Description
Position Description Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Risk Level: โ Level 3 โLevel 2 โXLevel 1 (Level 3: Frequent contact with participants, direct contact with children, access to sensitive data, and/or high level of accountability. Level 2: Some contact with participants; unplanned non-direct contact with children. Level 1: Likely to have no contact with participants or sensitive data)
About the INGO Forum Sudan is facing one of the most severe humanitarian crises globally, marked by widespread displacement, disease outbreaks, and confirmations of famine in several โhunger hotspots.โ In an effort to coordinate INGO efforts and establish a common voice for INGOs operating in Sudan, the INGO forum was established in 2009 as a key representation platform. To date, the forum is made up of 51 members and 17 observers operating across the country, including in some of the most difficult to reach parts of Sudan. The INGO Forum is a permanent member of the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG). It co-leads the Humanitarian Access Working Group (HAWG), alongside OCHA and spearheads collective engagement with Government and other Authorities as well as with donors. The forum also leads collective advocacy nationally, regionally and internationally through its Advocacy Working Group (AWG) and in close coordination with the regional Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) and Member liaison offices in key donor/diplomatic capitals around the world. Since 2023, the situation in Sudan has dramatically shifted as state and non-state actors wage a brutal war. The situation in non-Sudanese Armed Forces - controlled areas is particularly dire, with humanitarian access severely restricted and the absence of United Nations (UN) presence exacerbating the challenges. As humanitarian needs continue to escalate, there is an urgent need for an interim solution to address critical gaps in coordination, common services and aid delivery. To this end, the three core tenants of the INGO Forumโs work include:
- Coordinated aid delivery โ Enhancing operational alignment across organizations to maximize humanitarian impact.
- This includes establishing an NGO-led coordination mechanism under the Sudan INGO Forum to provide immediate, effective, and well-managed humanitarian responses in these areas to ensure that urgent needs are met and operations are not disrupted.
- Common service provision โ Offering essential support, analysis, and shared resources to facilitate NGO operations.
- This includes common negotiation support i.e. for access or against BAI, collective advocacy efforts, information sharing, donor and stakeholder engagement, security and admin SOP s and collective position papers, etc.
- Stakeholder coordination and representation โ Engaging with donors, UN agencies, authorities, and the broader humanitarian system to advocate for improved response conditions.
- There is of course a convening and facilitation role included in this representation function
General Position Summary The Advocacy Officer position has been newly created in order to strengthen coordination across work-streams and enhance the quality of support provided to Members as well as the quality of representation provided in inter-agency platforms in view of ultimately strengthening the humanitarian response in Sudan. This position will focus on supporting humanitarian advocacy and policy influencing at country, regional and global levels, as well as analyzing, facilitating and coordinating humanitarian access negotiations, products and initiatives. The Advocacy Officer will have specific responsibilities for convening and facilitating meetings and events related to policy, advocacy and communications. S/he will be responsible for ensuring adherence to information sharing protocols and will lead consolidation of Member inputs into collective products. This position reports to the roving access/advocacy advisor who will lead the overall Access and Policy/Advocacy strategy and representation for the INGO forum. S/he will be expected to liaise with area coordinators and the information management officer to ensure coherent messaging across the INGOF. Coordination with the Administration Officer will also be required to ensure that contact lists are regularly updated and information systematically stored. Essential Job Responsibilities Policy/advocacy strategy and coordination:
- Maintain an up-to-date tracker of external engagement, products in view of enhancing impact monitoring
- Establish a regular mechanism for monitoring progress against the Forumโs advocacy strategy and support updating it as needed to reflect contextual evolution
- Support in convening and facilitating meetings including through agenda setting and administrative tasks related to online, hybrid and in person meetings Advocacy and communications products and events:
- Draft and consolidating collective products
- Provide administrative support to the organization of events including high-level meetings and media engagement
- Draft monthly forum bulletins for circulation to Members and relevant external stakeholders including donors
- Contribute to regular updating of the Forumโs website
- Facilitate publication of forum products
- Lead on preparing and implementing dissemination plans for pubic facing products and monitor adherence
- Ensure adherence to the Forumโs advocacy strategy and work plan
- Proactively seek areas for high level engagement with Third States, governments, donors, and other influential stakeholders Administrative and other tasks:
- Take notes from key meetings and engagements to ensure internal follow-up and accountability
- Maintain repository of products, minutes, etc. to ensure knowledge preservation and eventual transfer
- Maintain up to date contacts for relevant stakeholders
Security
- Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
- Proactively ensure that team members operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.
Accountability to Beneficiaries INGO Forum team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to their beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of field projects, in line with Mercy Corpsโ standards and policies.
Supervisory Responsibility None.
Accountability Reports Directly To:
- There is of course a convening and facilitation role included in this representation function