Humanitarian Affairs Officer / ECOWAS Liaison Officer - UNDP Abuja

UNDP Nigeria is seeking to fill the post of Humanitarian Affairs Officer / ECOWAS Liaison Officer.

Job Post: Humanitarian Affairs Officer / ECOWAS Liaison Officer

Location :  Abuja, Nigeriia
Starting Date : (date when the selected candidate is expected to start)  01-Sep-2011

Background
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between OCHA and ECOWAS on 05 February 2004 with the following objectives: Enhance the response to humanitarian crisis, contribute to the attainment of lasting peace in the region, improve capacity of ECOWAS in humanitarian action and conflict management, better address the needs of the vulnerable populations, alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies, advocate for the rights of people affected by conflict and natural disasters, promote preparedness and prevention and create an enabling environment for sustainable development. The Liaison function will contribute to strengthening the partnership and engagement with the ECOWAS in order to coordinate principled humanitarian response and effectively engage Member States on disaster preparedness and response and other humanitarian issues with regional implications The Humanitarian Affairs Officer / ECOWAS Liaison Officer will work closely with the Department of Humanitarian and Social Affairs of ECOWAS and coordinate with the Humanitarian support Unit (HSU) within the office of the Resident Coordinator for Nigeria

Duties and Responsibilities
The HAO/ECOWAS Liaison Officer will have the following main functions:

• Engage dialogue with ECOWAS in her/his role of strengthening preparedness and response and provide support on policy and operational aspects relating to acute poverty, complex emergencies and impact on disasters.
• Participate and support ECOWAS’ initiatives including the measuring of the impact of natural disasters such as floods in West Africa, follow-up on the setup of ECOWAS’ regional stockpile in Mali aswell as any other initiatives related to humanitarian preparedness and response.
• Assist in the elaboration of ECOWAS MoUs with regional agencies and institutions on DRR/Preparedness and provide training support to the ECOWAS Emergency Response Team.
• Assist in the development of short and medium-term strategy, policy, planning and priorities, especially in finalizing ECOWAS’ 3-year humanitarian action plan.
• Maintain day to day and technical liaison with the humanitarian department of ECOWAS aswell as other key entities within the organization and to provide timely and relevant information to the RC and the ROWCA Head of Office on all urgent and  important humanitarian issues with regional implications.
• Keep abreast of all key developments through regular monitoring and analysis of developments in the member states of ECOWAS and their impact on the humanitarian situation, regional early warning mechanism, development of regional and preparedness in a consistent and well-coordinated manner.
• Provide regular feedback to ROWCA and use public information and advocacy tools (reports; updates, special bulletins; websites) to keep ECOWAS humanitarian department, the RC and the ROWCA Head of Office, abreast of humanitarian developments and support coordinating plans and resource mobilization efforts for humanitarian activities.

Required Skills and Experience
Education:

• University degree in political science, sociology, law, international relations, or related field

Experience:

• 4-6 years of relevant professional experience in the field of international humanitarian affairs.
• Experience working with ECOWAS an advantage

Additional Requirements:

• Proven inter-personal and good communication skills
• Experience in a multi-cultural environment
• Computer literacy
• Fluency in English and French (written and oral)

Application Deadline
26th July, 2011

Method of Application
Interested candidates should apply online through the website: Click here to apply online