Advocacy Officer

Overall purpose of the role

• Provide dedicated advocacy support for DRC’s Afghanistan Country Office programmes and operations, including development and implementation of national plans and strategies; development of key messages and other advocacy assets; and, representation in national advocacy forums.
• Effectively and efficiently convey country-specific information across DRC offices, including teams in the Country Office (CO), Regional Office (RO) – Asia, representative offices in Brussels and Geneva, and Headquarters (HQ) in Copenhagen; and,
• Play a key role in our efforts to support the protection of IDPs, returnees and other conflict-affected persons in Afghanistan through projects aiming at delivering services and build capacity to empower beneficiaries and their host communities.

Geographic scope: Afghanistan (remote)

This role has a dedicated, national focus on Afghanistan. The role contributes to the development of a national advocacy strategy aligned with relevant CO, RO, and global DRC strategies, which is translated into action plans and day-to-day tasks. The role provides support and to country operations while overseeing activities at the national level through remote engagements. Please note that this position will be based remotely in DRC’s RO – Asia, currently in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with no anticipated travel to Afghanistan.

Location: based in Dhaka, with possibility of relocation within the Asia Region

Main responsibilities:

Advocacy

• With technical support from the Regional Advocacy Coordinator – Asia, design and implement a Country Office advocacy strategy in coordination with relevant colleagues in DRC’s CO, RO, HQ, Brussels and Geneva offices;
• Ensure linkages between DRC programme implementation and advocacy messaging based on beneficiary priority needs and reflective of DRC’s comparative advantages and strategic priorities;
• Support the Country Director (CD), the Area Managers, and other senior management team (SMT) members to conduct their external representation and advocacy tasks through the timely provision of relevant information and drafting and/or advising on coherent and solid messaging;
• Support the CD in advocacy messaging during high profile visits;
  With technical support from the Regional Advocacy Coordinator – Asia, design and lead advocacy capacity assessments and subsequent trainings for DRC staff and NGO partners as required;
• Represent DRC in relevant advocacy and communications fora, including the ACBAR Advocacy Working Group, and build relationships with other likeminded organizations (e.g. NGOs, UN agencies), to coordinate and collaborate on joint advocacy & communication efforts;
• With technical support from programme teams and other relevant staff, draft relevant advocacy and communication sections of funding proposals;
• Draft talking points, topline messaging, and advocacy asks for the CO team and support the review of messaging at the international level;
• Support the development of contextual updates, situation reports, and crisis info documents, detailing the current context, protection concerns, and regulatory situations;
• Remain up-to-date on key issues at the national level, through engagement with relevant stakeholders, in order to inform senior management and program staff;
• Suggest key advocacy opportunities, activities, and targets at the national level;
• Draft and support the production of advocacy products as outlined in the advocacy strategy for use at the country, regional, and international levels; and,
• Support Country Office communication activities, including collecting content for advocacy-related activities, and ensuring adherence to DRC’s “do no harm” policies and guidelines on the meaningful and safe participation of beneficiaries in advocacy and communications.

Representation & Communication

• Liaise with key UN, NGO and other interlocutors in-country to ensure DRC has up-to-date information on the humanitarian situation;
• Establish strategic relationships with civil society organizations to ensure effective conveyance of key advocacy messages and communication materials;
• Support the development of messaging for and actions around key national policy responses and frameworks, as well as other factors such as UN coordination, protection concerns, funding for the response, security and current and future challenges that have an impact on displaced populations and their access to humanitarian assistance and protection services;
• Build networks of key informants, strategic allies, and stakeholders in-country; and,
• Represent DRC in advocacy-related internal and/or external Afghanistan fora or as otherwise delegated by the CD.

Roles reporting to this position:

No direct reports

Reports to:

Regional Head of Programme – ASIA

Required experience and competencies:

• At least 3-5 years’ experience working in advocacy on humanitarian issues, refugee rights, human rights, and/or development issues;
• Ability to draft clear and concise reports, statements, policy briefs, position papers, etc. in English;
• Experience in supporting the training and capacity building of other staff in the principles of advocacy;
• Demonstrated ability to support efforts resulting in policy change related to humanitarian law and/or human rights;
• A minimum of 3 years’ experience working with international partners, in particular the UN, INGOs, as well as local partners; and,
• Full professional proficiency in English required. Knowledge of Dari and/or Pashto an asset.

DRC as an employer
By working in DRC, you will be joining a global workforce of around 8000 employees in 40 countries. We pride ourselves on our:

• Professionalism, impact & expertise
• Humanitarian approach & the work we do
• Purpose, meaningfulness & own contribution
• Culture, values & strong leadership
• Fair compensation & continuous development