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OCHA-HAO-P4-Havana, Cuba
Position Title: Humanitarian Affairs Officer
Receiving Agency: OCHA
P Level: P4
Location: Havana, Cuba
Duration: 3 months
Language: English and Spanish are required
Brief Description of Emergency Outbreak/Upsurge and the Consequences for OCHA:
Humanitarian indicators in Cuba worsened following Hurricane Melissa in October 2025 and continue on a rapid decline with the imposition of additional sanctions and measures that limit the country's access to fuel. The lack of fuel and energy is resulting in prolonged blackouts of up to 20 hours per day. Critical health services have been drastically reduced due to shortages of fuel, electricity, safe water, medicines and medical equipment. More than 100,000 surgeries
have been postponed. Water distribution is close to collapse with a quarter of the population already experiencing daily shortages of water. Constraints and bottlenecks are impeding the humanitarian response requiring coordinated analysis and diplomacy with stakeholders to facilitate the delivery of assistance.
Brief Surge Need Justification:
The shift from a development context to a humanitarian situation in a highly politicized context like Cuba requires in-country humanitarian advisory support to the UN Resident Coordinator. Urgent in-country support to advise the UN RC on principled humanitarian action and humanitarian diplomacy in order to foster trust and facilitate operations between humanitarian actors, the Cuban authorities and the diplomatic community in-country. A Plan of Action was launched in November 2025 after Hurricane Melissa and revised in March 2026 as the energy crisis worsened. OCHA has been supporting the scale up of humanitarian action since Hurricane Melissa through surge support. OCHA ROLAC created a national position in the 2026 work plan and budget, and is in the recruitment process. Scaled up in-country operational coordination is required, as well as strategic and advisory support to the RC, to ensure continuous, principled action and diplomacy.
Overall Security Situation:
The threat of armed conflict and terrorism is low. Recent months have been marked by a gradual escalation in political rhetoric and media reporting surrounding Cuba; however, these do not necessarily indicate an imminent military scenario. Localized demonstrations linked to prolonged blackouts and deteriorating living conditions have been reported. Demonstrations reflect growing public frustration; however, state institutions retain strong control over the security environment and previous protests have often been met with rapid security interventions. Storms and hurricanes are regular in Cuba during the hurricane season (June-November); however, they are more likely on the extreme ends of the island and Havana remains generally unaffected. Cuba is an earthquake prone country with the last major earthquake on the eastern part of the island in 2024.
OCHA’s Role and Key Challenges:
OCHA is supporting a wide range of coordination activities in Cuba, including: * strategic advice to RC (remote and ad hoc missions by HoO)
* situational analysis
* implementation and coordination support for the Plan of Action (response monitoring, advocacy, resource mobilization, identification of bottlenecks and advocacy with government, CERF follow-up, etc)
* disaster preparedness, including a CERF-supported anticipatory action framework
* advocacy, visibility and resource mobilization
* humanitarian diplomacy, especially on access to fuel for humanitarian purposes
Main Partners and Stakeholders in the Field:
The selected Standby Partner will interact directly with the UN RC, RCO, UN agencies, Cuban Red Cross, INGOs, Caritas Cuba, Civil Defense, Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Investment (MINCEX) and diplomatic community in Cuba
Main Tasks and Duties to be Executed:
The Humanitarian Advisor to the UN Resident Coordinator would work under the supervision of the Head of ROLAC to advise the UN RC on humanitarian affairs and diplomacy.
* Provide policy advice to the UN RC on principled humanitarian action
* Coordinate the formulation of key messages on humanitarian issues for the UNCT and broader humanitarian community
* Engage regularly with diplomatic corps on humanitarian issues, including regular situational analysis, response monitoring and resource mobilization
* Coordinate with humanitarian actors
Expected Outcome of the Deployment:
* Bolstered humanitarian leadership in country
* Strengthened collective humanitarian advocacy
* Improved humanitarian analysis and response coordination
* Predictable and strategic engagement with diplomatic community on humanitarian issues
Specific Required Skills:
* Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian affairs
* At least three years of humanitarian experience in the field in emergency situations (complex emergency or natural disaster)
* Experience coordinating humanitarian operations and advising senior leaders in humanitarian settings
* Experience working in Latin America and the Caribbean is desired
* Experience working in a country under sanctions, is desired.
Language(s) Required:
Spanish, English
Duty Travel:
10% travel in country to natural disaster-affected areas
Living Conditions:
Living conditions in Havana have deteriorated in 2026 due to severe energy shortages affecting availability of fuel, electricity and cooking gas. Blackouts occur frequently and can continue for over 18 hours. the reliability of healthcare, water supply, transportation, and other essential services remains closely linked to the stability of the national electricity grid.
CANADEM and its partners have a no-tolerance policy for inaction to prevent, respond to and follow up on alleged cases of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (SEAH). For this reason, we adhere to all policies, procedures and training of the United Nations on The Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH). CANADEM mandates all deployees successfully complete the PSEA online course. This e-learning course is composed of a set of lessons designed to raise awareness about SEAH, become familiar with a range of measures to combat SEAH, understand the impact on victims and the consequences for UN Personnel who commit Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment.
Receiving Agency: OCHA
P Level: P4
Location: Havana, Cuba
Duration: 3 months
Language: English and Spanish are required
Brief Description of Emergency Outbreak/Upsurge and the Consequences for OCHA:
Humanitarian indicators in Cuba worsened following Hurricane Melissa in October 2025 and continue on a rapid decline with the imposition of additional sanctions and measures that limit the country's access to fuel. The lack of fuel and energy is resulting in prolonged blackouts of up to 20 hours per day. Critical health services have been drastically reduced due to shortages of fuel, electricity, safe water, medicines and medical equipment. More than 100,000 surgeries
have been postponed. Water distribution is close to collapse with a quarter of the population already experiencing daily shortages of water. Constraints and bottlenecks are impeding the humanitarian response requiring coordinated analysis and diplomacy with stakeholders to facilitate the delivery of assistance.
Brief Surge Need Justification:
The shift from a development context to a humanitarian situation in a highly politicized context like Cuba requires in-country humanitarian advisory support to the UN Resident Coordinator. Urgent in-country support to advise the UN RC on principled humanitarian action and humanitarian diplomacy in order to foster trust and facilitate operations between humanitarian actors, the Cuban authorities and the diplomatic community in-country. A Plan of Action was launched in November 2025 after Hurricane Melissa and revised in March 2026 as the energy crisis worsened. OCHA has been supporting the scale up of humanitarian action since Hurricane Melissa through surge support. OCHA ROLAC created a national position in the 2026 work plan and budget, and is in the recruitment process. Scaled up in-country operational coordination is required, as well as strategic and advisory support to the RC, to ensure continuous, principled action and diplomacy.
Overall Security Situation:
The threat of armed conflict and terrorism is low. Recent months have been marked by a gradual escalation in political rhetoric and media reporting surrounding Cuba; however, these do not necessarily indicate an imminent military scenario. Localized demonstrations linked to prolonged blackouts and deteriorating living conditions have been reported. Demonstrations reflect growing public frustration; however, state institutions retain strong control over the security environment and previous protests have often been met with rapid security interventions. Storms and hurricanes are regular in Cuba during the hurricane season (June-November); however, they are more likely on the extreme ends of the island and Havana remains generally unaffected. Cuba is an earthquake prone country with the last major earthquake on the eastern part of the island in 2024.
OCHA’s Role and Key Challenges:
OCHA is supporting a wide range of coordination activities in Cuba, including: * strategic advice to RC (remote and ad hoc missions by HoO)
* situational analysis
* implementation and coordination support for the Plan of Action (response monitoring, advocacy, resource mobilization, identification of bottlenecks and advocacy with government, CERF follow-up, etc)
* disaster preparedness, including a CERF-supported anticipatory action framework
* advocacy, visibility and resource mobilization
* humanitarian diplomacy, especially on access to fuel for humanitarian purposes
Main Partners and Stakeholders in the Field:
The selected Standby Partner will interact directly with the UN RC, RCO, UN agencies, Cuban Red Cross, INGOs, Caritas Cuba, Civil Defense, Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Investment (MINCEX) and diplomatic community in Cuba
Main Tasks and Duties to be Executed:
The Humanitarian Advisor to the UN Resident Coordinator would work under the supervision of the Head of ROLAC to advise the UN RC on humanitarian affairs and diplomacy.
* Provide policy advice to the UN RC on principled humanitarian action
* Coordinate the formulation of key messages on humanitarian issues for the UNCT and broader humanitarian community
* Engage regularly with diplomatic corps on humanitarian issues, including regular situational analysis, response monitoring and resource mobilization
* Coordinate with humanitarian actors
Expected Outcome of the Deployment:
* Bolstered humanitarian leadership in country
* Strengthened collective humanitarian advocacy
* Improved humanitarian analysis and response coordination
* Predictable and strategic engagement with diplomatic community on humanitarian issues
Specific Required Skills:
* Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in humanitarian affairs
* At least three years of humanitarian experience in the field in emergency situations (complex emergency or natural disaster)
* Experience coordinating humanitarian operations and advising senior leaders in humanitarian settings
* Experience working in Latin America and the Caribbean is desired
* Experience working in a country under sanctions, is desired.
Language(s) Required:
Spanish, English
Duty Travel:
10% travel in country to natural disaster-affected areas
Living Conditions:
Living conditions in Havana have deteriorated in 2026 due to severe energy shortages affecting availability of fuel, electricity and cooking gas. Blackouts occur frequently and can continue for over 18 hours. the reliability of healthcare, water supply, transportation, and other essential services remains closely linked to the stability of the national electricity grid.
CANADEM and its partners have a no-tolerance policy for inaction to prevent, respond to and follow up on alleged cases of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (SEAH). For this reason, we adhere to all policies, procedures and training of the United Nations on The Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH). CANADEM mandates all deployees successfully complete the PSEA online course. This e-learning course is composed of a set of lessons designed to raise awareness about SEAH, become familiar with a range of measures to combat SEAH, understand the impact on victims and the consequences for UN Personnel who commit Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment.