COUNTRY: Kenya.

CITY: Dadaab with travel throughout the country (Nairobi, Garissa).

Starting date: ASAP

Closing date for application: ASAP

Length of the assignment: 6 months renewable

Advertisement reference: SURNAME/Firstname/HoM/Kenya

Handicap International is an independent and impartial international aid organisation working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Working alongside persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, our action and testimony are focused on responding to their essential needs, improving their living conditions and promoting respect for their dignity and their fundamental rights.

Handicap International is a not-for-profit organisation with no religious or political affiliation. It operates as a federation made up of a network of associations that provide it with human and financial resources, manage its projects and implement its actions and social mission.

Directly linked to the Emergency Response Department of Handicap International France, the expatriate will be mandated for the following mission:

Somalia, the neighboring country of Kenya, has been designed the most failed state of the world in 2011[1]. Due to civil conflict and drought, United Nations decided in 1992 to start an operation in Mogadishu (“Restore Hope”). In the same time, several tens of thousands people fled Somalia to Kenya. As a result of these influxes, the creation of refugee camps in the North Eastern part of Kenya has been decided and especially in Dadaab. Most of these refugees are still in Dadaab today. Dadaab is located in the east of Kenya, at about 90km from the Somalia border. The camps complex is composed by three “historic” refugee camps: Dagahaley, Ifo and Hagadera, located in a circle of 17km around Dadaab.

Despite official closure of the Kenya / Somalia border by the Kenyan Government in January 2007, Dadaab refugee camps complex has received over 200,000 Somalia refugees over the past four years. Since October 2010 however, the numbers of refugees increased to over 10,000 amonth, mainly because of the conflict in Somalia and since May 2011 because of the long and severe drought in the horn of Africa. The United Nations have declared on 20^th of July a situation of famine in 2 regions of Somalia and on 3^rd of August 2011 it was extended to 5 regions of Somalia.

The number of refugees received between January and mid July 2011 is more than 60,000. The current population in the camps is around 400,000 refugees, while the three camps (Dagahaley, Hagadera and Ifo) have a total holding capacity of 90,000 persons (30,000 each). There are about thousands of new refugees who have no where to settle and are spontaneously settling on the outskirts of the camps.

However, in response to the critical needs of newly settled refugees, the Kenyan Prime Minister made a public statement requesting UNHCR to open the new sites in the area and provide assistance in terms of health care, shelter, education and food. As a result UNHCR and implementing partners (IPs) decided to open two new camps (Ifo Extension and Kambioos) with an additional capacity of 180,000 refugees. The resettlement in these new camps has started on July 25 and is still under process.

Regarding these facts, Handicap International has identified critical needs for the most vulnerable (especially for persons with disabilities, older and persons with serious medical conditions), such as:

-          access to food and safe water,

-          access to sanitation facilities,

-          access to health services,

-          access to adapted shelters,

-          access to a secure environment and protection,

-          access to other specific services according to their needs.

Handicap International, in the frame of its holistic approach to the most vulnerable called Disability and Vulnerability Focal Point (DVFP), proposes an immediate humanitarian response in order to cover the needs of the Dadaab camps vulnerable population. The strategy of these DVFPs is to identify most vulnerable persons (and particularly PWDs) in their community and enhance their access to basic and specific services. Because of the increased vulnerability of the new arrived refugees, Handicap International will focus its activities in the two new camps (Ifo extension and Kambioos) and in the outskirts of the three existing camps.

This project, like all projects currently being implemented by the ERD, will focus particularly on extremely vulnerable individuals and their households, as these individuals often risk being excluded from assistance efforts, and given their original vulnerabilities, face additional barriers and challenges to cope and survive. The criteria of vulnerability could be enlarged according to the lack of coverage by the other actors and our financial and operational capacities.

Also, HI aims to provide mainstreaming support to IPs at all levels in the emergency response. This mechanism for mainstreaming has been used successfully by HI in others emergency interventions (Haiti, Pakistan, etc).

Since mid October 2011 the security situation has dramatically deteriorated. Kidnapping of Aid workers, increase in banditry; Kenyan offensive in Somali has increased threat of terrorist attacks in Kenya, including Nairobi and coastal touristic areas. Hit-and-run attacks against Kenyan security forces are frequent along the border. IED attacks against Kenyan Police were conducted in Dadaab area.

After a long suspension period due to security reasons, the HI project is now in the resuming phase. The activities and most of all the modalities of interventions have been adapted to the new security situation and overall context.

The international staff is working in “remote control” from the secured humanitarian agencies compound in Dadaab (UNHCR compound). Exceptional but limited movements in the refugee camps can be organized time to time to monitor the evolution of the security situation on the ground and for some specific tasks.

The support national staff is also mostly working from the compound with regular assignments on the field according to the needs. The project national staff is working in “semi-remote control” from secured places in the refugee camps. Movements of the national staff team to and from the camps are organized on a daily basis.

Based in Dadaab, and under the direct responsibility and support of the Emergency Relief Department Desk Officer, you will be responsible for:

• Ensuring the global coordination of the program implemented in Dadaab (may it regards strategic, operational, human, material or financial aspects) both for emergency and longer term activities;
• Representing Handicap International in Dadaab towards institutional donors, local authorities and partners;
• Ensuring application and respect of logistics, accountability and financial procedures, based on the management and the support of administrative and logistics coordinators;
• Ensuring the operational management of the team placed under your responsibility (expatriate and national staff);
• Ensuring strategic programs development in accordance with humanitarian needs identified as well as financial opportunities to be raised in the frame of Handicap International’s mandate and expertise;
• Ensuring the security of the staff members, operations and means related to the program under your responsibility, in coordination with the designated field security officer;
• Ensuring the success of the handover of programs implemented towards Development Desk, when decided so by HQ Programs Steering Committee;
• Ensuring smooth and regular reporting activities by all member of the mission toward Head Quarter.

Under the direct responsibility and support of the Emergency Relief Department Desk Officer, you will be responsible for:

REPRESENTATION

• You are the main interlocutor of Handicap International towards local authorities, institutional donors,  humanitarian actors and partners;
• You participate actively to coordination and information meetings (clusters, NGO coordination, etc.);
• You represent the organisation, its activities and programs during delegation visits;
• After consultation with the desk officer, you may respond to media solicitations.

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE programs

• You regularly follow up humanitarian needs, donors strategies, financing opportunities into the region;
• You regularly update programs strategy suggestions for Handicap International in the region;
• You may be asked to lead assessment missions for the elaboration of new projects;
• You ensure proposal and reports writing (renewal of projects or new projects);
• You discuss proposal submitted towards potential donors and negotiate related budgets.

Supervision AND monitoring

• You ensure the coherence and the homogeneity of all projects under your responsibility (methodologies, qualitative and quantitative indicators and results follow up);
• You organise and animate team coordination meetings as frequently as possible;
• You organize field visits on each operational base on a regular basis;
• You organize and animate workgroups on a regular basis with the operations manager as well as the development cell coordinator;
• You inform your desk officer of any relevant issue related to the project implementation;
• You ensure a monthly follow up of the projects impact indicators;
• You guarantee the respect of applicable logistics and administrative procedures through management of the administrative and logistics coordinators;
• You are responsible for the monthly follow up of the budgets through management of the administrator;
• You are responsible for the transparency of acquisition, utilisation and follow up of all materials and equipments dedicated to the projects through management of the logistician;
• You are responsible for eligibility and goods utilisation of funds allocated to the projects.

SEcuritY MANAGEMENT

• Update security plans in collaboration with the field security officer;
• Ensure, in collaboration with the field security officer, the strict respect of any applicable security measures;
• Participate or ensure participation of the field security officer to interagency security meetings;
• Ensure a geopolitical regional information update : information searching, sources crossing, interagency sharing information;
• Coordinate implementation of any emergency security procedure (evacuation, hibernation, etc.) and ensure link with HQ in such cases.

TEAM MANAGEMENT

• You ensure strict application and respect of the General Terms and Conditions of engagement for expatriate staff of Handicap International. You can suggest to the desk officer precision/adaptation of certain rules taking into account the specific context of the mission (security, social life, breaks, etc.);
• You define, with each expatriate, his action plan and delay for reaching defined goals (IAP);
• You support and advise your team in the implementation of their IAP;
• You ensure feed back towards your team about issues potentially raised by them;
• You ensure a good communication – coordination – information level of each member of your team through regular coordination meetings (or other if needed);
• You are concerned and aware on the personal and professional evolution of each expatriate, and its development within the mission : individual interviews, oral and written evaluations;
• You ensure conflict resolution (personal and professional) within your team and inform your desk officer;
• You propose relevant needed adaptation to the organisational chart of the mission and contribute to its implementation (job descriptions, etc.), in collaboration with the expatriate team and the desk officer;
• You support expatriates in their national staff management: coordination meetings, individual interviews, etc.

Reporting

• You receive and take acknowledgment of project sitreps sent by your team (administrative, logistics, and project technical sitreps);
• You write the missions monthly sitreps, and send them monthly to the emergency desk officer;
• You regularly update partners on the organisation activities (especially in relevant coordination meetings) and send activities reports when accurate;
• You regularly update donors on projects follow up (through contractual demanded or ad hoc reports);
• You provide the desk officer with a mission report and/or handover document at the end of your contract;
• Debriefing at HQ at the end of your mission (and during Home-Break).

Ville

Dadaab with travel throughout the country (Nairobi, Garissa).

Expériences / Formation du candidat

• At least two years of Professional experience in the related field
• Experience in NGO necessary, preferably in emergency context

Langues parlées du candidat

• English mandatory (oral and written)

Qualité du candidat

• Strong interpersonal and intercultural skills
• Ability to work under high pressure and without constant supervision

Durée du contrat

• Start: ASAP
• Duration: 6 months

Salaire / Indemnité

• Salary: starting from 2400 EUR gross/month upon experience
• Living conditions: guesthouse shared with other expatriates (no charges)
• Security conditions: high level of insecurity

Documents à envoyer

To apply, please send your CV and a cover letter to: