Refugee Co-Coordinator

Refugee Co-Coordinator

Stationed in Juba, South Sudan

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is looking for an experienced coordinator to support the refugee response in South Sudan.

The Refugee Co-Coordinator will report directly to the Country Director.

Background

The Danish Refugee Council has been in South Sudan since 2004 mainly working with returning refugees and internally displaced persons returning home after a long civil war. In 2012, DRC opened its operations in Upper Nile State (Maban County) to respond to the large influx of refugees coming from Blue Nile State in Sudan and in early 2013 DRC expanded its operations to Unity State and is currently building a refugee camp (Ajoung Thok) to welcome new refugees from South Kordofan. DRC is the camp manager of 3 camps in the northern states of South Sudan and has therefore been working closely with humanitarian partners in relation to the coordination of humanitarian assistance and advocacy issues. DRC also has activities in the sectors of community services, protection, GBV, livelihoods, shelter and infrastructure and logistics in the refugee areas. In returnee areas DRC is implementing community driven development, food security and livelihood activities to support durable solutions. In July 2013 in South Sudan DRC merged with the Danish Demining Group (DDG) that carries out humanitarian demining and armed violence reduction activities, including in the areas where DRC is operating.

In January 2013, UNHCR and NGO partners agreed to introduce an NGO co-coordinator to support UNHCR in its efforts for the refugee response in South Sudan and DRC was elected by its peers into this role. The refugee co-coordinator co-chairs the national refugee response coordination forum with senior staff from UNHCR. The NGO co-coordinator’s role (inter alia) is to support UNHCR in ensuring that there is a strategic direction of the response in South Sudan, activities are appropriate, timely and well-coordinated, contingency planning and preparedness is in place, gaps in activities and services to refugees are identified and that advocacy is carried out.

Responsibilities

Reporting to DRC Country Director, the Refugee Co-Coordinator will work very closely with UNHCR senior staff.

Coordination

The Refugee Co-coordinator will:

• Ensure that the Terms of Reference for the NGO refugee co-coordinator post is implemented. • Co-chair refugee response coordination meetings in Juba (currently fortnightly) with UNHCR which involves jointly setting the agenda, information dissemination, writing minutes and follow-up of action points. • Support UNHCR to ensure that, through good coordination: (a) all gaps in the assistance and protection of refugees are identified and addressed, whilst ensuring that duplication of activities is avoided; (b) international standards are being met in the refugee camps, ensuring that all actors participating in the refugee response are accountable to both the refugee population and the host communities; and (c) cross cutting issues are mainstreamed in the refugee response (including, human rights, HIV/AIDS, age, gender, diversity and environmental issues). • Ensure that there is good communication between the field (Upper Nile and Unity States) and camp and national level coordination mechanisms.

Strategy Development

The Refugee Co-coordinator will:

• Support UNHCR and NGOs to develop strategies for different sectors of intervention across the refugee camps as the operation moves out of an emergency phase. There will be a specific emphasis on resilience, community participation and sustainability. • Support UNHCR and NGOs to develop and update contingency plans to ensure there is adequate preparedness in case of a new influx of refugees, as well as appropriate pre-positioning for assistance and protection activities during the wet season.

Advocacy

The Refugee Co-coordinator will:

• Carry out joint advocacy with UNHCR and other NGOs towards donors and/or Government at national, state and local level, as appropriate. • In coordination with UNHCR, brief donors, diplomatic community and visitors to Juba on the refugee response. • Oversee the impact of the refugee response on host communities and, where appropriate, advocate with development actors for the provision of support to populations residing in the areas of the refugee camps.

Information Management

The Refugee Co-coordinator will:

• Support UNHCR in the management of information, assisting with collating and disseminating data, such that accurate and timely information is made available to all partners (both in the field and in Juba), • Support the gathering of concerns to be addressed at Juba level, particularly in relation to issues that are not able to be addressed by decision makers in the field. • Help with dissemination of NGO publications, reports and assessments relating to the refugee response and work on documenting the institutional memory of the response with UNHCR’s Information Management Officer, such that lessons learnt and best practices are made widely available and can be incorporated into future programming.

CAP and the CHF

The Refugee Co-coordinator will:

• Work with UNHCR to develop the strategy and objectives in the CAP for 2014 onwards for the refugee response multi-sector and to review with partners CAP projects and CHF applications.

Profile of candidate

• At least seven years’ experience working in refugee operations in a senior role • Experience co-chairing national-level clusters and proven track record of leading coordination • Excellent experience in protection and advocacy • Ability to support partners in developing strategies • Good experience of working with UNHCR as a partner • Excellent communication skills, both in writing and orally • Diplomatic skills, ability to motivate others.

We encourage all qualified candidates to apply, irrespective of age, nationality, race, gender or age. Conditions

Availability: 1st December 2013

Duty station: Juba, South Sudan with frequent travel to other areas of the country. En-suite accommodation in the newly and purpose-built DRC-DDG compound in Juba is provided.

Contract: 6 months with the possibility of extension, subject to funding and performance.

Salary and conditions in accordance with Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Expatriates; please refer to www.drc.dk under Vacancies. This position is offered at salary level A9.

Further information

You are welcome to contact the Head of Sudan & South Sudan Unit, Scott Tind Simmons atscott.tind.simmons@drc.dk, or Country Director Heather Blackwell (drc.ssudan@drc.dk). For general information about the Danish Refugee Council and Danish Demining Group, please consult www.drc.dk andwww.danishdemininggroup.dk

About DRC

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a private, independent, humanitarian organization working on all aspects of the refugee cause in more than thirty countries throughout the world. The aim of DRC is to protect refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) against persecution and to promote durable solutions to the problems of forced migration, on the basis of humanitarian principles and human rights. DRC works in accordance with the UN Conventions on Refugees and the Code of Conduct for the ICRC and NGOs in Disaster Relief.

The protection and assistance to conflict affected population is provided within a long-term, regional and rights-based approach in order to constitute a coherent and effective response to the challenges posed by today’s conflicts. Assistance consists of relief and other humanitarian aid, rehabilitation, support to return and repatriation as well as promotion of long-term solutions to displacement and its causes. In addition, support and capacity building of local and national authorities and NGOs form an integral part of DRC’s work.

How to apply:

Application and CV

Only motivated applications that address the stipulated duties and meet the required qualifications sent together with a CV will be considered. Please provide references, but do not attach any written recommendations until requested to do so.

Please submit your application and CV in English and marked “Refugee Co-ordinator – South Sudan” no later than 21st October 2013. CV-only applications will not be considered. Please note that applications are not to be sent to Mr. Tind Simmons. We only accept applications sent via our online recruitment system on www.drc.dkunder Vacancies/Current vacancies/Country Director – South Sudan.

Applications sent directly to Mr. Tind Simmons will not be considered.

Problems with on-line application?

Please inform us via job@drc.dk, if you have questions to the application process or experience problems with your on-line application.