Humanitarian Affairs Officer

Host entity: UNOCHA

Volunteer type: International

Areas of expertise: Administration, Project management, programme development, strategy, Emergency preparedness, crisis response

Application deadline: 16/08/2026

Mission and objectives

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Objective / Mission Statement: OCHA's mission is to: Mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors in order to alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies.

Assignment context

Established in 1991, under General Assembly resolution 16/182, UNOCHA coordinates humanitarian action to ensure crisis-affected people receive the assistance and protection they need. It works to overcome obstacles that impeded humanitarian assistance from reaching people affected by crises, and it provides leadership in mobilizing assistance and resources on behalf of the humanitarian system.

This UNV assignment is in OCHA’s Regional Office for Southern, and Eastern Africa (ROSEA) based in Nairobi, Kenya. OCHA plays a central role in advancing Anticipatory Action (AA) as part of the humanitarian system’s efforts to mitigate escalating climate risks, enabling collective action ahead of predicted climate‑related hazards such as droughts, floods and cyclones to reduce their impact on vulnerable communities. It develops and supports collective Anticipatory Action frameworks that link climate risk analysis and early warning systems with pre‑agreed triggers, activities and pre‑arranged financing, ensuring action that is timelier, cost‑effective, dignified, and protective of lives and livelihoods.

Through its financing tools, such as the CERF and country-based/regional pooled funds, technical expertise and partnerships, OCHA helps scale up and mainstream anticipatory and early action, strengthening resilience and safeguarding development gains in the face of increasingly frequent and severe climate shocks.

Task description

Under the overall supervision of the Humanitarian Affairs Officer – Anticipatory Approach, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
• Assist in facilitating regional coordination to scale up and mainstream anticipatory action through the regional working groups on AA in Eastern and Southern Africa;
• Support engagement and effective partnerships with key stakeholders, including govern-ments, IGAD, SADC, UN agencies, NGOs, donors, IFIs, climate funds/actors, and private sector to advance anticipatory action in the region;
• Contribute to collective advocacy efforts by preparing briefs, talking points, presentations and visibility materials on anticipatory action and its linkages with climate adaptation, disaster risk finance, preparedness and response;
• Assist in monitoring and reporting on anticipatory action, including supporting documentation and dissemination of collective lessons learned and best practices, and regional dashboards;
• Provide support to field missions, assessments and deployments related to disaster prepar-edness, anticipatory action and response for climate-induced emergencies, including docu-mentation of lessons learned and operational/coordination insights;
• Support resource mobilization efforts through donor mapping, preparation of concept notes and proposals, and inputs to donor reports and briefings;
• Participate in inter-agency meetings, consultations and events, and perform other duties as required to support effective emergency preparedness and response, including collective an-ticipatory action, for extreme climate risks in the region; and
• Perform other duties as required to support the scaling up and mainstreaming of anticipatory action in the region.

During the first month of the assignment, the UN Volunteer will work closely with his/her direct supervisor to finalize an agreed-upon work plan. The work plan should outline key objectives and activities and include regular check ins with the supervisor to review progress and receive performance feedback

Skills and experience

Experience description:
Humanitarian affairs, anticipatory action/disaster risk finance, climate finance, emergency preparedness, crisis/emergency relief management, rehabilitation, development, or other related area;

Skills in:
• Drafting reports, papers and other written products.
• The usage of computers and office software packages.

Competencies and values

• Accountability
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Building Trust
• Client Orientation
• Commitment and Motivation
• Commitment to Continuous Learning
• Communication
• Ethics and Values
• Integrity
• Planning and Organizing
• Professionalism
• Respect for Diversity
• Technological Awareness
• Working in Teams

Living conditions

The Republic of Kenya is an equatorial nation on the coast of East Africa, neighbouring Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Indian Ocean. Kenya has two levels of Government; National Government and 47 sub-national Governments called Counties. Counties are further divided into sub-counties. Kenya is a multi-party state with Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. Kenya’s population of more than 40 million is growing at an annual rate of 2.2%. The country is classified as lower, middle income with a GNP per capita estimated at purchasing power parity (PPP) is $975, and the GNP is growing at an average rate of 0.1% annually. More than 26% of Kenya’s people live below the international poverty line of $1 per day. Kenya’s main food crops are “maize, wheat, pulses, roots and tubers.” (FAO).

Nairobi is a modern metropolitan city where most essential goods and services, health facilities, public transport, telecommunication and banking services and educational facilities are readily available. The city is widely connected through its main airport, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the smaller Wilson Airport. Air transport is also available to many up-country destinations. Getting around in Nairobi is easy with ride-hailing mobility apps such as Uber, Bolt among others. The city is home to some 3,000 UN personnel mainly attributed to the fact that it serves as the headquarters for both the UN HABITAT and UNEP.

The UNV will be living and working in a multicultural environment, comprising of diverse nationalities of a middle-class socio-economic status. Prevailing security conditions at the place of assignment are moderate. The topographic and climatic features of the assignment location is highland cool and warm
Conditions of Service

The Conditions of Service, available here: https://explore.unv.org/cos, outline the policies and rules governing UN Volunteer assignments. Full information on entitlements at the duty station can be accessed here: https://app.unv.org/calculator.

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