Advocacy Manager at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)

Main Purpose

• The Advocacy Manager is responsible for all advocacy activities in the Mission in line with MSF policies and values, following the Operational line and linked with the HQ Reflection Unit. The Advocacy Manager is a member of the mission CMT and acts as a sparring-partner for all operational and medical teams

Accountabilities

• Defining, implementing and coordinating all MSF advocacy activities, including responsibility for drafting advocacy strategies addressing medical-humanitarian priorities in relation to mission needs - ensure that advocacy components are included in project and mission operational strategies as member of the Country Management Team (CMT)
• Supervise the quality of field-level data collection (under MSF ethical guidelines) for operational and advocacy purpose.
• Monitor and compile regular updates on humanitarian aid system dynamics (NGO/Donor planning, Red Cross movement activities and positioning) to increase the leverage capacity and the national impact of MSF lobbying in line with operational plans, regular activities and medical-humanitarian advocacy objectives.
• Draft ad hoc lobbying points and internal/external reports in relation to main medical-humanitarian concerns while strengthening the integration of humanitarian affairs (analysis, critical reflection, contextual understanding) and operational communications.
• Advises CMT and Head of Mission/Medical Coordinators on perception related to positioning and operational strategy with a particular view on increasing local/national visibility and ensuring good acceptance for MSF projects/presence.
• Drafts regular situation reports for mission/HQ as well as reports for external use in line with mission advocacy strategy.
• Draft Terms of Reference, supervise, and evaluate other expatriate humanitarian affairs staff deployed to the mission (Advocacy / Humanitarian Affairs Officers).

DATA COLLECTION - ANALYSIS

• Design and support the implementation of data collection systems with regards to the mission context (focus on national level with potential regional/global repercussions, and local developments in project locations), and medical-humanitarian issues, in order to provide reliable information for operational and strategic decision-making.
• Provide data and discourse analysis in support of the Head of Mission to inform MSF positioning in-country (project-level and at national level), particularly in terms of political / operational environment (regulation frameworks, donor/aid agreements, trade and economic developments).
• Propose improvements in the methodologies and tools used, and provide trainings to field teams as required
• Undertake actor mapping and stakeholders’ analysis on behalf of projects and mission, while providing guidance / support to Project Coordinators for the management of relations with local authorities, and strategic advice to Head of Mission / Medical Coordinator for national-level organizational positioning

REPRESENTATION - COMMUNICATION

• Support networking needs by leading or participating in representation duties in non-project locations (on delegation from the Head of Mission), including with domestic civil society, professional groups (doctors’/nurses’ associations), and local academics/universities.
• Define, draft and review advocacy messages and targeting (including communications and dissemination strategies) to raise awareness of medical-humanitarian issues across MSF projects and at national level (transversal thematic).
• Link with other MSF sections in-country to develop inter-OC advocacy and/or communications initiatives
• On request/project basis, interact with the international MSF advocacy network (reflection centres, HART, ACCESS) to provide updated contextualized medical-humanitarian content (country-level information)
• Lead discussions, trainings, briefings, etc. on the country’s medical-humanitarian context, MSF principles, international humanitarian law, medical ethics, and advocacy activities/strategies to raise awareness of MSF national and expatriate staff on these topics.
• Provide recommendations and be a propositional voice for opportunistic communications (unplanned) from operations/medical activities’ analysis.

ON REQUEST

• Undertake field assessments (in relation to data gathering/context analysis or exploratory missions) and other work-related traveling as required.

Context Specific Accountabilities

• Maintain a solid analysis of the refugee environment and policies, Adolescent and Young Population policies notably through a close engagement with all the actors involved, both governmental and international, in order to keep abreast of the developments and their potential impact.
• Contribute to a broader reflection within OCG on MSF’s role in protracted refugee situations in collaboration with the Operational Positioning Unit.
• Contribute to a broader reflection within OCG on improving access to health services for vulnerable and key population adolescent and young population
• Feed the mission’s understanding and analysis of the medical and socio-economic impact of emerging issues such as drought, natural disasters, political context, disease outbreaks and pandemics

Support exploratory missions and contribute to improving OCG’s context analysis, notably through the creation of an extensive network of key interlocutors

Requirements

Education

• Essential: Masters’ level (Anthropology/Social/political sciences, law, gender studies, protection) with first-rate writing skills and excellent research / analytical skills

Experience

• Essential : Field humanitarian experience in similar contexts (conflict, disasters, resource-poor environments) – MSF or other humanitarian NGOs advocacy experience required

Campaigning organizational experience an asset

Languages

• **Essential :**English & Swahili

Knowledge

• Essential : Computer literacy (database design/analysis, MS package, and internet-based research)
• Good understanding of current humanitarian debates and of the dilemma/compromise nature of modern humanitarian interventions