The Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) wants to recruit employees in the following vacant positions the details of which are mentioned bellow.

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.

II. Job Summary

Job Purpose

The Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Officer will be responsible for the technical design and coordination of save lives and Livelihoods RCCE support provided by the Africa CDC to Kenya Red Cross (KRC) and ERCS in Ethiopia   that will deliver the Covid -19 SLL programme at national level via technical support of Federal MOH/RHBs  and Africa  CDC Ethiopian Office as technical assistance   to the project and to  this end, the RCCE Officer will work closely with the ERCS SLL Project team , ERCS Addis Ababa Regional Branch DRM Head  and with Addis Ababa City Administration Health Bureau   and RCCE technical team at different levels.

Job Duties and Responsibilities

The Senior RCCE Officer is responsible for providing consistent quality work and support to National Society while engaging all relevant team members including National Society SLL Project Coordinator &NS counterparts, and Health and program personnel and with other relevant external stakeholders. The post holder is therefore accountable for the following tasks:  

RCCE Senior Officer Technical Support in RCCE design and implementation:

• Take a lead and provide timely support in RCCE Implementation for Routine Immunization and Periodic Campaign activities at ERCS Addis Ababa Branch Level.

• Provide technical support in developing tools, topic guides, training and sampling methodologies for the perception surveys and qualitative assessment

• Support in setting up community feedback systems in National Society level (with an emphasis on qualitative data), conducting perception surveys, strengthening National  coordination, and ensuring that tools, guidance, and resources are shared to support ERCS regional branches  to respond appropriately in promoting COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

• Capture a thorough understanding of the community context and existing knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, practices, and rumours circulating in the community around COVID-19 vaccine uptakes

• Review, adjust, and improve the project response regularly, based on community feedback and monitoring.

• Support a culture of learning and sharing within the National Society and Regional Branches, including ensuring previous successes and failures are used to inform new programmes and responses.

• Work with communities to identify community-led solutions to address challenges, improve behaviours and/or reduce the spread of infection, by promoting covid -19 vaccine uptake

• Support to capture and document examples of RCCE best practices at National Society level, including community-driven approaches to COVID-19 prevention and management, for example Mass Sensitisation, Community Mobilisation and Awareness Creation focusing on vaccine uptake and Demand Creation.

• Ensures existing RCCE materials and resources including strategies, guidance notes, key messages, and tools from MoH Ethiopia and IFRC Africa Regional Office are properly shared and available at Regional level  in a diversity of accessible and applicable formats ,diversified Channels and  common languages to address the large number of population.

Capacity Building:

• Train the ERCS Branch RCCE officers, Health teams and volunteers at the grass root level on the program technical component, ensuring a sound understanding of the activities and deliverables, emphasizing on the agreed technical RCCE/CEA standards for the Save Lives and Livelihoods (SLL) program.

• Supports the development, adaptation and rolling out of Risk Communications and Community Engagement tools, methodologies, trainings, and capacity building activities to support vaccine uptake.

Programmatic Coherence, Quality and Accountability:

• Ensures that the Save Lives and Livelihoods RCCE project is implemented at ERCS Addis Ababa level in accordance with the strategy and PoA at ERCS HQ level &Movement-wide commitments and minimum actions for Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA), and relevant policies and guidelines.

• Works closely with technical colleagues across the ERCS HQ ,regional branches  as well as other stakeholders, such as MoH Ethiopia  and Amref Health Africa to lead in the rolling out and ensuring use of the most relevant social science research, impact surveys and perception data to support the design of comprehensive and evidence-based community engagement strategies for vaccine uptake at country level

• Ensures RCCE socio-cultural research, analysis and key findings are integrated into the program at country level

Job Duties and Responsibilities (continued)

• Assist the ERCS Addis Ababa Branch and Zonal Office teams in the routine data collections from the community via feedback mechanisms and social listening channels to inform the RCCE strategy and key messages.

• With the support of the ERCS PMER team, build the RCCE data and reporting system, and share with   back donors and RCCE SLL project Lead Implementer.

• Support National Society in defining risk management frameworks, mitigation, and control measures.

Advisory role:  

• Identify and support priority regions at the country level to adapt RCCE country-wide strategies and   plans, according to the evolution and changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Attend and support country level RCCE coordination working groups, clusters, pillars, and other relevant responders (on demand) with RCCE expertise and ensure support to country  coordination approaches, promoting engagement of national and local organizations that represent the social, cultural, gender, age, and religious distribution of the communities (i.e., faith-based organizations, youth organizations, CSO networks, private sectors, and other influencers).

• Work with RCCE partners, to develop demand-driven guidance/tools based on assessment of gaps and support needs at country level.

• Working with the ERCS PMER, Communication at HQ level and project focal points at Regional Branches and IFRC RCCE Officer to Ethiopian Delegate Office by supporting the compilation and updating 4Ws (Who does What, Where and when) mapping at country level.

Coordination:

• Represents the ERCS in technical coordination meeting with Africa CDC, MCF, and RCCE working groups led by MoH Ethiopia/RHB at Addis Ababa level

• Represents the ERCS   in close coordination with Africa CDC Regional Coordination Centres and focal points at country level for the SLL program.

• Ensures ERCS NHQ and regional branches representation in any relevant technical RCCE forum with partner agencies and stakeholders at country level to promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

• Coordinate ERCS RCCE efforts with external partners, including MOH Ethiopia, AMREF Health Africa and National RCCE Working Groups.

• Position the ERCS as a lead actor in Africa CDC Covid-19 SLL project RCCE activities at country level by capturing and sharing best practices and success stories within the local clusters, coordination meetings both internally and externally.

General duties

• Actively work towards the achievement of ERCS   SLL Covid-19 RCCE  project  goals

• Abide by and work in accordance with the Ethiopian Red Cross Society principles and working procedures.

• Perform any other work-related duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the line manager(Immediate supervisor)

Work Unit: -  DRM,  Addis Ababa Regional Office

Reports to: -  Head of DRM to Regional Office

Terms of employment:- Six months (with high possibility of extension based on performance )

Place of Work: - Addis Ababa Branch Office, frequent travel to different sub cities and weredas.

Job Requirements

Education and Experience

• A university degree in a relevant areas , Sociology, Anthropology, Development studies, Pedagogical science ,Social Work , Public Health and Journalism /Communication

• Six  years demonstrable and proven  technical experience in Community Engagement and Accountability, risk communications, media and communication, Humanitarian Dissemination, social and community mobilization ,social and behaviour change communication and community engagement in health promotion settings focusing on epidemics and pandemic response activities

• Experience in setting up and managing projects with a qualitative data collection focus, with sources such as community feedback mechanisms, interviews, focus group discussions, social media posts, etc 

• Experience in planning and implementing targeted and appropriate behaviour change or risk communication under health approaches and activities 

• Experience of designing and delivering trainings and building the capacity of staff and volunteers 

• Experience of supporting social science research and/or community feedback systems, including presenting and advocating for action based on Experience of working with Media and Relevant Local Government Authorities (Federal MOH/RHB) is an asset.

• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team in a challenging and highly fluid environment, handle constant change and stay flexible.

• Training on Community Engagement and Accountability

• Training on youth Management and Coaching

• Training on Media monitoring, Dissemination and Communication.

• A good understanding of information management (including data flows, protection and analysis), as well as qualitative and quantitative data collection methods  

• Experience in designing and developing culturally appropriate and context specific IEC materials and messages, and media campaigns 

• Red Cross Red Crescent experience is an asset and preferable

Knowledge, Skills and Language

• Previous working experience in the Donor Funded  projects and programs

• Able to analyse and identify areas for improvements in programmes, operations through the integration of RCCE approaches and activities.

• Excellent interpersonal, communication and networking skills, able to build relationships with people at all levels of the organization and with external partners and organizations 

• Good knowledge of epidemic response, including gender and diversity analysis 

• Highly motivated, self-starter and team player able to lead a process, engage others and create ownership, across multiple countries and cultures, both in person and remotely 

• Clear and engaging written and verbal communication skills 

• Proven good judgment and ability to work with complete integrity and confidentiality 

• Programme and project management skills 

• Ability to work within multi-cultural and multidisciplinary teams 

Languages

• Fluently spoken and written (English and Amharic ) 

How to Apply

We invite candidates meeting the required qualifications to fill out online employment application form with the indicated link CLICK HERE before the closing date of this announcement on April 17, 2023.

Qualified women are strongly recommended to apply!

Please note that we ONLY consider those who filled online application form . We regret to inform that we do not accept CV at this stage.