Emergency Field Coordination Associate (HER Roster)

Host entity: UNICEF Vietnam

Volunteer type: National

Areas of expertise: Communication, advocacy, public information, Project management, programme development, strategy, Emergency preparedness, crisis response

Application deadline: 20/08/2026

Mission and objectives

The fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favouritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated.

Assignment context

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) has established the Humanitarian Emergency Response (HER) Roster to support speedy recruitment of qualified and motivated UN Volunteers for potential emergency response assignments. Candidates will be pre-screened based on their qualifications, experience, and suitability for the specific thematic or functional areas described in this Description of Assignment (DoA). Shortlisted candidates may remain in the UNV HER Roster for up to 6 months and be contacted should an emergency arise. Inclusion in the UNV HER Roster does not guarantee recruitment as a UN Volunteer. Selection and recruitment timelines will depend on the emergency occurrence, availability of candidates, and final approval by the UN host entity in accordance with Conditions of Service for UN Volunteers .

UNICEF Viet Nam is part of the United Nations Children’s Fund, which works in more than 190 countries and territories, and is a member of the United Nations system in Viet Nam. Guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF has a universal mandate to promote and protect the rights of every child, with particular attention to children who are hardest to reach and most at risk. UNICEF has worked in Viet Nam since 1975 as a trusted partner of the Government and other national and international partners.

Today, UNICEF supports national efforts to ensure that all children in Viet Nam are safe from climate, disaster and environmental risks, healthy, educated, protected, heard, and able to reach their full potential. Under the UNICEF–Government of Viet Nam Country Programme 2027–2031, UNICEF places stronger emphasis on protecting children from climate, disaster and environmental risks, including through child-centred disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness, anticipatory action, response and recovery, and climate-resilient essential services.

This focus responds to growing evidence that climate, disaster and environmental risks are no longer episodic events, but structural threats to children’s rights in Viet Nam. The country is increasingly exposed to typhoons, floods, landslides, drought, heatwaves, saltwater intrusion, disease outbreaks and environmental health risks. Recent emergencies, including Typhoon Yagi in 2024 and the severe storm and flood events in 2025, have demonstrated the scale of risks to children, families and essential services, including water, sanitation and hygiene, health, nutrition, education, child protection and social protection. Children from ethnic minority communities, children with disabilities, children in remote and disaster-prone areas, and children from poor households are often disproportionately affected.

The assignment will focus on supporting provincial preparedness, coordination with government counterparts and humanitarian partners, field monitoring, rapid assessments, and operational follow-up. The Emergency Field Coordination Associate will contribute to timely, principled and child-centred humanitarian action in line with UNICEF's Core Commitments for Children in Humanitarian Action (CCCs), while strengthening linkages between emergency preparedness, response, early recovery, disaster risk reduction and climate resilience at local level.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist for Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency, working closely with the Deputy Representative, the Emergency Management Team (EMT) and UNICEF programme sections, the UN Volunteer will support UNICEF’s internal field coordination, preparedness, emergency response and recovery efforts. The Emergency Field Coordination Associate will provide practical operational support for emergency preparedness, field coordination, monitoring and response follow-up, information management and documentation. The role will help ensure timely follow-up of agreed actions, consolidation of field information, preparation of brief updates and coordination support across relevant UNICEF teams.

Emergency Preparedness

Risk Monitoring and Preparedness Planning
• Support the EMT and programme sections, by collecting, verifying and sharing field-level information on disaster, climate and emergency risks that may affect children, families, essential services and UNICEF operations.
• Monitor local early warning information, hazard updates, provincial preparedness measures and emerging risks in the assigned field locations, and provide timely updates to support UNICEF preparedness planning and decision-making.
• Support the implementation and field follow-up of ongoing operation, preparedness measures, early warning information and evolving risk scenarios.

Preparedness Coordination
• Support coordination with provincial and commune authorities, implementing partners and relevant local stakeholders to monitor preparedness actions, identify operational gaps and facilitate timely readiness measures at field level.
• Support field-level follow-up with UNICEF programme sections and and partners to ensure that agreed preparedness actions are implemented and documented.

Preparedness Monitoring and Reporting
• Maintain regular field updates on preparedness activities implemented by UNICEF and partners.
• Contribute field inputs to preparedness trackers, EMT updates, Situation Report, donor updates and internal briefings, ensuring that information from provincial and community levels is captured in a timely and practical manner.

Emergency Response

Rapid Needs Assessment and Situation Analysis
• Support rapid collection, verification and consolidation of field information on the nature, scale, location and impact of emergencies, using information from provincial and commune authorities, implementing partners, local organisations, communities, media and other relevant sources.
• Support child-centred rapid needs assessments, including collection and analysis of information on affected children, families, communities, essential social services and vulnerable groups.
• Contribute to estimating affected populations, urgent household needs, service disruptions, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and health risks, education interruption, nutrition concerns, protection risks and early recovery needs.
• Support evidence-based targeting and prioritisation of UNICEF-supported assistance
• Support the collection and consolidation of disaggregated data, where available, to inform UNICEF response planning and prioritisation.
• Prepare concise field assessment notes and inputs to inform UNICEF response planning, SitReps, EMT updates and donor briefings.

Emergency Field Coordination and Liaison
• Support field-level coordination with provincial and commune authorities, implementing partners and relevant local stakeholders to facilitate UNICEF-supported response actions.
• Serve as a field-level coordination support point between UNICEF teams and local counterparts, helping ensure that agreed actions from the Emergency Management Team, programme sections and sector discussions are communicated and followed up.
• Support coordination across relevant sectors by helping identify coordination gaps, duplication risks, referral needs and operational constraints.
• Support the organisation of field missions, partner meetings, local coordination discussions and follow-up with relevant authorities and partners.

Response Implementation Monitoring and Field Follow-up
• Monitor the field implementation of UNICEF-supported emergency response activities, including delivery of supplies, cash assistance, distribution progress, partner implementation, service restoration and support to affected communities.
• Support monitoring of the use, storage, distribution and end-user receipt of UNICEF-supported supplies, including whether items are used appropriately, reach the intended beneficiaries and respond to priority needs.
• Support post-distribution monitoring, including collection of feedback from affected households, partners and local authorities on the relevance, quality, timeliness and use of UNICEF-supported assistance.
• Track agreed response actions, pending issues and follow-up points at field level, and provide regular updates to the Programme Specialist, EMT and relevant UNICEF sections.
• Identify and report operational bottlenecks, including access constraints, transport delays, gaps in partner capacity, unclear beneficiary targeting, documentation issues, duplication risks, supply utilisation concerns or delays in local approvals.
• Work with relevant UNICEF teams and partners to propose practical solutions to field-level implementation challenges and support timely corrective actions.

Field Reporting, Documentation and Accountability
• Prepare regular field updates, mission notes and response summaries to inform UNICEF SitReps, donor updates, EMT briefings, response trackers and internal decision-making.
• Document key field observations, emerging risks, implementation gaps, operational bottlenecks, lessons learned and good practices to support adaptive response, early recovery and future preparedness.
• Support the collection, documentation and referral of feedback from affected children, families, communities and local partners, ensuring that issues requiring follow-up are shared with relevant UNICEF teams and partners.
• Support accountability to affected populations by helping document whether UNICEF-supported assistance is timely, relevant, accessible and reaching the most affected and vulnerable children and families.
• Support the collection of field evidence, photos, human-interest leads and partner updates while ensuring respect for UNICEF ethical communication, informed consent, child safeguarding and data protection standards.

Learning, Documentation and After-Action Review

Documentation and Knowledge Management
• Support systematic documentation of emergency preparedness, response and recovery actions.
• Consolidate field information, response updates, preparedness gaps and operational experiences to strengthen UNICEF Viet Nam’s institutional memory and support future emergency preparedness and response planning.
• Support the organisation and maintenance of emergency documentation in relevant UNICEF knowledge management platforms.
Learning and After-Action Review
• Assist in preparing field inputs for After-Action Reviews, preparedness assessments, lessons learned exercises and internal reflection sessions.
• Support the collection of evidence from field implementation,
Follow-up and Continuous Improvement
• Support tracking of recommendations arising from After-Action Reviews, preparedness assessments and lessons learned exercises, including follow-up with relevant UNICEF sections and partners on agreed actions, implementation progress, remaining gaps and evidence of completion.
• Help identify recurring operational issues from field implementation and share practical suggestions to strengthen future preparedness, response coordination, monitoring and recovery support.

Skills and experience

• At least 1 year of relevant professional, volunteer, internship or project experience in emergency preparedness, disaster risk reduction, climate change, public policy, social development, programme coordination, monitoring and evaluation, data analysis, or a related field.
• Some exposure to emergency preparedness, humanitarian response, disaster risk reduction, climate-related risk analysis, field assessment, or coordination of work is desirable. Candidates with limited emergency experience but strong motivation and ability to learn quickly will be considered.
• Good analytical skills, including the ability to collect, organise and summarise quantitative and qualitative information for risk analysis, needs assessment, impact assessment, reporting, and decision-making.
• Basic understanding of disaster impacts on children, families, communities, and essential social services is desirable. Experience or coursework in socio-economic analysis, loss and damage assessment, needs assessment, or household/community impact analysis is an asset.
• Good coordination and communication skills, including the ability to work with UNICEF colleagues, Government counterparts, United Nations agencies, local partners and communities in a respectful and professional manner.
• Strong organisational skills, attention to detail and ability to follow up on agreed actions, maintain trackers, prepare meeting notes and support documentation.
• Ability to work in a team, take initiative, learn quickly, manage competing tasks, and deliver quality work under time pressure.
• Good computer skills, AI skills, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Experience with data visualisation, online collaboration platforms, or information management tools is an asset.
• Fluency in English is required including ability to draft comprehensive notes, updates and reports, is required.
• Willingness to travel to provinces and affected areas when required, subject to UNICEF safety and security procedures.
• This assignment is Field-based, with frequent travel to priority provinces as required
• Availability for rapid deployment on short notice.

Please refer to the Context section for details on the UNV Humanitarian Emergency Response (HER) Roster. Shortlisted candidates may be included in the UNV HER Roster for up to six months and contacted should a suitable emergency response assignment arise. Inclusion in the roster does not guarantee recruitment.

Competencies and values

• Accountability
• Adaptability and flexibility
• Creativity
• Judgement and decision-making
• Planning and organising
• Professionalism
• Self-management

Living conditions

General Information:
The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam is a vibrant and diverse country with a rich cultural heritage and a rapidly advancing economy. Over the past four decades, Viet Nam has undergone a profound transformation, emerging from a challenging past to become a dynamic, middle-income nation. Through the visionary Đổi Mới (Renovation) reforms initiated in 1986, Viet Nam has achieved remarkable economic progress and social development, positioning itself as a key player in the global market.

Today, Viet Nam enjoys strong diplomatic ties with 189 nations and upholds a foreign policy of friendship and partnership, committed to fostering global peace, mutual respect, and sustainable development. The country is well-recognized for its commitment to growth, innovation, and international cooperation, making it a trusted and reliable partner on the global stage.

Security:
Viet Nam is a stable and safe country with a minimum of security threats. The Government (GoV) maintains tight control over the security environment. Armed conflict has not been present in 50 years. There are no terrorist groups, domestic or international currently known to be organized or operating in Viet Nam. Road Traffic Accidents and climate-induced disasters are the most important threats that the UN personnel should be aware of.

Housing:
There are plenty of choices in Ha Noi at different prices depending on the demand and budget. The UN Volunteer can choose to locate near the office to walk to work or choose to settle down far away from the office, in a more popular neighborhood.

Schools & Childcare:
Most of the international staff’s children attend international schools with an academic system that is widely recognised abroad. International schools often include kindergarten and pre-school classes (sometimes even a nursery) for younger kids.

The school year in Viet Nam starts in August/ September every year and ends in May the next year, so kids can be admitted at the beginning of the Autumn (August) or Spring (January) semester. There are various schooling options available in major cities of Viet Nam.

Work for spouses & partners:
Work opportunities are available for spouses and partners. However, if hired by any organization, a work permit must be applied through the same hiring organisation.

Entitlements of National UN Volunteer include Entry Lump Sum Allowance (USD350), Monthly Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) for National UN Volunteer Associate in Hanoi, Viet Nam at VND 18,745,356*, Insurance Coverage (Comprehensive health, life, and malicious acts insurance); Annual Leave of 2.5 days per month; Access to UNV’s learning and career development resources; and Exit Lump Sum Allowance (USD120/1 month) payable upon successful completion of the assignment. For further information on the full entitlements, please refer to the following:
• You can check full entitlements at the duty station at https://app.unv.org/calculator.
• The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos.

Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.