Regional Humanitarian Advocacy Officer

The Opportunity

Humanitarian needs of children are expected to reach new records in 2022. The numbers of children living in areas affected by conflict and the numbers of displaced children remain at historic highs, the economic impacts of the COVID19 pandemic threaten to push millions of children into acute food insecurity and other deprivations, including reduced access to education and diminishing gender equality.

The Middle East and Eastern Europe Regional Office (MEEERO) supports and oversees the Humanitarian Advocacy and Policy of all the region’s prioritized responses. This includes large-scale / high-priority responses in Yemen, Syria and Ukraine. Save the Children is also committed to delivering against its international influencing strategy around Protecting Children in Conflict (PCIC). This agenda includes Yemen, Syria, Iraq, oPt, Lebanon and Ukraine and includes wider tracks of work on children’s safety and protection, accountability for grave violations of children’s rights in armed conflict, protecting education from attack and work in support of work led by the Child Protection Breakthrough team on MHPSS and funding for child protection.

The MEEE RO is also responsible for backstopping of Cat-1 responses (Yemen and Syria) to respond to growing capacity needs across the region and to ensure our prioritized responses are consistently and sustainably supported.

The Regional Humanitarian Advocacy Officer will support the workflow of key advocacy and communications initiatives related to the prioritized responses in the region, in close coordination with the Regional Advocacy and Resource Mobilization Director, the regional Humanitarian Policy and Advocacy Manager and other members regional ACCM team. The role holder will also support representation of Save the Children in internal and/or external meetings with the UN, donors and other stakeholders where needed.

In order to be successful you will bring/have:

Essential

* Bachelor degree in international relations, political science, journalism or related field

* Strong communication in both English and Arabic (written and spoken), and interpersonal skills, with experience in working in multicultural teams

* Knowledge in advocacy on child rights, human rights, IHL, humanitarian or development issues;

* Demonstrated knowledge and experience of influencing and advocacy work including lobbying, policy research, development and information provision (preferably) in children’s issues;

* Demonstrated knowledge and experience of working in humanitarian contexts and knowledge of key trends in the humanitarian sector

* Demonstrated skills and experience of a range of campaigning and advocacy techniques and approaches

* Good attention to detail

* Excellent IT skills, especially in Microsoft Word

* High level analytical and strategic thinking skills

* Cultural awareness and ability to build relationships quickly with a wide variety of people

* Patient, adaptable, flexible, able to improvise and remain responsive and communicate clearly and effectively under pressure

* Excellent planning, management and coordination skills, with the ability to organise a substantial workload comprised of complex, diverse tasks and responsibilities

Desirable

* Master’s degree in a relevant field

* Skills in media work, including interviews on Radio and TV

* Previous work experience in the Middle East region

Attributes

* Fosters collaborative, transparent and accountable relationships

* Achieves results effectively

* Understands humanitarian contexts and application of humanitarian principles

* Able to assess and analyse key issues in the humanitarian situation and formulate strategic actions around them

* Demonstrates flexibility to adapt plans and make decisions in rapidly changing environments

* Actively manages risk and takes action to reduce risk

* Makes changes to improve performance as a result of information received

* Documents lessons learned and applies them to future projects

* Maintains and develops collaborative relationships

* Develops approaches to work across traditional boundaries, working in diverse environments

* Demonstrates an understanding of wider UN/NGO security coordination and how the organisation can benefit from, and contribute to, those mechanisms

* Undertakes effective risk assessments and develops contingency plans

* Takes appropriate, coordinated and consistent action to handle situations of personal risk and risk for others

* Managing yourself in a pressured and changing environment

* Remains focused on the objectives and goals in a rapidly changing environment

* Remains effective and retains perspective in the face of difficult or demanding situations

* Demonstrates approachability and trust by listening carefully to others and valuing their contribution, and making others feel comfortable by being open and honest about their thoughts and feelings

* Demonstrates self-development and management by taking responsibility for own development, and actively seeking out feedback to better understand their own strengths and weaknesses

* Openly talks about doing things differently, pushing the boundaries and ways of working

* Gives constructive feedback to enhance capabilities and responsibilities to another for the purpose of his/her development

* Works to ensure that the workplace is inclusive and the talents of individuals are harnessed to achieve business success

The Organisation

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information:

Please attach a copy of your CV and cover letter with your application, and include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations. A copy of the full role profile can be found at www.savethechildren.net/careers

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.