Associate Shelter/NFI Cluster Coordination Officer At UN High Commissioner for Refugees

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a an IICA full time position El Geneina FO Office Sudan.

The Darfur region of Sudan has suffered from protracted conflict since 2003, resulting in the internal displacement of approximately 2.1 million people. Within this context, West Darfur state has proven to be particularly volatile, with violence contributing to large-scale displacement in the state capital, El Geneina. Tension between tribes in West Darfur increased since late 2019, it resulted in a series of attacks to several areas including IDP camps. These areas include Krinding camps in Geneina which were attacked twice, Mastrei village in Beida locality in July 2020 , Aljabal Area and Abuzar IDP camp in Geneina in April 2021 and the recent clashes in Jabel Moon and Kreinik.

As of December 2021, there were approximately 104,432 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in El Geneina town, the majority of whom were originally displaced from surrounding areas in 2003. The limbo in which IDPs in El Geneina have been living since 2003 has become untenable, and recent violence has caused many of these individuals to become secondarily displaced from their places of habitual residence in IDP camps/sites. Thus, the need to find a long-term solution, both for the IDPs and non-displaced communities, is now critical.

Title: Associate Shelter/NFI Cluster Coordination Officer

Duty Station: El Geneina, Sudan

Duration: through 31/12/2022

Contract Type: UNOPS International Individual Contractor – IICA 1

Closing date: 24th May 2022

Posting Date: 17th May 2022

Start date: ASAP

Operational context

The Darfur region of Sudan has suffered from protracted conflict since 2003, resulting in the internal displacement of approximately 2.1 million people. Within this context, West Darfur state has proven to be particularly volatile, with violence contributing to large-scale displacement in the state capital, El Geneina. Tension between tribes in West Darfur increased since late 2019, it resulted in a series of attacks to several areas including IDP camps. These areas include Krinding camps in Geneina which were attacked twice, Mastrei village in Beida locality in July 2020 , Aljabal Area and Abuzar IDP camp in Geneina in April 2021 and the recent clashes in Jabel Moon and Kreinik.

As of December 2021, there were approximately 104,432 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in El Geneina town, the majority of whom were originally displaced from surrounding areas in 2003. The limbo in which IDPs in El Geneina have been living since 2003 has become untenable, and recent violence has caused many of these individuals to become secondarily displaced from their places of habitual residence in IDP camps/sites. Thus, the need to find a long-term solution, both for the IDPs and non-displaced communities, is now critical.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Head of Field Office El Geneina, the Associate Shelter/NFI Cluster Coordinator Officer will ensure the following key responsibilities:

Strategic Direction and Coordination

• Establish strong working relationships with the cluster members in the Area of Responsibility (AoR) in order to facilitate effective collaboration and communication.
• Provide coordination services, including meetings, in line with the Principles of Partnership, in an inclusive, effective and results-oriented manner.
• Under the framework of Inter-Agency contingency Plan, support the revision of existing contingency planning and emergency preparedness measures and ensure they are updated and developed.
• Contribute to the development of a SC strategy that is part of the overall multi-sectoral response, that is owned by shelter partners and the government counterpart and that is revised as the situation evolves.
• Promote accountability to affected population, participation of local and national stakeholders such as civil groups and ensure coordination with government counterparts and other relevant authorities.
• Support the evaluation of the cluster’s performance. Based on the feedback of this evaluation, work with Shelter Cluster members to support the development of a plan of response to improve the cluster’s performance.
• Needs Assessment, Resources Mobilization and Allocation
• Contribute to the facilitation and coordination within the Shelter Cluster or Inter-Cluster level shelter needs assessments, including participatory assessments
• Support the system to ensure the timely availability of data to inform operational decisions by partners and strategic decisions of the Humanitarian Country Team.
• Contribute to the development of common funding criteria, resource mobilisation and prioritization within the SC for inclusion in Consolidated Appeals and pooled funds processes.
• Contribute to the establishment of mechanisms for accountable and transparent financial resource allocation within the cluster.
• Capacity Development
• Support capacity building of the government counterpart or the organization that will take over the coordination of the cluster once this is phased out.
• Contribute to the delivery of shelter training activities for SC members, other local partners, and relevant authorities.
• Contribute to initiatives to build the shelter capacity of the national and local government, partners and civil society.
• Standard Setting and Implementation
• Contribute to ensuring that the shelter response is informed by appropriate relevant Technical Standards including among others Sphere, and good practice.
• Support appropriate collaboration with shelter response-related clusters of CCCM, Early Recovery, Education, Health, Logistics, Protection and WASH in the work of the Shelter Cluster.
• Support the integration of cross-cutting issues in the work of the Shelter Cluster, including age, gender, environment, diversity.
• Information Management, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting
• Contribute to development and implementation of SC information management strategy and mechanism to report and share information within the Shelter Cluster, with the other clusters, with the government, with the overall humanitarian community including donors, with UNHCR internal mechanisms, and with the Global Shelter Cluster.
• Support the production of analytical shelter reports, including the Factsheet;
• Support the maintenance of an updated SC website and the production of regular updates on the shelter concerns of the affected population, the response by the shelter actors, the gaps, challenges and recommendations.
• Promote and support monitoring and evaluation of the impact of operations carried out by cluster members and the performance of the coordination team.
• Advocacy, Promotion and Fundraising
• Identify core advocacy concerns for the SC through a consultative process.
• Participate when requested in meetings with sectoral and external partners, authorities, donors and other relevant interlocutors.
• Support the development of reports and advocacy statements on behalf of the Shelter Cluster.
• With the support of the supervisor, approach donors and other potential sources of funding to explain the SC strategy, challenges, and progress, and to advocate for funding for the overall shelter sector.
• Coordinate with UNHCR and other partners to maximize communication impact to donors and others on the SC priorities.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

The Associate Shelter Cluster Coordinator Officer acts as a key advisor to senior management and leads the development of a comprehensive ES/NFI operational activities and sector coordination under the area of responsibility (AoR). S/he represents the Organization to authorities, UN sister agencies, partners and other stakeholders on ES/NFI activities and doctrine. The Associate Shelter Cluster Coordinator Officer leads and coordinates quality, timely and effective ES/NFI responses to the needs of populations of concern under the AoR. This includes ensuring that operational responses are consistent with and promote respect for relevant international law and UNHCR’s doctrine, mainstream UNHCR methodologies.

The Associate Shelter Cluster Coordinator Officer aims at ensuring the critical shelter and NFI needs, the Emergency shelter and NFI sector has taken positive strategies in the last couple of years to strengthen its shelter and NFI footprint in Darfur where the shelter needs are the most critical. Coordination and capacity building for partners in the Emergency Shelter and NFI response is required to cover the extensive Emergency shelter and NFI needs throughout the Darfur. Also upholding UNHCR’s ES/NFI Sector coordination responsibilities at sub-national level, by providing strategic, operational and technical support to the mission and the national ES/NFI staff, in a complex and evolving inter-agency environment.

The Associate Shelter Cluster Coordinator Officer will provide technical guidance to ES/NFI staff whose work with IDP & IDP-returnee populations.

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required

3 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 2 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 1-year relevant experience with Doctorate degree.

Field(s) of Education

Degree in Shelter-related sciences, civil engineering or architecture other relevant field

Experience

• Minimum 3 years of relevant professional experience in the area of internal displacement, Shelter and NFI
• Good communication skills, Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation.
• Good knowledge and understanding of Shelter Assessment including survey/implementation/monitoring/evaluation/coordination
• Knowledge of the Humanitarian reform process and the role of the humanitarian community (UN System, Red Cross Red Crescent Movement, and NGO), preferably in shelter.
• Knowledge of current humanitarian issues.
• Good knowledge of shelter-related technical guidelines and standards

Key Competencies

• Applied knowledge in UNHCR mandate its policies and priorities in relation to IDPs, shelter and NFI
• Demonstrated expertise in program management and reporting requirements
• Previous experience working with Persons of Concern would be an asset.

Functional Skills

• MG-Coordination
• PR-Cluster Information Management Tools, Resources and Approaches
• PR-Country Operations applying the Cluster Approach
• ER-Inter-Agency Coordination Mechanisms
• MS-Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation
• SP-Shelter Assessment including survey/implementation/monitoring/evaluation/coordination
• PR-Global Shelter Cluster Strategy

Core Competencies:

Accountability

Communication

Organizational Awareness

Teamwork & Collaboration

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies:

Empowering and Building Trust

Judgement and Decision Making

Managing Resources

Cross-Functional Competencies:

Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

Planning and Organizing

Stakeholder Management

Language Requirements

Knowledge of English.

Location

The IICA will be based in El Geneina, Sudan with Travel to other states within Sudan.

Remuneration

Monthly fees range between USD $ 7,076.16 to $ 8,054.53, depending on the level of expertise of the candidate. Daily subsistence allowance for travel with Sudan will be payable as applicable.