IMPACT INITIATIVES ET REACH
IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization manages several initiatives, including the REACH initiative. The IMPACT team is composed of specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO headquartered in Paris and present in around thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, allowing IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support in its areas of intervention.
REACH was established in 2010 as a joint initiative of two international NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Programme for Operational Satellite Applications (UNOSAT). REACH’s objective is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that improve the decision-making and planning capacity of the humanitarian community in emergency, reconstruction and development contexts. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: a) needs and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; b) situation analysis using satellite images; and c) provision of integrated databases and web maps.
We are currently looking for an Assessment Officer to support our REACH team in the DRC.
Department : REACH – Humanitarian Programming Cycle Unit “HPC”
Title : Assessment Officer
Contract duration : 6 months
Work location : Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
Start date : December 2024
COUNTRY PROFILE
The DRC is facing an acute and complex humanitarian crisis. Recurrent conflicts in the Kivus and Ituri provinces, as well as emerging crises in other parts of the country, health shocks and natural disasters, and chronic poverty affecting a large part of the population are all reasons for the high level of humanitarian needs. According to the 2023 Humanitarian Needs Outlook, 26.4 million people (including 5.5 million internally displaced persons) in the DRC are in need of humanitarian assistance. The country also hosts more than 500,000 refugees from neighboring countries, a particularly vulnerable population. Many regions of the country also remain affected by multiple epidemics, including measles, cholera, malaria and the Ebola virus.
MISSION STRUCTURE & PROJECTS
Since 2016, IMPACT, – currently present in Kinshasa, Goma, Bukavu and Kalemie – provides through its three initiatives REACH, AGORA and PANDA rapid and in-depth assessments, information management and mapping services to inform humanitarian planning and action in the DRC. All publicly available information products produced by the mission in the DRC are accessible on the REACH resource center . The main objective of the Humanitarian Programming Cycle (HPC) research unit is to inform the strategic and programmatic prioritization of humanitarian assistance in a complex context, and to support the harmonization and cross-sectoral capacity building of aid actors. From 2020, new research projects have emerged in the then created unit such as monitoring the humanitarian situation (in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Tanganyika, now also extended to Ituri and Maniema); profiling of sites and host communities (Ituri province); and in collaboration with all actors involved in price monitoring and market functioning and the Cash Working Group (CWG), analyses of price trends on Congolese markets. From 2021, REACH, in collaboration with OCHA, also piloted a multi-sectoral needs assessment (MSNA) in Tanganyika province, then extended to South Kivu province in 2022, with the aim of informing the country’s humanitarian programming cycles (HNO/HRP). The unit finally saw new developments in 2023, through an ambitious technical partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP) to implement a joint multi-sectoral assessment at the national level, as well as with the recent development of a Crisis Analysis and Response Quality Working Group (GTACQ) whose objective is to inform key actors in the response on operational and strategic levels.
JOB PROFILE
Reporting to the Humanitarian Programmatic Cycle (HPC) Research Manager, the Evaluation Officer will focus on the implementation of HSM and MSNA activities, which will inform humanitarian planning in 2025. In this role, the Evaluation Officer will work across the entire research cycle (from research design, to data collection, cleaning and analysis, and writing information products). The ideal candidate will be keen to work in a dynamic organization, with the opportunity to develop skills in data analysis and external coordination. Technical support will be provided by the HPC Research Manager, Senior Evaluation Officers and the IMPACT team at headquarters in Geneva.
FUNCTIONS
Under the functional supervision of the REACH Research Manager in the DRC**, the Evaluation Officer will ensure the coordination and implementation of all research activities falling under the HSM-MSNA portfolio of the HPC** unit, including:
· Research design : Proposal of research themes, development and revision of indicators, development of the evaluation methodology and sampling strategy as well as data collection tools;
· Planning and coordination of data collection activities, in close collaboration with support teams in the DRC;
· Monitoring data processing : Development of data cleaning and analysis plans, production of analyses (in close collaboration with the data team in the country);
· Development of information products and presentations of results;
· Close coordination, throughout the research cycle, with all relevant external actors within the humanitarian coordination structure in the DRC and supporting the integration of results into strategic planning documents;
· Regular communication and collaboration with data management and reporting units at IMPACT headquarters to ensure the application of global REACH and IMPACT standards and best practices in general.
As part of his/her mission, the evaluation officer will be hosted by ACTED and will report to the ACTED Country Director and his/her delegates. He/she will fully respect ACTED’s rules on security, human resources, administration and logistics.
The evaluation officer may be required to represent IMPACT/REACH in cluster meetings and various coordination bodies, as well as in technical working groups in the DRC. More generally, the evaluation officer will contribute to the creation of a positive image and the overall credibility of the organization.
CONFIDENTIALITE
The evaluation officer will have to maintain the highest level of confidentiality of the data collected in the field and ensure adherence to global personal data protection processes. He or she will ensure that mechanisms are implemented to avoid unauthorized sharing of information collected during his or her mission in collaboration with the data management team at headquarters.
ACCOUNTABILITY TO COMMUNITIES AND BENEFICIARIES
The Evaluation Officer, like any other REACH staff member, is responsible for ensuring that relationships with the communities in which REACH and its partners work are conducted in a respectful and consultative manner. Particular attention must be paid to ensuring that communities are properly consulted and informed about the objectives, activities, and methodologies of IMPACT projects.
PROFILE
· Excellent academic qualifications, Master’s level in Political Science, International Relations, Statistics or other relevant subjects;
· At least 2 years of relevant professional experience in the humanitarian or development sector in research, information management or monitoring and evaluation;
· Experience working on multi-stakeholder projects, with a high external engagement component;
· Excellent skills with Excel, Word and Powerpoint software;
· Excellent analytical and synthesis skills;
· Excellent communication and writing skills for product writing;
· Knowledge of statistical analysis tools such as R, SPSS, STATA, or GIS and graphics software such as InDesign will be a strong asset;
· Skills required in team management, coordination, organization and planning, to supervise field teams;
· Ability to operate in a multicultural environment;
· Flexibility in terms of role and nature of work which can evolve depending on the context;
· Perfect command of French, English an asset, knowledge of a local language in the DRC, particularly Swahili, will also be an asset;
· Ability to work on multiple tasks with short deadlines;
· Ability to take ownership of assigned tasks and demonstrate a dynamic team spirit;
· Experience in managing assessments in crisis contexts and field experience in countries affected by crises desired.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
· For this position, the salary is between CHF 2,160 and CHF 2,280 per month (before income tax), etc. plus a monthly living allowance of USD 300.
o NB – IMPACT salaries are strictly determined by our salary scale based on the grade of the position and the education level of the staff. A location-dependent security and/or isolation adjustment is then applied to account for the fact that some staff members must work in difficult locations where living and working conditions are much more difficult than elsewhere.
· Accommodation and food in a guest house. NB – IMPACT is hosted by ACTED in this country
· Membership in a Swiss private pension fund (Swisslife – approximately 9.975% of staff gross salary), health insurance, life insurance and repatriation assistance
· Airfare every 6 months and visa fees covered (in-country travel and business expenses are fully covered)
· Contribution to baggage transport: between 20 and 100 kg, depending on the duration of the contract (+ baggage and personal property insurance)
· Annual leave of 36 days per year. Public holidays of the country of assignment. Leave for family or compassionate reasons, if applicable.
· Pre-departure initiation – 3 days at IMPACT Initiatives headquarters in Geneva + one week of pre-departure training at ACTED headquarters in Paris, including a 4-day on-site security training;
· Enrollment in the IMPACT Initiatives Research Foundational Learning Programme within the first 3 months of contract start
· IMPACT prioritizes the psychological safety of its staff and the health insurance provided covers, among other things, up to €1,000 per year in psychosocial counseling costs.
