Advocacy Officer

Within its current work in South East Europe, since August 2015 Oxfam Italia (here after OIT) is committed to respond to the needs of refugees and migrants who are crossing Western Balkan countries and specifically Serbia and Macedonia.

As managing affiliate on behalf of Oxfam Confederation in South East Europe, OIT manages the humanitarian response and coordinates its efforts with other affiliates who are providing a response to the Migrants’ and Refugees’ crisis at the European level.

OIT focus areas are the Serbian borders with Macedonia, Bulgaria and Croatia, the existing government camps currently hosting 5.000 migrants and refugees and the migrants living outside of the centers, mainly in Belgrade. Other locations are investigated on the basis of changing needs.

OIT is responding to the immediate and critical needs of vulnerable target beneficiaries with a project focused on food provision in 9 government facilities but with key components related with social cohesion and advocacy. A Consortium between OXFAM, CARE, Caritas and Red Cross Serbia has been established, with OXFAM as Leader, and the four partners will implement the activities in the designed locations.

The advocacy officer will be hired by the Consortium and the scope is to develop and to implement Consortium and Oxfam’s influencing and advocacy work in Serbia using advocacy towards decision makers, research, policy development, establishing networks and alliance building to achieve sustainable changes in the national response to the challenges related to the migrants’ and refugees’ influx in the region.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

The post holder is required to be a strong team player and contribute to the country programme team work. The role requires capacity to conduct power analysis of political terrain needed for developing advocacy plans, strategies and tactics. It demands creativity and proficiency in analysing and synthesizing information to understand issues, identify options and support the Consortium and Oxfam country team in sound decision making.

While some information will come from the program teams on the ground (as for instance the protection issue), other information will have to be collected by the post holder (as for instance, how the governments in Serbia are reacting to the situation on the ground), before taking decisions. Ability to identify critical relationships in information to make decisions based on logical analysis is essential.

The post holder is supervised by the Consortium Coordinator and will closely work with the OXFAM Advocacy Advisor based in Sarajevo. Will also interact with OXFAM Advocacy Regional Team and, if possible, with other Consortium Partners advocacy teams.

Key tasks

The situation of refugees and migrants on the Balkan route is highly changeable and this job description is subject to change as the situation evolves.

As such, the post-holder will be expected to be flexible and pro-active and travel to the different project locations as required by the situation.

His/her main responsibilities will be:

• Implement the advocacy pillar of Consortium and Oxfam response to the refugees’ and migrants’ crisis in Serbia
• Represent the Consortium and Oxfam with key influencing targets and actively participate in the meetings for the areas of responsibility
• Establish and strengthen INGO and local NGO networking and advocacy coordination
• Identify Consortium and Oxfam partners’ capacity needs related to advocacy
• Contribute advocacy-related elements to project design and proposal development, as well as to internal reporting
• Define key advocacy and policy messages to be shared on behalf of the Consortium and Oxfam with key decision makers in Serbia
• Represent the Consortium and Oxfam in the media when relevant for the advocacy strategy
• Provide capacity-building on advocacy issues to the teams

Key outcomes

• Timely monitoring of issues and reporting of updates to the Consortium Coordinator
• Consortium and Oxfam advocacy outcomes delivered in Serbia
• Strong development of relationships with local and national policy makers to influence them and promote the change of policies and practises
• Strong development of relationships with Consortium and Oxfam partners and allies
• Areas of further analysis and investigations identified and commissioning of in-depth research
• Reactive/proactive policy positions developed for media and advocacy use at national and international level
• Clear and timely advocacy plans and policy positions developed on issues related to refugees in Serbia with partners and allies

QUALIFICATIONS

Essentials:

Proven strong analytical skills necessary for carrying out successful advocacy/campaign;

3 years in policy and advocacy and public affairs/government experience;

INGO knowledge is required;

Work experience in Serbia – or in the Balkans;

Background knowledge in human rights, international law and humanitarian law;

Professional Knowledge of Serbian Language;

Capable of communicating complex issues to different audiences, and negotiation with policy makers and influencing networks is essential;

The following qualifications will be considered as an asset:

Knowledge of other Balkans Languages

Relevant experience of programme and/or policy work on emergencies and humanitarian relief;

Experience in Policy research publication;

Experience in project development and management;

Experience in working on advocacy related to refugees’/migrants’ issues.