Temporary Appointment_ GBV Inter-Agency Coordinator, Mekelle, Ethiopia, P-3

The Position:

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Office in Mekelle, the GBV Inter-Agency Coordinator will be part of the UNFPA Humanitarian Response Team under the overall direction of the UNFPA Ethiopia Country Office Representative, programmatic guidance of the Deputy Representative and Humanitarian Programme Coordinator.  The GBV Inter-Agency Coordinator will facilitate and coordinate the rapid implementation of multi-sectoral, inter-agency GBV interventions in the Tigray region. The Temporary Appointment is an assignment for a duration of 364 days.

Job Purpose:

In recent times, Ethiopia has been affected by various shocks, including violent conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic, drought, desert locusts, and floods. Since the end of 2017, violent conflict has emerged as a significant driver of humanitarian needs. This combination of multiple interlocked shocks is driving the humanitarian needs higher, particularly for those already marginalized and at risk. According to the 2022 Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO), about 29.7 million people are estimated to need humanitarian assistance in 2022, including 23.9 million non-displaced and around 5.8 million displaced people. Indications are that the current drivers of humanitarian needs will continue to affect the country for the foreseeable future.  

Gender-based violence is an umbrella term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person's will, and that is based on socially ascribed (gender) differences between males and females. It includes acts that inflict physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion, and other deprivations of liberty. These acts can occur in public or in private. GBV occurs in all humanitarian emergencies and humanitarian practitioners must assume that GBV is occurring in any humanitarian emergency and act to address it, regardless of the absence or presence of data about its scope and impact.

Comprehensive GBV prevention and response programming in humanitarian emergencies requires skilled coordination of a range of organizations and actors from the displaced and host communities, NGOs, government partners, UN agencies, and other national and international organizations. The GBV Inter-Agency Coordinator’s duties include: building and sustaining partnerships, strategic planning, capacity development, advocacy, and information management.

The GBV inter-agency Coordinator will use the GBV Area of Responsibility’s Handbook for Coordinating Gender-based Violence Interventions in Emergencies (2019), the Inter-Agency Minimum Standards for Prevention and Response to GBV in Emergencies and the IASC’s Guidelines for Integrating Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action: Reducing Risk, Promoting Resilience, and Aiding Recovery, to facilitate planning, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of inter-agency GBV initiatives

Qualifications and Experience: 

Education:  

• Master's Degree/ Advanced university degree in social work or other social sciences, public health, community health, international relations, international law, human rights or related field.  

Knowledge and Experience: 

• At least 5 years of experience working on gender-based violence, of which 4 years are at the international level, preferably in a humanitarian context. 
• Experience leading inter-agency coordination mechanisms with a wide range of stakeholders. 
• Demonstrable knowledge of the critical components to facilitate effective inter-agency coordination.
• Awareness and demonstrable knowledge of how GBV manifests in humanitarian settings and ability to describe context-specific prevention and response actions.
• Demonstrable knowledge of humanitarian emergency operations, including the Cluster System and HPC, and roles/responsibilities of key humanitarian actors.
•  Demonstrated leadership, facilitation, and team working skills and ability to establish harmonious working relations in an international and multicultural environment. 
•  Demonstrated representational, leadership and management skills. 
•  Excellent computer literacy (windows environment, MS office applications including Word, Excel and Power-point and Internet skills).

Languages: 

• Fluency in English is required; Working Knowledge of other UN languages is desired.