Thematic Lead, Migration and Displacement (Recruitment on a rolling basis)

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 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.”  IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

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

IFRC is led by its Secretary General and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters is 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.

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

The MENA Regional Office based in Beirut; Lebanon supports 17 National Societies in the region. The MENA Health, Disasters, Climate and Crises (HDCC) Unit within the MENA Regional Office and works with the unified regional plan as well as provides technical support & thematic quality assurance to national societies and country/country cluster delegations.

MENA region is one of the largest migration transit areas in the world, with more than 42 million people in need, 40 million migrants, and more than 11 million internally displaced persons in the region. The humanitarian needs differ substantially between the MENA countries in scale and severity, with a sub-regional focus on the North of Africa. Several National Societies in the MENA Region are heavily engaged in tacking migration and displacement.

The MENA HDCC Unit has articulated its alignment with the IFRC global strategic priorities and the relevant enabling actions.

Under the direct supervision of the Regional Head of Health, Disasters, Climate and Crises Unit – MENA region and the technical management of Manager, Migration and Displacement in Geneva, the Thematic Lead will provide strategic and operational steering to ensure the IFRC network in MENA region significantly enhances the scale and quality of action on migration and displacement.

The thematic lead will guide and facilitate technical support and effective coordination on migration and displacement across the MENA region, including but not limited to capacity strengthening, high-quality technical advice and ensuring effective preparedness and response to population movement crises in line with the IFRC Migration Policy, IFRC Global Strategy on Migration, as well as relevant standards, protocol and tools. This will also be achieved through working closely with relevant IFRC reference centres, including the global Migration Lab.

The Regional Migration and Displacement thematic lead is responsible for supporting MENA National Societies in their work to address humanitarian needs in the context of migration and displacement. This will include supporting the newly established MENA Migration Network.

More specifically, the Thematic Lead will work closely with the other thematic leads to ensure Migration and Displacement programmes and operations are informed by best practices in other thematic areas, including CEA, PGI, Health, Cash, Policy and Diplomacy, ensuring an overall integrated approach to programme and operations design and delivery.

This role ensures the relevance, coherence, and timeliness of IFRC’s regional thematic leadership and supports positioning IFRC and National Societies as regional lead organisations in the field of migration and displacement. The thematic lead will also facilitate strategic partnerships, including with external partners, to improve the quality and scale of IFRC and National society action.

The post holder will be also serving as an outreach technical surge capacity (up to 4 weeks per trip) to be deployed on short technical missions to country/cluster delegations to deliver specific Migration and Displacement ToRs.

Thematic Leadership:

• Guided by Strategy 2030, coordinate the formulation of the regional approach to Migration and Displacement and follow up its implementation across all IFRC Secretariat programmes and operations in the MENA region.
• Provide thought leadership and oversight in the region to tackle effectively new and emerging Migration and Displacement patterns and risks in coordination with the Migration and Displacement
• Provide technical direction and support for the IFRC regional MENA migration and displacement work.
• Provide guidance to MENA National Societies, technical and thematic leaders of Migration and Displacement for delivery against key regional results in a high-quality and accountable manner.
• Coordinate and facilitate capacity-building activities at the operational level, and directly provide training when relevant with a focus on technical actions to deliver adequate services (assistance and protection, especially most vulnerable groups including women and girls, unaccompanied children, and people who require international protection... etc.)
• Strengthen the regional MENA migration network that promotes cross-country cooperation and identifies opportunities that enable the membership to form action-oriented partnerships that improve the conditions of migrants and displaced populations in vulnerable situations.
• Coordinate the development and implementation of regional Migration and Displacement programmes, both in developmental and emergency contexts, in coordination with the global Migration and Displacement team, including implementation and enhancement of the IFRC Global Route Based Migration Programme.
• Promote and coordinate the development and integration of Migration and Displacement components in all sectors in the MENA Region and technical support to the National Societies' Migration and Displacement functions.
• Support capacity building of respective human resources in MENA, in collaboration with relevant technical and thematic teams.
• Maintain an up-to-date overview of the MENA Migration and Displacement
• Actively participate in and support IFRC’s knowledge and peer-to-peer networks, promote the engagement and utilization of Red Cross Red Crescent reference centres and contribute to “shared leadership” initiatives for better utilization and optimization of technical capacities and resources.
• Support the roll-out and adaptation of the 'IFRC's global Migration and Displacement tools and strategic frameworks, develop best practice information and capacity in training to contribute to effective management of the Migration and Displacement
• Together with the communication team identify the main possible activities to enhance the available information and resources for migrants to protect them in migratory communities.
• Together with national societies, identify the main risk of migrants in terms to be victims of discrimination and xenophobia and work with them to ensure keeping the transit and host community perspectives based on do-no-harm principles.
• Provide advice for advocacy action and public awareness based on human rights and humanitarian law in support of migrants and displaced populations.
• Contribute to the global IFRC Migration and Displacement team effort in addressing Migration and Displacement emergency and development needs.

Management:

• Responsible for the day-to-day management and coordination of MENA regional Migration and Displacement programmatic functional area activities including project management, risk management and quality assurance aspects as required.
• Accountable to the Regional Head of HDCC on the achievement of results of the Unit’s Operational Plan as a proactive manager and dynamic member of the HDCC MENA Leads team.
• Select, mentor and manage team members under the programmatic functional area, including ensuring that they have well-defined results-based priority plans and the capacity to provide technical support to response operations at any time.
• Promote a culture of continuous learning, and individual and team accountability in the programmatic functional area by setting individual and team objectives, monitoring team performance and conducting timely performance reviews.
• Ensure that the thematic staff members work closely across all strategic priorities and crosscutting thematic approaches functional areas of HDCC and coordinate with other units within MENA Regional Office, CDs, CCDs and Geneva as well as with ICRC, Partner National Societies, relevant IFRC Reference centres and key external stakeholders throughout the programming cycle.
• Develop annual plans for the Migration and Displacement programmatic functional area in coordination with the relevant team members to mobilize, manage and monitor the use of available financial resources and facilities by the team to ensure that delivery of agreed activities is in line with approved ceilings and finance procedures.
• Support the Regional Head of HDCC in ensuring strategic coherence and alignment as well as programmatic and operational coordination between HDCC and other technical units. This may include being the acting head of unit in the absence of the incumbent.
• Support and contribute to fundraising efforts to support MENA National Societies and IFRC Migration and Displacement initiatives in collaboration with the strategic engagement and partnership unit.

Coordination and networking:

• Contribute to the design and execution of policy dialogue engagements to promote Migration and Displacement
• Support coordination and partnerships related to Migration and Displacement with relevant regional stakeholders within and outside the RCRC Movement.
• Build and nurture solid relationships with key regional partners such as IMO and UNHCR – including academia and the private sector – to promote Migration and Displacement collaboration and act as a knowledge broker for the Membership.
• Ensure technical-level engagement with relevant entities of sub-regional bodies as essential stakeholders in the attainment of global agenda targets including those of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Global Compact on Refugees, Sendai Framework and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Ensures high-quality preparation and participation of the IFRC network in inter-agency and inter-governmental processes

In collaboration with Geneva counterparts, pursue opportunities and explore partnerships for research as a base for evidence aimed at supporting advocacy on expanding investment in Migration and displacement programming.

Representation:

• When requested and as required, represent IFRC – in regional inter-agency events as a key actor, influencing regional policies, advocacy and agenda.

Responsible for ensuring that IFRC is represented in relevant inter-agency initiatives and events focusing on Migration and displacement.

• Advanced university degree from a recognized institution (master's or equivalent) in a relevant field, e.g., international law, international relations, human rights law and refugee law.   - Required
• Relevant professional training courses (Red Cross/Red Crescent related, humanitarian and development sector, management, etc.) - Required
• Basic Delegates Training Course/IMPACT  - Preferred

• At least 5 years of experience in migration and displacement program management - Required
• Work experience with the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, including time in the field and with a National Society or a similar organization.- Preferred
• Proven experience in the management of a team with a minimum of 2-3 staff members for at least 3-5 years. - Preferred
• Work experience with other international organisations, large NGOs and/or governmental development agencies. - Preferred
• Good knowledge of the context and work experience in the MENA region - Preferred
• Proven ability to work in volatile security environments with strict security conditions as well as possessing communication and relationship skills to collaborate with the Host National Society, other National Societies and the ICRC - Required

• Ability to lead and manage in a diverse cultural context - Required

• Strong knowledge of information-sharing tools, and the ability to implement them - Required
• Budget and finance management - Required
• Demonstrated skills in analytical and strategic thinking - Required
• Comfortable working with current donors and communicating with potential partners - in particular, with National Societies - Required
• Knowledge of and first-hand experience with the Agenda for Renewal and its operational model is preferred. - Preferred
• Strong communications and diplomacy skills - Required
• Ability to work to tight deadlines and handle multiple tasks - Required
• Valid international driving license - Preferred
• Proficient in computer office applications and communication technologies - Required

Languages:

• Fluent in written and spoken English  

  - Required

• Good command of another IFRC official language (Arabic or/and French) -Preferred
  

VALUES: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability

CORE COMPETENCIES: Communication; Collaboration and Teamwork; Judgement and Decision Making; National Societies and Customer Relations; Creativity and Innovation; Building Trust

MANAGERIAL COMPETENCIES: Managing Staff Performance; Managing Staff Development

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES: Strategic Orientation; Building Alliances; Leadership; Empowering Others

IFRC Ensures Equal Employment Opportunities.