Senior Officer, Anticipatory Action

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 192-member National Societies. 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.”  The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services.

Addressing climate and environmental crises is the first strategic priority of the IFRC’s Strategy 2030, which stresses the urgent need to massively scale-up climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, in view of increasing disasters and climate-related impacts on vulnerable people. Early warning and early/anticipatory action are acknowledged as a critical component of this work. Anticipatory action and accelerating and intensifying water action to reduce risk and increase climate resilience are increasingly recognized as a key solution to reducing the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events, helping organizations and individuals build resilience to future shocks by better understanding trends and emphasizing the need to integrate risk information for short-term shocks that inform long-term adaptation.

 Anticipatory action is increasingly recognized as a key solution to reduce the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events, these actions help organizations and people build resilience to future shocks by better understanding trends and highlighting the need to embed risk information for short-term shocks that informs long-term adaptation.

In June 2022, the leaders of 192 National Societies endorsed the Council of Delegates Resolution on ‘Strengthening anticipatory action within the Movement: Our way forward’. To operationalize that ambition and in line with the Operational Framework for scaling up Anticipatory Action the IFRC is seeking to support National Societies by developing anticipatory actions plans that are eligible and can be funded under the DREF (Disaster Relief Emergency Fund) anticipatory pillar. As part of these efforts, Italian Red Cross will second a Delegate to the IFRC to support the implementation of an Italian Government funded anticipatory action project in the Africa region. 

Currently,  several  National Societies in Africa are engaging in anticipatory action planning. The Africa Anticipatory Action Senior Officer will work with African National Societies and their partners to set up systems to implement anticipatory action plans for weather and non-weather-related hazards.

It is therefore planned to recruit the senior officer of the Disaster Risk Reduction and water heart of climate project based in Kigali, at the headquarters of the Rwandan Red Cross, to cover the activities of the said project. 

These terms of reference outline the role and responsibilities of the Senior Officer position

Job Purpose

The IFRC Senior Officer is an integral part of the cluster's program coordination.  In this role, with the advice and support of his/her line manager, the incumbent will be responsible for ensuring that Rwanda Red Cross meets the Movement's disaster risk reduction and Water at the Heart of Climate Action commitments by implementing key performance indicators to measure progress.

The incumbent is responsible for the quality management and implementation of all planned activities, as well as for the sound management of the budget of  project implemented in Rwanda.

Under the guidance of the country cluster DDR delegate and in close cooperation and On technical matters related to projects, the  Senior Officer will liaise closely with RRCS Disaster Risk Management, Health and Operations departments; and advisors associated with the projects.

• Close coordination with the IFRC, Red Cross Climate Centre and other relevant PNSs in country is essential. adhere to project MoU terms and conditions (and NLRC-URCS Framework Partnership Agreement);
• adhere to accepted humanitarian standards; and align with IFRC principles, approaches and ways of working (e.g. do no harm; community engagement & accountability; and protection, gender and inclusion);
• align with RRCS  strategic plans and interests;
• ensure back donor financial compliance; and
• promote RRCS National Society Development and collective efforts towards localisation

coordination with Red Cross Climate Centre,  relevant PNSs in country is essential, the others relevant Partner National Societies and IFRC offices,   the Senior Officer will support setting up (where no previous work exists) and strengthening (where previous work exists) the Forecast-based Financing (FbF) mechanisms with National Societies under its geographic remit. The implementation focusses on the development of Early Action Protocols (EAP) or Simplified EAPs, the strengthening of the National Societies capacities for anticipatory action planning and delivery, including coordination with their respective governments and other key stakeholders.

Developing effective readiness and early action requires national dialogue and coordination to shift the system to anticipatory action, followed by an in-depth risk analysis to develop impact-based triggers, identifying effective and feasible early actions, and strengthening the required operational capacity to implement these actions. The Senior Officer therefore will work closely with the regional athematic and technical experts

Job Duties and Responsibilities

Overall implementation and management of the anticipatory action project in the selected countries

1. Develop workplans with the National Societies, IFRC Delegations, Climate Centre, and Partner National Societies for the implementation of the AA and Water at the Heart of Climate Action project in country.
2. Ensure project funding agreements are in place with National Societies and work with IFRC Delegations and to ensure day to day progress on agreed workplans.
3. Accompany the National Society, the IFRC Delegations and the Partner National Societies in (the EAP/sEAPand Water at the Heart of Climate Action development, approval and management process.
4. In coordination with the Grants Manager, monitor the financial expenditures, provide progress reports on results against objectives and risk analyses as required – and ensure working advances and full accountabilities are submitted in a timely manner
5. you are responsible for the project budget management, adequate and timely quality narrative and financial reporting according to IFRC and donor standards, developing ToRs for reviews and evaluations, all according to IFRC's Standard Project Approach (SPA);.
6. Contribute to a client-oriented approach that values accountability for results, proactivity, continuous improvement, innovation, high performance, and cost effectiveness.
7. Provide project and facilitate technical support in planning, implementation, monitoring and quality assurance, and reporting throughout the project cyclein accordance with IFRC and RCC procedures (such as procurement and financial) and agreements as set in the MoU, and in full compliance with back donor requirements.
8. Oversee and ensure procurement procedures regarding the procurement plan.
9. Undertake regular monitoringfield visits and meetings with the community and relevant actors incl. project partners in assessing the trends, patterns and changing needs and consequently advise.
10. Provide or mobilize technical support to ensure quality implementation and compliance.
11. Ensure identification, documentation and sharing of success stories/ evidences, data collection and lessons learnt for program improvement, scaling up, and internal capitalization.
12. Oversee and assist RRCS in planning and conducting project evaluations (baselines, mid/end term) as per the donor requirement/MoU.

• Creating an enabling environment for anticipatory action and :
  1. Led by National Society, convene stakeholders on anticipatory action, including National Disaster Management Authorities, National Hydro-meteorological Services, relevant sectoral ministries as well as other humanitarian partners in country.
  2. Foster dialogues on early action and preparedness, advocating for national government anticipatory strategy, to ensure ownership and coordination of government stakeholders including Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies
  3. Support the establishment of technical working groups, MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) on anticipatory action and/or integrate into existing national coordination groups.

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

• Conducting feasibility and capacity assessments to determine feasibility of anticipatory action and :
  1. Support and conduct feasibility studies and capacity assessments, using and leveraging existing assessment results and initiatives such as Preparedness for Effective Response, relevant outlook indicators, government level and National Society organizational level capacity analysis, mapping and analysis of national early warning mechanisms and their feasibility to provide indicators for anticipatory action.
  2. Support the National Society with the prioritisation of hazards, review of forecasts/data and early warning systems.
  3. Engage the relevant stakeholders such as IFRC and Partners in the feasibility studies, sensitise and socialise findings and lessons learnt.
  4. Engage with the regional climate prediction and impact-based forecasting such as IGAD in East Africa when appropriate.
• Strengthening the operational capacity and readiness of the National Society:
  1. Utilise Preparedness for Effective Response (PER) process to identify key operational and technical capacity building needs, including staff training, developing, or updating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), contingency plans, and required support services (HR (Human Resource), admin, logistics) to deliver anticipatory action.
• Program Design & Development
• Support or take the lead in the development of new projects based on incoming funding opportunities and in line with IFRC and RRCS strategic priorities.
  1. Ensure with the other IFRCdelegates, coherence between all IFRC supported interventions. This particularly applies to harmonization and cross-alignment with other IFRC-supported activities (e.g. anticipatory action, data & disaster preparedness, community resilience strengthening.Support and strengthen specific technical areas such as cash and vouchers assistance, distribution of NFIs (Non-Food Items), identify required technical skills to deliver early actions, select affected population selection and others.
  2. Support National Society in identifying relevant technical expertise to develop EAPs that meet the IFRC quality criteria to be funded by the anticipatory pillar of the DREF. This includes the identification of triggers and the identification of effective early actions.

Representation & Coordination

• In relation to project objectives, ensure close coordination and collaboration with other Red Cross partners. Contribute to collective operational support to RRCS in various areas of intervention within disaster risk management, water and climate risks, and WASH.
• In close coordination and collaboration with Country Cluster DDR delegate, support RRCS in maintaining and coordinating external relations and partnerships with national stakeholders, including relevant line ministries and agencies of Government of RWanda, at all levels.
• Represent IFRC in Red Cross technical coordination meetings convened by RRCS.

Education

• Relevant postgraduate degree in disaster preparedness and risk management, project management, development studies or related fields.
• Basic Delegates Training Course (BTC), WORC, IMPACT or equivalent knowledge

Experience

• 5 years’ international experience in humanitarian sector technical level related to Disaster Risk Management programming, institutional preparedness, capacity strengthening initiatives, emergency response operations or water specific EWEA systems
• Experience in emergency response coordination or project management at country level
• Experience or exposure to anticipatory humanitarian action
• Experience in process management or organizational change
• Experience in water related risk knowledge and governance
• Experience in water related DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction)
• Experience managing large projects including programmatic and financial aspects.
• Experience working with Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies
• Good understanding of the IFRC policies, system, and procedures
• Experience in coordinating with multiple stakeholders, including authorities and other humanitarian actors

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

• Excellent communication and facilitation skills
• Well organized, with very good planning and time management skills
• Self-supporting in computers (Email, Internet, spread sheets, word-processing, etc.)
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with independent decision-making capacity
• Knowledge of donor requirements for implementation and reporting
• Strong partner management and consortium coordination skills
• Strong coordination and donor relationship skills
• Ability to transfer knowledge, skills, and/or abilities to National Society staff and volunteers
• Excellent writing skills for reporting and proposal development
• Fluently spoken and written English
• Good command of another IFRC official language (French, Spanish or Arabic)

Competencies, Values and Comments

• Values: Professionalism, respect for diversity, integrity, responsibility.
• Core competencies: Proactivity and innovative creativity; Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision-making; National society and customer relations; 

This position is open to citizens of Rwandan nationality.

Applications from women are strongly encouraged.