Field Assistant

About Oxfam

Oxfam is a global community who believe poverty isn’t inevitable. It’s an injustice that can be overcome. We are shop volunteers, women’s right activists, marathon runners, aid workers, coffee farmers, street fundraisers, goat herders, policy experts, campaigners, water engineers and more. And we won’t stop until everyone can live life without poverty for good.

Oxfam GB is a member of the international confederation Oxfam.

Our Team

Oxfam’s program has been established in 2014 in response to the ISIS conflict in Iraq. Oxfam implemented activities during the past few years was built around the delivery of 3 main areas: A) Lifesaving humanitarian assistance b) Recovery assistance, and C) Promotion of Women Rights.

• Lifesaving humanitarian assistance: to newly displaced populations residing in camps or host communities. The bulk of this work was done around the Mosul Operation with activities implemented in the governorates of Erbil, Salah Al Din and Ninawa. Activities included: Establishment/rehabilitation of safe water (boreholes, repair of infrastructure); Emergency water supply (distribution of water through trucking and bottled water); Setting up water tanks and networks in camps; Distribution of hygiene items; construction of latrines; Cash for Work opportunities inside the camps to allow construction work and solid waste management; and Distribution of emergency winterization kits.
• Recovery assistance: to returnees, local host communities and IDPs to recover from the post-conflict and to cope with protracted displacement. The main activities implemented under this area of work included: Rehabilitation of water infrastructure; Supporting local authorities to rehabilitate essential public services (schools and hospitals); Grants to returnees to recover damaged businesses; Provision of livestock to support farmers; Cash for Work opportunities contributing to income for vulnerable families and supporting rehabilitation of infrastructure of public interest (irrigation canals, main roads).
• Promotion of Women Rights: through contributing to the implementation of the National Plan for 1325 UN Resolution, and economic empowerment of women through provision of training and grants to establish/rehabilitate businesses.

Project Takhateb

Project Takhteb is a project focusing on dialogue and community engagement, funded by GIZ. Under this project, Oxfam will focus on meeting humanitarian needs and resilience building within returnees, displaced, and host communities by conducting and facilitating an inclusive dialogue between the affected communities and the local authorities. CSO, communities and local authorities will be involved in these inclusive dialogues to address socio-economic challenges linked to climate change and access to public services in Ninawa and Diyala governorates”. To achieve this outcome, Oxfam’s intervention will be articulated around three outputs:

1.Dialogues between communities and local authorities are implemented to address issues related to climate change and limited access to public services.

2.Capacities of CSO, communities, and local authorities to implement dialogues on climate change and access to public services are strengthened.

3.Good practices and lessons learned on inclusive dialogues are documented and to be disseminated and scaled up.

The project will be implemented in Ninewa and Diyala governorates.

Core Details

Key Responsibilities:

Technical

• Participate in conducting Participatory Community Mapping and supporting the formation of community action plan
• Mobilising the community for meetings, workshops and other related activities of the project
• Formation of community committees at the field level and working closely with the committee members in the project locations
• Coordinate with different stakeholders to organize meetings, workshops, and other sensitization activities
• Work closely with the community members to identify local solutions in relation to climate change
• In close coordination with the community develop advocacy strategies
• Work closely with Project team and the Roving Advocacy Officer to develop community plans for advocacy
• Hold meetings between the community and the community committees to identify the socio-economic topic most relevant for each targeted community
• Support the community committees to design a dialogue strategy and key messages and to review them based on meetings with the decision-makers.
• Support in conducting a stakeholders’ mapping and power analysis to identify decision makers to be targeted in the dialogues and foster their participation in the process
• Support in organizing a round table between the community committees and the decision-makers to discuss the challenges faced by the community, potential solutions, and action plans
• Attend relevant meetings or training related to the project
• Provide monthly reports and other reports as required

Skills & Competencies

Essential

• At least 1 year of programming experience in humanitarian or development contexts or related fields.
• Understanding of context, challenges of issues in the project location, climate change and water scarcity issues, community engagement, etc.
• Experience working with displaced persons and protection issues relevant to conflict-affected people.
• Good spoken and written English and Arabic.
• Capacity and willingness to travel to the field in Ninawa (Mosul and Talafar Districts) based on project requirements)
• Very good interpersonal skills, particularly in networking, and working with communities, local civil society and local authorities.
• Commitment to a rights-based approach, gender equality, and protection
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural team.
• Demonstrated capacity for social and communication skills and ability to work with others and as part of a team.
• Willingness to work in insecure environments and a high level of adaptability and initiative
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office and other basic computer skills

OTHER:

This job description is not incorporated into the employment contract. It is intended as a guide and should not be viewed as an inflexible specification as it may be varied from time to time in light of strategic developments following discussions with the post holder. The post holder will be expected to work to agreed objectives, which should facilitate the achievements of the key responsibilities in accordance with the Performance Review process