Ethiopia Red Cross Society (ERCS) is seeking a Senior Gender in Emergencies (GiE) Advisor for a potential five-year USAID Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) project in Ethiopia, that aims to improve PHEM, mitigate the impact of disasters on the health system and primary care, and strengthen the capacity of Ethiopia’s institutions and communities to effectively manage disaster risks. 

About the Ethiopian Red Cross Society

The Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) was established in 1935 and is one of the oldest and largest humanitarian organizations in Ethiopia. ERCS provides services to communities affected by natural and manmade disasters through the provision of emergency responses, ambulance and first aid, family reunification, essential drugs, water and sanitation, and other humanitarian services. ERCS also runs disaster risk reduction programs with the aim of creating resilience households and communities. Currently the ERCS has a structure consisting of 12 Regional Offices, 34 Zonal Branches and 131  District/Woreda Branches, 599 Woreda Red Cross Committee  and 5871 Kebele Red Cross  committees.

ERCS also runs disaster risk reduction programs relating to food security, climate change adaptation, livelihood diversification, and institutional capacity building interventions, with the aim of creating resilience households and communities. ERCS works in partnership with the Ethiopian Government, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), partnering National Societies, members, volunteers and the communities we serve.

Key performance Areas  

Overall Responsibilities

The Senior Gender in Emergencies (GiE) Advisor (“the incumbent”) will be responsible for leading and integrating gender  in project’s technical strategy and interventions with a primary focus on strengthening key stakeholders’ capacities and expertise to explore the needs  of women, young girls and other vulnerable groups during emergencies and testing, implementing, monitoring and refining changes to address the unique gender-sensitive needs during, before and after emergencies . The incumbent will lead local rapid gender analyses to inform this work.  The incumbent will ensure that linkages between other capacity building and learning initiatives include and address gender in emergencies issues. The incumbent will design mechanisms for fostering community level involvement and participation of both men and women in the design, development and implementation of PHEM interventions. The incumbent will be responsible for integrating GiE as the central part of project’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) approaches and ensuring that gender perspectives are fully integrated into program operations and monitoring systems. The incumbent will support national advocacy on gender related matters and provide technical assistance to PHEM leaders, woredas, health facilities, and other stakeholders to orient on GiE; the incumbent will foster improvements and cross-sectoral collaboration across stakeholders, organizations, agencies, and other entities working in this area, with an equity lens.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide strategic and technical leadership to the project and its counterparts regarding GiE activities; be aware of, enhance and streamline existing in country efforts in and provide guidance regarding solutions, best practices and emerging trends, adapted to the local country context. 

• Review national and regional GiE policies, tools, trainings, and guidelines; available evidence  and our team’s experiences delivering services during emergencies

• Design and conduct rapid analyses on GiE, DEIA, and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) as part of Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Map.

• Engage woreda and community representatives in gender related assessment design, data gathering, and analysis so they internalize, prioritize and own the findings.

• Adapt tools to assess gender and DEIA dimensions of emergencies and prioritize services to meet the needs of women and girls, men and boys, hard-to-reach and vulnerable groups, including youth, persons with disabilities, refugees, and IDPs.

• Adapt GiE toolkit and minimum standards, including but not limited to SRH in emergencies guidelines.

• Adapt training packages and carry out capacity strengthening activities in minimum standards for protection, gender, and inclusion in emergencies to support  GiE toolkit roll out and uptake

• Work with key local stakeholders and women and men champions to establish a process for reporting and responding to cases of GBV and sexual exploitation and abuse and provide a rights-based approach centered on “do no harm” principles.

• Integrate gender into local plans, budgets, and PHEM coordination structures, including package of services during emergencies, creating safe spaces to support GBV survivors and dedicated spaces for women to organize and learn problem solving and adaptive skills and others

• With the team design strategies on how to maintain SRH, MNCH and other essential services during emergencies

• Support social and behavior change for positive male engagement activities

Work Unit: Disaster Risk Management Department

Reports to: Deputy Chief of Party

Terms of employment: -  Contract for one year, with possibility of extension

Job Requirements

Qualification Requirements:

• Master’s /first Degree in Public Health, Gender Studies, Sociology, or other relevant degree.

• A minimum of 8 /10 years of experience working on gender mainstreaming including Gender in Emergencies.

• Deep understanding and knowledge of the health system in Ethiopia and experience working at the woreda level.

• Candidates with experience providing capacity building on public health emergencies and pandemics are preferred.

• Fluency in English in reading/writing/speaking (Level IV) is required.

• Experience working with USAID-supported projects is preferred.

• Strong work ethic and ability to collaborate with a wide range of individuals from diverse backgrounds.

• Must be willing to travel within country, as appropriate and allowed.

How to Apply

We invite candidates meeting the required qualifications to fill out the employment application form

With the indicated link CLICK HERE before the closing date of this announcement on September  5, 2023.

Qualified women are strongly recommended to apply!