Country: Thailand
Closing date: 18 Dec 2018
Org. Setting and Reporting
This position is located in the Operations and Advocacy Division, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which is part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies. OCHA also ensures there is a framework within which each actor can contribute to the overall response efforts. OCHA's mission is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies; advocate the rights of people in need; promote preparedness and prevention and facilitate sustainable solutions.
This Humanitarian Affairs Officer/Civil-Military Coordination (HAO/UN-CMCoord) position is located in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Bangkok, Thailand. The incumbent reports to the Head of Operation Unit.
Responsibilities
UN-CMCoord is the essential dialogue and interaction between civilian and military actors in humanitarian emergencies necessary to protect and promote the humanitarian principles, avoid competition, minimize inconsistency and, when appropriate, pursue common goals; the key elements of UN-CMCoord are information sharing, task division and joint planning; basic strategies range from Cooperation to Co-existence.
Within the delegated authority, the HAO/UN-CMCoord will be responsible for the following duties: 1) Under the supervision of the Head of Operation Unit, serves as the operational focal point for humanitarian civil-military coordination related matters in his/her area of responsibility (AOR); 2) Conducts an assessment and analysis of the civil-military operating environment in order to formulate and implement a UN-CMCoord strategy and action plan. Continually evaluates the implementation and effect of the plan and revise it as appropriate; 3) Assists, advises and facilitates the development of country-specific guidance on civil-military relations and use of Military and Civil Defence Assets (MCDA), based on applicable current global guidelines; 4) Ensures that applicable civil-military coordination guidelines, country-specific guidance or generic guidelines are properly disseminated and understood by both the humanitarian actors and the military and/or police forces present as well as by local actors, as appropriate; 5) Promotes and advocates for adherence to the applicable Guidelines within the entire humanitarian community and advises on potential consequences if the guidelines are compromised or not coherently followed; 6) Establishes and maintains a contact network with other UN Agencies or Mission-based personnel who are responsible for civil-military relations as well as NGO focal points for civil-military coordination in the AOR; 7) Supports the humanitarian coordination structure in the AOR by advising on an appropriate mechanism to interface with military representatives; 8) Advises both humanitarian actors and military representatives on the appropriateness of the use of military assets to support humanitarian activity. Supports Cluster Leads or humanitarian organizations in requesting military support for humanitarian activities, ensuring the requests are appropriate and in line with applicable guidelines; 9) Monitors activities by military forces to support humanitarian organizations by avoiding duplication and giving priority to identified needs; 10) As directed by line management, establishes a Civil-Military Working Group with relevant civil and military stakeholders to raise civil-military coordination operational issues and report policy and strategic issues to the HCT through the Head of Office/Sub-Office and/or UN-CMCoord Team Leader; 11) Participates in work groups, meetings and consultations with other UN agencies and humanitarian partners; organizes meetings with Heads of Agencies on UN-CMCoord matters; 12) Facilitates the establishment and maintenance of communication with the military forces in the AOR and establish mechanisms to resolve operational issues and ensure appropriate mutual exchange of information regarding ongoing relevant activities; 13) Advises and educates the military and/or police forces in the AOR on the structures and dynamics of coordination with and within the international humanitarian community and the practicalities of implementation; 14) Monitors, analyses and reports on implementation of humanitarian civil-military coordination activities as well as identifies difficulties and challenges in the interaction between the humanitarian and military communities. Provides periodic situation reports on ongoing civil-military activities and the overall civil-military relations situation in the AOR; 15) Assumes more generalist coordination responsibilities, such as those associated with assessment; the planning and evaluation of humanitarian assistance programmes; assisting in the coordination of cluster activity and including the formulation of reports and interaction with donors; 16) Monitors, analyzes and reports on humanitarian developments, disaster relief/management or emergency situations in the AOR; 17) Organizes and prepares studies on humanitarian, emergency relief and related issues; organizes follow-up work, including interagency technical review meetings to support policy development work and decision-making on important issues; 18) Participates in disaster assessment or other missions; assists in the coordination of international humanitarian/emergency assistance for complex emergency/disaster situations and in ensuring the necessary support; 19) Identifies UN-CMCoord training needs of both humanitarian actors and military forces in the AOR and recommends/designs a training strategy and materials to support identified requirements. Arranges and conducts such training events as required; 20) Performs other duties as may be requested by the Head of Operations Unit as applicable.
Competencies
PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge of a range of humanitarian assistance, emergency relief and related human rights issues, including approaches and techniques to address difficult problems. Analytical capacity and in particular the ability to analyze and articulate the humanitarian dimension of issues which require a coordinated UN response. Ability to identify issues and judgment in applying technical expertise to resolve a wide range of problems. Ability to conduct research, including ability to evaluate and integrate information from a variety of sources and assess impact on the humanitarian rights situation in assigned country/area. Ability to work under pressure, on occasion in a highly stressful environment (e.g. civil strife, natural disasters and human misery); ability to provide guidance to new/junior staff. Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges.
COMMUNICATION: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.
TEAMWORK: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; places team agenda before personal agenda; supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.
PLANNING & ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; uses time efficiently.
Education
An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in international relations, political science, law, management, or similar specific field of study is required. A first-level university degree, or military academy degree with advanced training in relevant area, in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
Work Experience
A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian affairs, emergency preparedness, crisis/emergency relief management, military, or other related area, including field experience in emergency situations is required. Previous experience in civil-military coordination, or experience in the military forces, dealing with major humanitarian operations is desirable. Experience in the UN common system is desirable. Experience in the region is desirable.
Languages
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is an advantage.
Assessment
Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by a competency-based interview.
Special Notice
• This position is temporarily available for six months, but may be extended. If the selected candidate is a staff member from the United Nations Secretariat, the selection will be administered as a temporary assignment.
• While this temporary assignment may provide the successful applicant with an opportunity to gain new work experience, the selection for this position is for a limited period and has no bearing on the future incumbency of the post.
• Subject to the funding source of the position, the eligibility for this temporary job opening may be limited to candidates based at the duty station.
• This temporary job opening may be limited to “internal candidates,” who have been recruited through a competitive examination administered according to staff rule 4.16 or staff selection process including the review of a central review body established according to staff rule 4.15.
• Staff members of the United Nations common system organizations who will reach the mandatory age of separation or retirement within the duration of the current temporary need period are not eligible to apply.Submitting an application or selection for the current temporary job opening does not delay or increase the mandatory age of separation.
• Retirees above the mandatory age of separation who wish to be considered for the current temporary job opening must indicate the reason for their last separation as "retirement." Such retirees shall not be employed by the Organization, unless (a) the operational requirements of the Organization cannot be met by staff members who are qualified and available to perform the required functions; and (b) the proposed employment would not adversely affect the career development or redeployment opportunities of other staff members and represents both a cost-effective and operationally sound solution to meet the needs of the service.
IMPORTANT: Candidates found suitable and not selected for the announced duty station, may be selected for deployment to other duty stations. The selection will be for similar functions with similar requirements at the same level. United Nations Considerations
According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation or sexual abuse, or crimes other than minor traffic offences, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.
Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.
Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.
The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.
Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.
No Fee
THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.
How to apply: