Access and Advocacy Coordinator

WHO ARE WE?

The Danish Refugee Council assists refugees and internally displaced persons across the globe: we provide emergency aid, fight for their rights, and strengthen their opportunities for a brighter future. We work in conflict-affected areas, along the displacement routes, and in the countries where refugees settle. In cooperation with local communities, we strive for responsible and sustainable solutions. We work toward successful integration and – whenever possible – for the fulfillment of the wish to return home. The Danish Refugee Council was founded in Denmark in 1956 and has since grown to become an international humanitarian organization with more than 7,000 staff and 8,000 volunteers. Our vision is a dignified life for all displaced. All our efforts are based on our value compass: humanity, respect, independence and neutrality, participation, honesty, and transparency.

ABOUT THE JOB

The overall purpose of the role:

DRC Access and Advocacy Coordinator will be responsible for the country-wide operationalization of the DRC access approach and for fostering DRC’s engagement in humanitarian advocacy. DRC’s access approach is a link between operations and the program, ensuring that safety/security considerations and procedures are considered when developing strategic programmatic approaches into areas of operation including new areas and hard-to-reach populations. This role would be developing, piloting, utilizing, and feeding back on a number of access tools, policies, and approaches, as DRC continues to develop and refine its approach to gaining principled, sustained, and safe humanitarian access. The role would include engaging in advocacy and messaging in regard to DRC’s operations, representation of DRC in relevant forums, and the implementation of various advocacy initiatives, in line with DRC Afghanistan’s advocacy strategy.

Roving between Area Offices forms an integral part of the role and will be dependent on area-level needs pertaining to capacity building, analysis, direct support in negotiations, and systematic gathering of evidence from the field to feed into broader advocacy initiatives.

Responsibilities:

Capacity Building in Access Engagement and Strategies (30%)

• In country technical, capacity-building support in the following:
  • Working in close coordination with relevant colleagues, development of regional-level access strategies that feed into a country-level overarching approach
  • Provide training on access and humanitarian negotiations to DRC teams and partners
  • Provide and integrate humanitarian principles training to DRC teams and partners
  • Provide inputs for the development of access-related advocacy talking points and key asks
• Mainstreaming elements of the DRC Afghanistan hard-to-reach approaches; piloting and developing tools, processes, and policies along with other DRC colleagues and in collaboration with DRC Global Access Team
• Facilitate periodic, internal reviews of access including organizational guidelines
• Provide direct negotiation support where strategically important and required

Direct engagement in the implementation of DRC Afghanistan hard-to-reach initiatives (20%)

• Lead on access engagement and risk management to facilitate implementation in new areas of operation and hard-to-reach populations
• Facilitate data gathering that feeds into the design of context-relevant programmes and strategies to access hard-to-reach areas and populations
• Participate in programme meetings to advise on best practices and entry points for accessing hard-to-reach populations

Coordination – External and Internal (20%)

• Represent DRC in relevant forums, including e.g. Humanitarian Access Working for groups at different levels as required
• Link to DRC Global Access Team and Global Access Working Group with updates to bring to global coordination forums
• Close coordination with safety colleagues to monitor contextual changes related to safety/access
• Support program colleagues with monitoring and responding to access constraints that relate to DRC’s acceptance from the community, authorities, etc.
• Bridge between program and safety, developing responses to the context that meet programmatic and safety needs

Advocacy (30%)

• Lead the development and implementation of the DRC country advocacy strategy
• Ensure that all advocacy strategies, documents, and messages, are evidence-based, drawn from field experience and assessments, of high quality, targeted, timely and effective
• Support senior and technical staff at the country and area levels to articulate priority advocacy objectives as well as develop messaging on key issues within clusters, working groups, and area-specific forums
• Support ongoing stakeholder mapping and context analysis to inform the implementation of an effective advocacy strategy
• Develop and sustain relationships with key stakeholders to contribute to DRC’s advocacy initiatives
• Work with the regional office and headquarters to support and coordinate regional and global advocacy efforts and initiatives
• Represent DRC in relevant advocacy forums at different levels, as required

Key stakeholders:

Internal

• Country Director, Deputy Country Director
• Area Managers, Area Programme Managers
• Safety Team
• Programmatic Team Leaders and Field Staff
• Regional DRC Advocacy Focal Point
• Global DRC Access Team

External

• Humanitarian Organizations, UN Agencies
• National, Regional and District Authorities
• Community Elders, Religious and Tribal Leaders
• DRC partners

ABOUT YOU

To be successful in this role you must have:

Experience and technical competencies:

• Minimum 5 years’ experience in emergency/complex contexts, with a focus in humanitarian operations
• Experience in accessing hard-to-reach locations and hard-to-reach groups
• Experience with training on humanitarian negotiations
• Experience with conducting humanitarian negotiations in complex emergencies and contexts
• Experience with mainstreaming conflict sensitivity and gender across capacity-building initiatives and implementation
• Experience working in advocacy and communication on humanitarian issues, refugee / IDP rights, human rights
• Exceptional, proven writing and editing skills (English); ability to summarise and repackage technical information in clear, compelling language
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with an ability to engage with diverse audiences
• Experience working with diverse teams in high-stress, complex, fast-changing environments.
• Previous experience in Afghanistan and/or the region; Good understanding of the political and
• humanitarian context in the country, including familiarity with key stakeholders from authorities, UN, NGOs, and Civil Society
• Verbal and written competency in English; Dari and/or Pashtu is a plus

Education/Qualifications:

• University degree in a relevant field, with 5 years of experience or
• School Diploma with 5 years of UN/NGO experience.
• Fluency in written and spoken English

Other skills:

• Ability to communicate diplomatically and effectively with the team, colleagues, and stakeholders
• Proven experience in working effectively in complex security environments
• Strong analytical skills
• Strong interpersonal communication and writing skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of the team
• Cultural sensitivity and adaptability

We Offer:

Salary and conditions will be in accordance with the DRC salary scale