Emergency Preparedness and Response Officer (EPRO)

Volunteering Legal

Overview

Support emergency preparedness and response efforts in DRC.

You have:

• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in humanitarian assistance and/or development programmes.
• Experience in data management and analysis in subject areas relevant to humanitarian and development programmes.
• Experience with the use of advanced technology software.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including substantive analysis and report writing skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel.
• Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment.
• Ability to work with minimum supervision and ability to meet tight deadlines.

Contract

This is a UNV International Youth contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Youth contracts.

The EPRO supports the implementation of the Country Office as well as in Area Offices and Sub-Offices on emergency preparedness. This position is an integral part of the Emergency preparedness and response section of the DRC country office in Kinshasa which is within the Program Unit managed by a Head of Unit.

Under the direct supervision of Programme Policy Officer / Emergency, the UN Youth Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

70% of his/her responsibilities are dedicated to emergency preparedness activities as below:

• Provide technical assistance in the development and implementation of emergency
prepared-ness checklist to ensure they fit within broader WFP program policies and
guidelines in the DRC. • Support the scenario/risk analysis exercise and the completion of the business continuity actions (BCP) among units in the Country office, Area Offices and Sub offices. • Provide support to ensure the monitoring of the readiness actions implementation process in the Country office, Area Offices, and sub-Offices. • Monitor and update periodically, especially when the risk profile of the country changes. • Guide country office and sub offices in their establishment and skill building of WFP staff, cooperating partners and national governments on emergency preparedness. • Apply standard emergency preparedness practices to verify that WFP is able to respond quickly and deploy necessary resources to affected areas at the onset of crises.

30% of his/her responsibilities are dedicated to emergency response activities as below:

• Support sub-offices for better resource management and programming (food and cash), in collaboration and coordination with the units concerned. • Assisting with the Supply Chain and Cash Based Transfer (CBT) teams for adequate planning and with Budget and Programming Unit for better pipeline visibility. • Contribute to the development of accurate and timely project proposals and reports to donors on emergency programs and activities.

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Communication ☒ Creativity ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Judgement and Decision-making ☒ Knowledge Sharing ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Technological Awareness ☒ Working in Teams

Demonstrated interest and/or experience (ideally one year) in • humanitarian assistance and/or development programmes • data management and analysis in subject areas relevant to humanitarian and development programmes.
• use of advanced technology software and • previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded.

Skills in:

• Strong written and oral communication skills, including substantive analysis and report writing skills. • Strong interpersonal and organizational skills with ability to work and produce results under pressure. • Understanding of the complexities of humanitarian emergencies and crises • Experience working in Africa and an understanding of the challenges and opportunities working in a diverse workplace. • Accuracy and professionalism on information management best practices and processes with some understanding of the basic theoretical background • Great interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and
collaboratively with a range of partners. • Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel. • Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the second largest country in Africa, and as a result is quite diverse. Kinshasa is the capital city and the Head quarter of the political and administrative institutions. Living conditions therefore vary between duty stations, with all usual amenities present in the capital city Kinshasa, but only very basic conditions in remote duty stations in the provinces, where, for instance, there may be no guarantee of public power supply or running water. The ability to live and work in difficult and harsh conditions of developing countries is essential. For food, supermarkets exist in Kinshasa and the large towns (e.g. Bukavu, Goma) and also local markets offer a much cheaper alternative. Medical services are provided in Kinshasa and in all duty stations. Certain vaccinations are mandatory for UN personnel prior to get medical clearance and to enter the DRC, while others are compulsory for all other in-coming persons. It is possible for incoming UN volunteers, to be asked to provide proof of some or all vaccinations at N’Djili airport in Kinshasa. All UN volunteers must ensure that they are up to date with all appropriate vaccinations, which should be clearly and properly endorsed in the International Certificate of Vaccination (“carte jaune”). Malaria is present virtually throughout the DRC, and it is therefore recommended to take prophylaxis. The unit of currency is the Congolese Franc. The US dollar is the other preferred currency. It may be impossible to exchange traveler’s checks away from the capital city. Credit cards are usually accepted in major hotels only in Kinshasa. In larger towns and cities (e.g. Kinshasa, Goma, Bukavu, Kisangani), UN Volunteers are recommended to open US Dollar bank accounts, while in other places, banks may be absent (including ATMs). UN Volunteers have the possibility to send part of their allowances to a bank account abroad. In addition to French, there are four major spoken languages in DRC, namely Lingala, Kikongo, Tshiluba and Swahili.

Conditions of Service

The Conditions of Service outline the policies and rules governing UN Volunteer assignments. These, along with other resources, are available on the Unified Volunteer Platform (UVP) at https://app.unv.org/explore. You can also access the entitlement calculator here: https://app.unv.org/calculator.

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Potential interview questions

Added 8 months ago - Updated 8 months ago - Source: unv.org