Intern, Operational Support

Organizational Context

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 192-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.”  The IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

The IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of the IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

The IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services.

The IFRC Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional office based in Beirut, Lebanon supports 17 national societies in the region. The MENA Health, Disasters, Climate, and Crises (HDCC) unit within the MENA regional office works with one regional plan as well as provides technical support & quality assurance to country cluster support teams and country offices.

Job Purpose

In the MENA region, we continue to face many challenges ranging from civil unrest, environmental hazards, economic instability, population movements and environmental hazards including extreme heat waves/cold waves and floods induced by heavy rains among other risks. This complex environment leaves MENA countries very vulnerable to the impact of these risks.

The Risk Watch acts as an early warning system which aims at helping communities to effectively prepare to respond to possible hazards and reduce the humanitarian impacts caused by the possible disasters. The risk watch regularly monitors the trends of possible risks in the region, identifying new risks and timely alerting the national societies ahead of time to give them a chance to address these risks.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

The Operation support intern will carry out the following specific tasks:

Risk monitoring for the MENA region

Follow and monitor different sources and websites for updated information and alerts on possible trends and risks for the region including:

Instability highlights

Population movement updates

Emerging humanitarian crises and accessibility issues

Trends relevant to food security

Emerging Pandemics/Epidemics

Weather-related risks

Conduct mapping exercises of the potential risks/hazards.

Reporting and data entry:

Produce and disseminate regular alerts regarding risks related to heatwaves, cold waves, heavy rain/flash floods, drought, dust, wildfires and any other weather-related risks.

Draft and disseminate recommendations for national societies that are in line with the findings of the risk watch to help enhance communities’ resilience in responding to the risk identified.

Update the risk watch dashboard and any other tracking tool as agreed on with the line manager.

Draft a monthly highlights report covering the different trends and relevant updates affecting the MENA region and prepare a presentation to present the outcomes of this report.

Administrative duties:

Support in the planning of activities and events as planned by the operations teams.

Make sure to keep accurate records of all reports and alerts issued by the department.

Make sure to translate all produced and disseminated materials in English and Arabic.

Reporting line/management

The intern formally reports to the IFRC MENA Operations coordinator.  However, he/she would be expected to work most closely on a day-to-day basis with other operations colleagues and different unit members including colleagues from the regional technical departments among others.

Education

Engaged in a University degree in Environmental Studies, Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Change (or relevant area)

Experience

Field experience in working with a humanitarian or international organization -preferred

Experience working within the RC/RC Movement -preferred

Experience in conducting research, interviews, and surveys -Required

Knowledge, Skills, and Languages

Excellent communication and writing skills.

Strong inter-personal and partnership building skills, demonstrated capacity to build functional networks.

Flexible and adaptable to work effectively in a multicultural environment and ability to travel at short notice.

LANGUAGES

Fluently spoken and written Arabic and English

Competencies, Values and Comments

Professionalism, Communications, Diversity, Accountability, Teamwork, and Integrity

IFRC ensures equal employment opportunities!