Senior Officer, Response

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian network established by and comprised of member National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in 192 countries. Along with National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. 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.” It 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 served by a Secretariat based in Geneva, with regional, country cluster teams and country offices throughout the world. The Secretariat is led by the IFRC Secretary General and provides the central capacity to serve, connect, and represent National Societies. The Secretariat’s focus includes providing support to the IFRC governance mechanisms; setting norms and standards; providing guidance; ensuring consistency, coordination, and accountability for performance; knowledge sharing; promoting collaboration within and respect for the Movement; and expanding engagement with partners.

Established in 1990, the IFRC Country Delegation in Afghanistan operates as a platform It works to enhance the capacity, organizational development, auxiliary role to public authorities and outreach activities of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS). IFRC also facilitates collaboration with the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement as well as with non- Movement actors with a view to expand resilience outcomes across Afghanistan.

In line with IFRC strategic priorities derived from its Strategy 2030, the IFRC technical support ranges from climate action to disaster and crisis management, to health and WASH, to migration and displacement as well as empowerment and inclusion activities, with a particular focus on readiness to emergency response, livelihoods and c ash, immunization and community health.

IFRC is supporting ARCS in providing support through the Humanitarian Crises Emergency Appeal and other emergency operations in 2024 onwards as well as implementing its yearly country development programmes. Both emergency operations and programmes focus on multi-sectoral interventions: Emergency response, shelter, health and care; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and livelihoods and basic needs; disaster risk reduction (DRR), protection, gender and inclusion (PGI) and strengthening the capacity of ARCS.

Emergency response is one of the key program areas ARCS and IFRC Country Delegation requires investment in capacity in addressing swift intervention to the humanitarian needs in the country. Response in emergencies includes supporting the capacity building, mobilization, and deployment of emergency response team during the onset of disasters. The position also ensures that ARCS build community based/led early action teams who will act as first responders during emergencies.

Job Purpose

Under the direct supervision of field coordinator and the technical supervision of the Prorammes and Operations Manager. The successful candidate will support the programmatic design and implementation covering all stages of the programme cycle, from preparedness, the initial assessment of the appropriateness, operational feasibility, and risks, to the design of the intervention, the selection and implementation of a delivery mechanism and distribution process, and the monitoring. This role has both an operational and a programmatic / technical focus and is designed to support ARCS emergency response teams to help meet programmatic objectives through in- kind and/or CVA modalities. Under the supervision of field coordinator, the Officer is expected to represent IFRC along with ARCS Counterpart in various coordination clusters in the field. The successful candidate will be responsible to and provide technical assistance in design and implementation of the emergency response program that are supported by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and implemented by Afghanistan Red Crescent Society. This will include working with the IFRC Country Office team, the ARCS Disaster Management staff in the field and extensive travels to field locations providing technical assistance and guidance to all aspects of field-level emergency and recovery phases of the operations.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Programme Development and Quality Programming Support

• Provide strong technical contribution in design and development of response interventions projects. This includes contribute to adjusting the need assessment tools; conduct field-based needs assessments; analyse the collected data and develop quality narrative reports for the needs assessments conducted; provide inputs as part of the team while developing and implementing the emergency programme.
• Provide effective technical support to the emergency response This will include strong operational
• contribution in the following areas: Adhering to operations manual and tools (e.g. standard operating procedures, term of references, scope of works, beneficiary verification tools, project databases, etc.); trainings and orientations to project teams; designing effective community mobilization strategy and approaches; beneficiaries mapping and selection; developing market-oriented economic activities for project beneficiaries; capacity building packages to livelihoods beneficiaries during the emergency and recovery phases; design and implementation of value-chain activities; administrative works associated with the emergency programme.
• Facilitate Cash and Response assessments, Rapid Assessment of Market, and service provider assessments, ensuring assessment findings are thorough, documented and shared.
• In coordination with IFRC field coordinator, contribute to response options analysis and support ARCS in developing suitable response to promote household’s resilience building through emergency response, recovery and cash-based interventions.
• Provide technical support to ARCS emergency response operations and project teams to ensure timely and quality programme implementation and timely delivery of programme activities, including monitoring against log frame and work plans.
• Contribute to preparing timely programme accomplishment reports for emergency response, recovery interventions and submission to field coordinator for donor reporting.
• Identify programme supply needs and coordinate with the counterparts, logistics teams to put in place a timely requisition and provide feedback for the procurement plan.
• Under the supervision of field coordinator Work with procurement, operations, finance and other teams in the field to ensure appropriate modality of response mechanisms in place.
• Provide technical support ARCS to build their operational preparedness to deliver and scale up emergency response in a timely Support to be provided by inputting into preparedness plans and leading or supporting preparedness activities (e.g., SOPs, feasibility assessments, framework agreements with financial service providers, precrisis market assessments, etc.).
• Introduce the necessary context-specific adaptations and deliver CVA training to ARCS DM and other operation teams, based on existing training materials, and ensuring alignment with quality standards and policies that are set at the IFRC level.
• Work with IFRC and ARCS DM and Safety and Security colleagues to develop and implement effective safety and security procedures for specific programs including distribution, cash & voucher activities, ensuring that these are updated and revised at regular intervals and that new programmes are built around security considerations.
• Implement emergency and recovery tools that will be to assess the targeted households or cases eligible for the livelihoods and cash support interventions.
• Design and implement transparent selection of beneficiaries for multi-purpose cash based on community need assessment, clear selection criteria and participatory methods.
• Plan and implement cash grant distribution and monitoring (mobile technology based) to support cash and livelihoods recovery activities.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

• • Maintain close coordination with ARCS, ICRC, partner national societies, local clusters, cash working group, government authorities and keep them fully informed of the Country response programmes.
  • Attend and report on UN cluster and working groups on cash together with ARCS focal points.

          Capacity Building of National Society Staff

• Provide technical contribution in capacity building of ARCS cash and disaster response staff. This includes design of training needs assessment; capacity building strategy and approaches; and operation tools to materialize the capacity building plans.
• Coach and mentor ARCS cash and response staff to capacity building at National HQ and Branch
• Orient and support the ARCS Cash and response team to scale and replicate the best practices and learning of the projects.

          Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting

• • Ensure that all emergency response, livelihood and cash programs are equipped with PMER systems like quality benchmarks, billboards, posters to exhibit PMER messages for activities.
  • Ensure that Post Distribution Monitoring of emergency response programs are
  • Ensure action plans from quality monitoring and accountability systems are generated and implemented in timely manner.
  • Monitor progress of interventions in the COs and ARCS, by undertaking regular field visits with ARCS counterparts and providing timely feedback for program quality and Support ARCS to ensure and undertake input, output and outcome-based monitoring in the project operational area.
  • Contribute to generation of lessons through finalizing issues for Operations Research and participating in lessons learnt workshops and provide report.

Education

Required:

• At least Bachelor’s degree in relevant field (any field of social sciences, development studies, BBA, Economics, and Agriculture)

Experience

Required:

• At least, 4 years of experience in emergency and recovery programming with (inter)national organizations.
• good command and experiences in cash-based programming.
• Experience of project team management.
• Experience of donor report writing (narratives).

Preferred:

• Red Cross/Red Crescent experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required:

• Self-sustaining in Microsoft Office Software (MS. Word, MS. Excel, MS. PowerPoint)
• Confidential approach when dealing with people’s information.
• Fluently spoken and written command in English as well as local language (Dari or Pushto).

Competencies, Values and Comments

1.  Core competencies: Communications, Collaboration & Teamwork, Judgement & Decision, National Society
& Customer Relations, Creativity & Innovation, Building Trust.
2.  Functional competencies: Strategic Orientation, Building Alliances, Leadership, Empowering Others
3.  Values: Respect for Diversity, Integrity, Professionalism, Accountability.