, community engagement processes, strategic communication, research approaches
• Good understanding of CEA issues in emergencies contexts
• Sensitivity to challenging political contexts and understanding of risk management processes
• Excellent analytical skills and knowledge of quantitative, qualitative and participatory research methodologies and analysis
• Advanced analytical skills, able to capture learning and use it to make improvements in programming and operations
• Good planning skills, with the ability to identify areas for improvements in programmes, operations and NS/IFRC ways of working through the integration of
• CEA approaches and activities
• Good knowledge of gender and diversity issues in humanitarian programming
• Facilitations and training skills
• Fluently spoken and written English
• Good command of Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian or Russian

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