Humanitarian Affairs Officer

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) coordinates effective and principled humanitarian response and ensures that relief assistance reaches the people in need in a timely manner. OCHA-managed Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) is a multi-donor country-based pooled mechanism created in 2010 to allocate funding for the most urgent life-saving interventions in Somalia. Combining flexibility and strategic focus, the Fund ensures timely allocation and disbursement of resources, enables effective humanitarian action and strengthens coordination.

The Humanitarian Affairs Officer, under the guidance of the Head, Humanitarian Financing Unit (HFU), and under the direct supervision of the Deputy Fund Manager will support with the management of the Somalia Humanitarian Fund (SHF) and grants from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), contribute to the implementation of the SHF accountability framework through cross-cutting support with the SHF assurance activities, and manage internal/external communications relevant to the SHF and CERF and conduct humanitarian financing analysis for the Fund and the wider response. He/she is expected to travel extensively to the SHF project locations within Somalia to assist with the implementation of the SHF Accountability Framework as well as provide support in capacity building activities of the SHF.
 

Duties and Responsibilities

• Contribute to the effective management and coordination of the SHF and CERF processes
  Develop and prioritise humanitarian needs analysis to inform allocations
• Support and guide the different stakeholders during allocation process through providing information on procedures and good practices.  This includes taking part in cluster meetings to ensure that project selection process meets criteria of transparency, inclusiveness and objectivity
  Support IASC Cluster Coordinators and implementing partners on the fund tools and processes
  Management of project reprogramming including analysis and formulation of relevant policy recommendations 
• Support with the SHF Advisory Board meeting preparations, minutes, and follow up of relevant issues
• Act as focal point for several clusters. This role demands to provide inputs during the whole SHF and CERF project cycle, engage in allocation strategy development, manage strategic and technical review, inform project revisions, perform risk management and partner performance scoring, contribute to Value for Money analysis and updates, engage in monitoring and reporting activities, be involved in sector thematic discussions 
• Participate and support field monitoring visits of SHF funded projects, including undertaking background research, support the collection of data and information and assist in the preparation of field reports
• Support in humanitarian needs prioritization process through analysis, drafting of documents and coordination with stakeholder for the CERF grants
• Manage the CERF application process (coordination with stakeholders and CERF secretariat, application submission, reprogramming, etc.)
• Responsible for the CERF/SHF reporting cycles including After Action Review
• Conduct and support capacity building exercises for SHF partners and other stakeholders
• Support and implement standardized policy in line with HQ guidance and decisions
• Contribute to the development of the internal monitoring system/tools and recommend improvements based on lessons learned
• Supports on matters related to contracting of monitoring (TPM, RCM) and capacity assessment vendors

Ensure effective liaison with donors, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Support liaison with donors to keep them informed of humanitarian needs, response operations, and the funding status and funding requirements of the Humanitarian Response Plan and the SHF by contributing to donor briefings, preparing funding requests, analysis, and reports
• Support OCHA resource mobilization, including through the drafting of proposals and submission of reports to donors on behalf of OCHA

Contribute to the implementation of the SHF accountability framework through cross-cutting support with the SHF assurance activities, focusing on achievement of the following results:

• Contribute to ensuring compliance with the operational modalities and assurance activities in place for the Fund
• Systematically provide information on project status to the HoO and the HC, donors, and relevant governing bodies of the Fund
• Support in the drafting and update of the SHF governance documents, programme, programme manuals, etc.

Manage external communications relevant to the SHF and CERF, and act as the lead for the humanitarian financing analysis in OCHA Somalia:

• In collaboration with other OCHA Somalia Communications units, as well as with support from relevant OCHA HQ sections, document and disseminate results, best practices and results of the Fund across internal and broader audiences through information and communication products/pieces (i.e. bulletins, feature stories, photographs/videos, web-sites, etc.)
• Liaise with OCHA field offices and recipient organizations in order to disseminate full information on Fund activities
• Perform, on a periodic basis, humanitarian financing analysis to inform stakeholder decision-making 

• Innovation: Ability to make new and useful ideas work: Level 4: Adept with complex concepts and challenges convention purposefully