Urban Displacement Policy Advisor – Maternity Cover

Job posted by: International Rescue Committee UK - Tue, 15 Apr 2014

Job Details:

Organisation: International Rescue Committee UK

Deadline Mon, 12 May 2014

Job type: Permanent

Location: United Kingdom

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BACKGROUND

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one of the world’s leading humanitarian relief organisations. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people survive, recover and rebuild their lives. The IRC delivers emergency aid, protects children, provides healthcare, prevents and responds to violence against women and girls, safeguards human rights and helps to kick-start economic recovery. Working in more than 40 countries, the IRC has restored hope and opportunity to many millions of people.

The IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships and, most crucially, accountability to those we serve. The IRC is a tireless advocate for the most vulnerable.

The IRC’s global headquarters are in New York. Our European headquarters, IRC-UK, were established in London in 1997 to support the organisation’s global activities and particularly to diversify its donor base and be able to better advocate with European policy makers on behalf of the people we serve. IRC-UK comprises approximately 50 staff across five departments.

POLICY AND ADVOCACY

The UK advocacy team works closely with IRC’s global team of advocates, in Washington, New York, Brussels, Geneva, as well as with teams in priority countries and regions.  In particular we work closely with the Brussels office to establish and implement European-wide advocacy and policy. The UK Advocacy team also works with IRC’s programme staff around the world and is able to access real time information from the field programs, allowing IRC UK to speak to the most salient issues facing refugees and displaced people.

URBAN DISPLACEMENT

Today more than half of the world’s refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) reside in urban areas. For organisations like the IRC with a mandate to address the needs of refugees and displaced people, this trend is changing how we respond to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. Much of the humanitarian response architecture and standard tools are geared towards responding in a camp setting, and too often the displaced in urban areas are left without assistance or protection.

The IRC already has programmes working with urban displaced in many countries across the world both in a humanitarian and recovery context. However, to date the IRC, in common with much of the humanitarian sector, has failed to tap this experience and develop standard approaches for urban settings and take those approaches to scale.  There is insufficient awareness of the scale and nature of urban displacement among policy-makers, while at the practitioner level there has been a lack of understanding and at times commitment to translate expertise in specific contexts into broader guidance on programme design in urban areas.

In recognition of these challenges, the IRC has begun to focus on building institutional capacity to respond to situations of displacement into urban areas.  At the same time, IRC is also focused on changing the nature of policy maker and practitioner response to urban displacement, as well as working with host communities, both through internal and external advocacy.

SCOPE OF WORK

This is a maternity cover position which we anticipate starting in July 2014 for a period of 9 months, with a possible extension to 12 months.

As part of a small, dynamic policy and advocacy team based in London, the Urban Displacement Policy Advisor will:

  • Take a leadership role promoting urban displacement as a priority issue within the IRC and working with technical and programme staff to develop IRC’s learning, best practice and policy recommendations. This will include working with key actors both within and outside IRC to develop IRC’s operational capability around urban response
  • Implement IRC’s urban displacement advocacy strategy with particular focus on the European context. This will include working with specific policy makers to advance the humanitarian sector’s response to crises in urban settings, with a particular focus on areas impacted by displacement
  • Develop partnerships with other operational organisations, academic institutions and other actors working on related issues, and link IRC’s work into other global advocacy and initiatives around urbanisation
  • Organise and host IRC’s annual policy conference at Ditchley Park in autumn 2014 focused on urban refugees and displaced people.

TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Promote urban displacement as a priority area within IRC

  • Lead the IRC – UK Strategic Planning Group on Urban Displacement and co-lead the IRC global working group on Urban Displacement and through this, Build support for urban programming among country teams, regional and Headquarters offices of the IRC
  • Support key technical staff in implementing a programme of work to build and strengthen IRC’s institutional capacity to respond to urban displacement – this includes implementing a robust policy, programming and research and learning agenda
  • Work with regional teams to identify and access funding opportunities for urban programming.

Ditchley Conference

  • Design and organise a 2-day IRC policy event at Ditchley Park in Autumn 2014 for a wide range of high level policy-makers, practitioners and donors focused on urban displacement and humanitarian response in urban settings
  • Organise future policy events and conferences as appropriate.

Advocacy implementation

  • Implement IRC’s advocacy strategy on urban displacement.
  • Conduct advocacy with high-level UK/European advocacy targets on a range of issues concerning urban displacement
  • Work with key policy makers to advance urban displacement issues on the global agenda
  • Develop contacts and linkages with key experts and stakeholders on urbanisation and urban displacement
  • Work with IRC UK Media and Communications team to highlight the needs of urban refugees and displaced people among the UK and EU public
  • Produce materials for advocacy, communications and media on urban displacement, including for briefing papers, reports, opeds etc.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

  • Masters degree in a subject related to the IRC’s work (e.g. International relations, international humanitarian assistance)
  • Excellent understanding of humanitarian aid and knowledge of relevant policy issues
  • Experience advocating on humanitarian and/or development issues
  • Operational background or expertise in urban environments
  • Experience working with donors and policy-makers, especially UK and European donors such as DfID, ECHO and SIDA, among others
  • Experience or knowledge of other key institutions, in particular UNHCR
  • Good analytical skills and the ability to think and plan work strategically
  • Excellent verbal and written English; good presentation skills
  • Commitment to team work
  • Ability to travel overseas sometimes at short notice to situations of conflict.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

  • Experience in monitoring and evaluation and/or conducting field research
  • Experience advocating for policy change with UK and European governments
  • Experience of public speaking and working with the media (including writing and broadcast interviews).

TO APPLY

Please send a CV (two pages maximum) and cover page (two pages maximum) to: applications@rescue-uk.org 

Please state clearly in your cover letter:

  • Your reasons for applying
  • How you meet the person specification, skills and experience specified in the job description

The closing date is: 10am Monday 12th May 2014 (GMT)

Interviews will be held the week beginning 19th May 2014.

In order to minimise administrative costs, IRC-UK will only contact short-listed candidates. 

Candidates must have the right to work in the UK.

IRC-UK strives to be an equal opportunities employer. IRC-UK is committed to equality of opportunity and to non-discrimination for all job applicants and employees, and we seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.



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