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OCHA-CMCO-P4-Bahirdar, Ethiopia
Bahirdar, EthiopiaPosition Title: Civil-Military Coordination Officer
Receiving Agency: OCHA
P Level: P4
Location: Bahirdar, Ethiopia (Amhara Region)
Duration: Until March 31st, 2025
Language: English
Background
Brief description of emergency outbreak/upsurge and the consequences for OCHA.
• Multiple, and often overlapping, crises continue to drive high humanitarian needs in 2023/2024, affecting the most vulnerable populations.
• 4 Shocks climate change, conflicts, and disease outbreaks, economy
• Impacts on food security, malnutrition, access to water, education, and health services, pushing more people into displacement and increased protection risks.
• Exacerbated by global factors such as rising prices of basic commodities, inflation and continual devaluation of the local currency, and fears of global shortage of gas, fuel, medicine and food.
• While the cost of the response is increasing, availability of funds due to increasing demands on resources is becoming a challenge for the response
Surge Justification
As the operating environment evolves in hostilities-affected areas, the current and anticipated workload requires additional capacity to sustain provision of CMCoord services to resolve humanitarian access issues at regional and sub-national levels. This includes having roving Humanitarian Access and CMCoord (HAC) Officers ready to support OCHA sub-offices and humanitarian operational partners in their consistent and coherent interaction with armed/security actors on the ground to gain humanitarian access. An international staff presence is needed to complement existing national capacity.
OCHA's role and key challenges
The ongoing military operations, drought and food insecurity are the main triggers of humanitarian needs. Identifying needs in inaccessible and hard-to-reach drought and hostilities-affected locations, and the ability to respond to identified needs are two main challenges that is collectively faced by OCHA and its humanitarian operational partners. OCHA’s specific role is to be proactive and agile in analyzing developments in previously inaccessible and hard-to-reach areas, and initiate security-related protocols in coordination with UNDSS (conduct of security/access assessments) and the ICCG (subsequent conduct of rapid inter-cluster assessment missions). In addition to supporting these activities, the establishment and roll-out of the civil military coordination cells at the regional and zonal hubs ensure its alignment with humanitarian access efforts. This deconflicting, facilitation of joint movement to promote humanitarian access. These complementary activities are
aimed at contributing to making OCHA’s coordination services more responsive to the evolving operating environment and sustained support to humanitarian operational partners on humanitarian access.
Main partners and stakeholders
• Humanitarian operational partners (UN AFPs and NGOs) at regional and zonal levels. OCHA chairs the Access Working Groups and CMCoord cells.
• Regional and Zonal Authorities like the Ethiopia Disaster Response Management Center (EDRMC),
• Ethiopian National Defense forces, Police, militias, where applicable
Expected duty travel
The SBPs will be based in Amhara region (Bahir Dar, and Desse) , with field missions to deed-field locations within the region
Expected outcome of the deployment
Operational issues with relation to security and their impact on humanitarian programs are identified, which form the basis for prioritization of response delivery in hard-to-reach areas, facilitating a structured approach in promoting humanitarian access.
• Civil military coordination cells in particular geographic locations are functional, involving OCHA,
ENDF, Police, EDRMC, Militia, Intelligence, UNDSS, humanitarian partners, and other relevant entities, sustaining efforts on humanitarian access.
• OCHA Sub offices and relevant security personnel at sub national level are trained and have the
basic understanding of their particular role in humanitarian access through CMCoord-related interactions and activities.
• Operational mechanisms are established to support the humanitarian community, particularly in
trouble- shooting operational humanitarian access issues.
• Increased understanding of the evolving operational environment, particularly on humanitarian access, given the constrained security environment in Amhara region; and
• Dissemination and implementation of the Code of Conduct, Joint Movement SOPs and Joint Operating Principles (JOPs), Guidance Note on Alternatives to and Use of Armed Escorts, and their contributions to humanitarian access advocacy, are carried out.
Specific required skills
At least 5 years’ experience working on Access and CMCoord-related issues in a humanitarian emergency context in the field as an Access Officer, CMCoord Officer or Civil-Military Liaison Officer of a humanitarian organization.
• At least 3 years’ demonstrated experience in a complex emergency or conflict setting.
• Experience working with military/armed actor counterparts in an operational environment.
• Ability to work independently and under tight deadlines.
• Ability to combine desk research with field missions.
• Ability to analyze information quickly and express complex issues to diverse audiences in a clear manner.
• Demonstrated experience working in a rapidly changing environment and ability to adapt to this evolving ground situation.
• Ability to conduct training, facilitate formal and informal discussions, chair meetings, as needed.
• Strong communication and writing skills, especially in terms of reporting, drafting key messages and generating talking points.
• Ability to work in difficult working and living conditions.
• Experience negotiating/interacting with diverse actors; and
• Cultural sensitivity and good networking skills.
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: Bahirdar, Ethiopia (Amhara Region)
Duration: Until March 31st, 2025
Language: English
Background
Brief description of emergency outbreak/upsurge and the consequences for OCHA.
• Multiple, and often overlapping, crises continue to drive high humanitarian needs in 2023/2024, affecting the most vulnerable populations.
• 4 Shocks climate change, conflicts, and disease outbreaks, economy
• Impacts on food security, malnutrition, access to water, education, and health services, pushing more people into displacement and increased protection risks.
• Exacerbated by global factors such as rising prices of basic commodities, inflation and continual devaluation of the local currency, and fears of global shortage of gas, fuel, medicine and food.
• While the cost of the response is increasing, availability of funds due to increasing demands on resources is becoming a challenge for the response
Surge Justification
As the operating environment evolves in hostilities-affected areas, the current and anticipated workload requires additional capacity to sustain provision of CMCoord services to resolve humanitarian access issues at regional and sub-national levels. This includes having roving Humanitarian Access and CMCoord (HAC) Officers ready to support OCHA sub-offices and humanitarian operational partners in their consistent and coherent interaction with armed/security actors on the ground to gain humanitarian access. An international staff presence is needed to complement existing national capacity.
OCHA's role and key challenges
The ongoing military operations, drought and food insecurity are the main triggers of humanitarian needs. Identifying needs in inaccessible and hard-to-reach drought and hostilities-affected locations, and the ability to respond to identified needs are two main challenges that is collectively faced by OCHA and its humanitarian operational partners. OCHA’s specific role is to be proactive and agile in analyzing developments in previously inaccessible and hard-to-reach areas, and initiate security-related protocols in coordination with UNDSS (conduct of security/access assessments) and the ICCG (subsequent conduct of rapid inter-cluster assessment missions). In addition to supporting these activities, the establishment and roll-out of the civil military coordination cells at the regional and zonal hubs ensure its alignment with humanitarian access efforts. This deconflicting, facilitation of joint movement to promote humanitarian access. These complementary activities are
aimed at contributing to making OCHA’s coordination services more responsive to the evolving operating environment and sustained support to humanitarian operational partners on humanitarian access.
Main partners and stakeholders
• Humanitarian operational partners (UN AFPs and NGOs) at regional and zonal levels. OCHA chairs the Access Working Groups and CMCoord cells.
• Regional and Zonal Authorities like the Ethiopia Disaster Response Management Center (EDRMC),
• Ethiopian National Defense forces, Police, militias, where applicable
Expected duty travel
The SBPs will be based in Amhara region (Bahir Dar, and Desse) , with field missions to deed-field locations within the region
Expected outcome of the deployment
Operational issues with relation to security and their impact on humanitarian programs are identified, which form the basis for prioritization of response delivery in hard-to-reach areas, facilitating a structured approach in promoting humanitarian access.
• Civil military coordination cells in particular geographic locations are functional, involving OCHA,
ENDF, Police, EDRMC, Militia, Intelligence, UNDSS, humanitarian partners, and other relevant entities, sustaining efforts on humanitarian access.
• OCHA Sub offices and relevant security personnel at sub national level are trained and have the
basic understanding of their particular role in humanitarian access through CMCoord-related interactions and activities.
• Operational mechanisms are established to support the humanitarian community, particularly in
trouble- shooting operational humanitarian access issues.
• Increased understanding of the evolving operational environment, particularly on humanitarian access, given the constrained security environment in Amhara region; and
• Dissemination and implementation of the Code of Conduct, Joint Movement SOPs and Joint Operating Principles (JOPs), Guidance Note on Alternatives to and Use of Armed Escorts, and their contributions to humanitarian access advocacy, are carried out.
Specific required skills
At least 5 years’ experience working on Access and CMCoord-related issues in a humanitarian emergency context in the field as an Access Officer, CMCoord Officer or Civil-Military Liaison Officer of a humanitarian organization.
• At least 3 years’ demonstrated experience in a complex emergency or conflict setting.
• Experience working with military/armed actor counterparts in an operational environment.
• Ability to work independently and under tight deadlines.
• Ability to combine desk research with field missions.
• Ability to analyze information quickly and express complex issues to diverse audiences in a clear manner.
• Demonstrated experience working in a rapidly changing environment and ability to adapt to this evolving ground situation.
• Ability to conduct training, facilitate formal and informal discussions, chair meetings, as needed.
• Strong communication and writing skills, especially in terms of reporting, drafting key messages and generating talking points.
• Ability to work in difficult working and living conditions.
• Experience negotiating/interacting with diverse actors; and
• Cultural sensitivity and good networking skills.
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.