Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Inter-agency Regional Advisor for MENA/EM At International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies

Background

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with 192 member National Societies. As part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, our work is guided by seven fundamental principles; humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

Organizational Context

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 the 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.” The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises. The 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 the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality. The IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are 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. The IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The IFRC also has country cluster delegation and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

Job Purpose

The RCCE Interagency Regional Advisor will establish and lead the RCCE country level collective service’s technical support with focus on vaccine uptake, for strengthening coordination between IFRC including member national societies, WHO, UNICEF and their response action in Middle East and North Africa (MENA)/Eastern Mediterranean (EM), including supporting national RCCE technical working groups. He/she will work to establish contact and set up initial discussions where necessary between the partners, support developing joint planning tools and strategies, improve RCCE coordination and collaboration between agencies responding to COVID-19 in MENA/EM with emphasis on the vaccination efforts; identify and share common approaches for addressing regional and national RCCE issues and challenges, including developing shared resources and guidance for country level response actions; collate and analyze trends in community feedback and social listening, and social science research on COVID-19 and the humanitarian response; identify actions to strengthen the response with other technical pillars, country working groups and the national response leadership. The incumbent will also support reaching out to other actors engaged in supporting or implementing RCCE activities at country level for better alignment and coordination.

The position will help to strengthen RCCE coordination across technical pillars and between the country, regional and global level. The position will work within a team composed of an IFRC regional Community Health and Community Engagement and Accountability focal points, and WHO and UNICEF RCCE and social and behavioral science delegate. As there is a need in RCCE support in (Iraq, Yemen, and Egypt) as MENA/EM countries are initially priority countries for the RCCE Collective Service’s support, with focus on enhancing the vaccination acceptance and uptake. this position will be focused on these countries and will help to facilitate inter-agency coordination on RCCE within the selected countries and will also be able to travel more easily across and within countries (according to national travel policies). Whilst the position will focus on certain countries, this remains a regional position and therefore the position will still be expected to support other countries in the region as well (whenever needed)..

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Coordination:

Technical coordination with the regional RCCE Interagency Technical Working Group and subworking groups ( Social listening and community feedback, media, and data strategy) ensuring the strategic direction, alignment and the most up-to-date information
Support the convening, facilitation and coordination of the regional and national based on the selected countries RCCE Technical Working Groups (TWGs), and demand creation groups to work together on addressing COVID-19 vaccines hesitancy in MENA/EM countries, including strengthening linkages with the global, regional, and national RCCE coordination forums As per the terms of reference, the regional RCCE Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) role include:
- Convene and Coordinate – convene partners, regional and country teams for risk communication and community engagement coordination, preparations, capacity building, roll out and monitoring of progress.
- Foster Alignment and streamlining – support the engagement and mobilization of key regional partners and specialist organizations on behalf of the RCCE pillar of the response to advance the regional efforts.
- Knowledge Management & Cross Learning – Compile evidence and learning from good practices and failures to support reviews, analysis and share the knowledge and documentation. Contribute to inter-agency information-sharing, knowledge management efforts to improve RCCE pillar of response and potential cross learning with other regions and replication in other countries.
Support the social listening and community feedback , and vaccine demand sub-working group efforts at regional and country level to collect, analyze and agree recommendations based on the trends in community feedback across agencies. Help to track actions taken and provide support to follow up where needed.
Support and ensure alignment with other regional and national coordinators in the strategic approach and ensure wide dissemination and exchange of tools and best practice.
Support the identification and management of regional level crisis communication elements related to vaccine hesitancy etc.

Advocacy:

Advocate for action on RCCE priorities across the response, including community feedback and social and behavioral science, with the response leadership at country level in order to improve overall effectiveness and accountability of the COVID-19 response In (countries).
Ensure strong representation of the RCCE WG, and community engagement needs and priorities in relevant multi-sector coordination forums and ensuring RCCE recommendations are integrated and reflected in the main pillars of the response.
Advocate, educate, and forge consensus among all those involved in the emergency response, on the tools and approaches for establishing effective community engagement.
Provide support to IFRC HoDs to engage partners to provide updates on current issues and community concerns, including plans to improve overall response-wide RCCE.

Advisory and technical support:

Facilitate the regional and national RCCE WGs to undertake the COVID-19 related assessments/ studies through planning, developing and reviewing the results ensuring that key findings are utilized to inform regional support requirements and agree on specific technical support to be provided, with focus on priority countries (to be defined on a needs/demand basis appropriate to the region).
Support priority countries to update/adapt RCCE interagency plans and collective initiatives, according to the evolution of the pandemic.
Support country level RCCE coordination working groups, clusters, pillars and other relevant responders (on demand) with RCCE expertise and ensure support to country coordination approaches, promoting engagement of national/local organizations that represent the social, cultural, gender, age, and religious distribution of the communities (i.e faith-based organizations, youth organizations, Civil Society Organization networks, private sectors and other influencers).
Provide RCCE technical advice and support to the other national TWGs (Case Management, IPC, MHPSS and Continuity of Services & Surveillance, Lab and Point of Entry) including supporting them to address key recommendations arising from community feedback data and social science research.
Work with RCCE partners, to develop demand-driven guidance/tools based on assessment of gaps and support needs from other national TWGs and country level coordination groups. Provide guidance for implementation of the monitoring and evaluation framework for the COVID-19 RCCE response
Capture and document examples of RCCE best practices, gaps, lessons learnt including community-centered approaches to COVID-19 prevention and management, for example physical distancing, hand washing, isolation etc
Develop and manage a repository of existing RCCE materials and resources including strategies, guidance notes, country level key messages and tools for reference in a diversity of accessible and applicable formats and common languages across the region by ensuring physical or online libraries are established.
Working with the Data management and RCCE Working Group members, ensure the compilation of, and regularly updated 4Ws (Who does What, Where and When) mapping at regional and country levels.

Capacity strengthening:

Coordinate the joint remote and in-person capacity building exercises to address specific gaps identified.
Assist in development and implementation of capacity development initiatives for regional Partners related to RCCE including adaptation of standardized training package for COVID-19 for use.
Organize Webinars to reinforce capacity of regional and national RCCE WGs and their national partners.
Identify/follow up actions on the country specific capacity building needs

This position will contribute to the regional reporting on progress against the agreed log frame and proposal.

Education

Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent degree) in political science, behavioral/social sciences, international studies or a related field – Required
Experience in and knowledge of project management – Required

Experience

Demonstrable technical experience (7 year+) in risk communications, social and behavior change communication and community engagement in epidemics, working at a regional and country level – Required
Experience of coordinating interagency working groups (3 years+)to achieve common goals in health or other emergencies – Required
Experience of setting up and leading community feedback systems, particularly using qualitative feedback tools, including presenting and advocating for action based on findings – Required
Experience working with International organization such as WHO, UNICEF, IFRC and/or other partner organizations – Required
Experience in building consensus and brokering partnerships – Required
Experience of leading and supporting multi-disciplinary and geographically remote teams – Required
Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team in a challenging and highly fluid environment, handle constant change and stay flexible – Required
A good understanding of information management (including data flows, protection and analysis), as well as qualitative and quantitative data collection methods – Preferred
Red Cross Red Crescent experience is an asset – Preferred

Knowledge, skills and languages

Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills, able to identify key challenges and humanitarian needs and bring partners together to address these and design a coordinated and effective response – Required
Good coordination and negotiation skills, with the capacity to build partnerships across organizations and bring people together to collaborate on RCCE approaches and activities – Required
Good knowledge and skills on data analysis, presentation and report writing – Required
Sound knowledge of institutional coordination structures, mandates, policies and guidelines pertaining to humanitarian affairs and public health emergency response, and knowledge of the institutions of the UN system and key partners – Required
Excellent project management skills, able to work under pressure and manage multiple projects simultaneously, to a high standard and to deadline – Required
Highly motivated, self-starter and team player able to lead a process, engage others and create ownership, across multiple countries and cultures, both in person and remotely – Required
Clear and engaging written and verbal communication skills – Required
Fluently spoken and written English – Required
Good command of Arabic and French – Strongly preferred