Ethiopia: Associate Project Officer – Fluent in Somali

To work in the context of the Somali segments of a project called E-Platform: Telling the real story – Information campaign targeting Somali and Eritrean migrants. (www.tellingtherealstory.org)

This is an information campaign that mainly reaches out to Eritrean and Somali refugees in countries of transit and first asylum in Africa, with a view to inform them about the full scope of the perils and difficulties related to irregular onward movements to Europe. The information campaign enables concerned people to take an informed decision about their plans and about possible onward movements.

The objectives of Telling the Real Story are:

1) Countering the narrative of smugglers and inform Somali and Eritrean communities of the full scope of dangers associated with irregular movement to and life in Europe;

2) Maintain and reinforce the intra-community discourse on the dangers of Tahriib (the journey to Europe) by countering the narrative of smugglers and undermining their credibility;

The Associate Project Officer will be responsible for the following:

• Dissemination of the project in refugee camps in Jijiga;
• Take a lead role in establishing and nurturing partnerships with stakeholders, build networks with existing refugee associations and engage with celebrity supporters to expand advocacy activities in Jijiga;
• In close consultation with the Project Manager and Senior Protection Officer, he/she will work towards ensuring sustainability of the project through co-designing sustainable models for the project continuity with partners and UNHCR programme officers;
• Analyse existing statistical data in order to provide operations information on trends and lead research into gaps in information concerning onwards movement;
• Through direct engagement with refugees, the Associate Project Officer will analyse existing trends, motivations for departure and misinformation provided within the community and by smugglers particularly related to current mixed migration developments;
• Drive engagement and awareness-raising activities aimed at reframing the discourse to counter the narrative of the smugglers and inform the refugees of the full scope of dangers associated with irregular movement to and life in Europe;
• Hold regular awareness raising activities intended for different segments of the refugee population. The activities will involve - and not limited to, distributing the children's book in refugee schools, Child Friendly Spaces (CFS), hold sessions with parents and guardians, screen testimonies, hold focus group discussions, organize community engagement sessions using a range of mechanisms such as theater, poetry, art, etc;
• In combatting misinformation by smugglers targeting children and youth, together with children and youth and members of the Youth Association, the Associate Project Officer will create and provide print or visual resources to encourage children and youth to think critically about messages from traffickers, including by providing information on legal pathways and;
• Develop messages and create campaign materials.
• Counselling of vulnerable individuals with family members that left the camp on a secondary movement. Those vulnerable individuals could be referred by UNHCR staff, RCCs, and partners.
• Liaise with implementing partners and refugee groups who are already running awareness raising activities in the camps.
• Carryout assessments in order to collect data on secondary migration and analyse data collected by UNHCR Jijiga (registration and or resettlement colleagues) and other implementing or operational partners.

Competencies:

• Bachelors degree or higher in social sciences, communications or in a relevant field; Knowledge of UN policies and procedures;
• 2 – 4 years of relevant experience;
• Basic understanding of international refugee protection and UNHCR’s mandate;
• Conceptual and practical understanding of protection issues and approaches in humanitarian contexts, including the constraints, sensitivities and risks associated with such work;
• General familiarity with the regional mixed migration dynamics in the Mediterranean region;
• Background in community engagement; communication; protection and/or social work
• Field experience;
• Excellent analytical skills and strategic thinking;
• Ability to establish and foster successful partnerships and collaborations;
• Experience of working with persons of concern desirable and;
• Excellent written and oral communication in English and Somali.

Duty station:

The Associate Project Officer will be stationed in Jijiga, Ethiopia.

Contract: The Consultancy contract will be issued by UNOPS, starting March 2018 up to 31 May 2018. The contract is subject to renewal.

Sending a UN Personal History Form (P 11) and a motivation letter in English by 11 February 2018 attention Ms. Christa Awuor Odinga at AWUORODI@unhcr.org