Humanitarian Affairs Adviser

What we do

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works worldwide to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflict and armed violence. We take action in response to emergencies and, at the same time, promote respect for international humanitarian law. We are an independent and neutral organization, and our mandate stems essentially from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. We work closely with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and with their International Federation in order to ensure a concerted, rational and rapid humanitarian response to the needs of the victims of armed conflict or any other situation of internal violence.

We direct and coordinate the international activities conducted in these situations.

The African Humanitarian Agency (AfHA) was established by the African Union (AU) in 2023 charged with the responsibility to coordinate and provide humanitarian responses in coordination with affected Member States. The mandate of AfHA is to: a) provide assistance and ensure effective coordination of humanitarian action on the continent, while taking into account early warning, response, adaptation and building resilience; (b) build and strengthen the capabilities and capacities of AU Member States, Regional Bodies and Mechanisms in preventing, responding, managing effectively, alleviating and contributing to resolving the humanitarian crises on the continent.

AfHA will be based in Kampala. The operationalization of AfHA presents a strategic opportunity for the RC/RC Movement to shape its trajectory in the best interest of the most vulnerable in Africa. Specifically for the ICRC, AfHA presents the right opportunities to engage in humanitarian matters in armed conflict and other situations of violence, while at the same time drawing on the agency’s mandate to promote respect for IHL, facilitate safe access, and ensure protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel in conflicts in Africa, but also enhance the recognition of the ICRC’s intermediary role.

Secondment of the Health Affairs Adviser 2 (HAA) to the African Union will help ICRC to optimize these opportunities.

The Humanitarian Affairs Adviser 2 ( HAA) is seconded to the Department of Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development (HHS) of the African Union to support and influence the set-up of an AU humanitarian architecture - namely by contributing to the operationalization of the AfHA through legal and technical support, in coordination with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The objective is to help AfHA become of real added value for Africans affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence, guided by International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and fundamental humanitarian principles. The HAA also helps shape the ICRC’s engagement with HHS, AfHA, key member States (e.g., Uganda, AfHA board members), Regional Economic Communities (RECs, who also sit on the AfHA board), and the AU Specialized Technical Committee on Migration, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (STC).

The HAA will report to the Dpty Head of Delegation of the ICRC Delegation to the African Union (ADO)

• Internally, interacts with the ADO HoD/DHoD, ADO HAAs, ADO FAS, as well as the ICRC delegation in Kampala (AfHA will be based in Uganda), the Regional Director for Movement Affairs in Nairobi, and the diplomatic hubs (DAK, ALG, PRE, NAI).
• Externally, can be tasked to independently interact with relevant AU officials (e.g., HHS), key member States, RECs. IFRC, and other humanitarian players. The HAA will be embedded in the Department of HHS at the African Union, with periodic stopovers at the ICRC Delegation in Addis (e.g., internal meetings).
• As a new agency, the HAA periodically conducts a foresight analysis to take stock of what is working, identify gaps/ challenges, and recommend/ chart the next course of action.
• Monitor the evolution of humanitarian dynamics in the prism of armed conflict and draw a roadmap for engagement by the AfHA and its core constituencies.
• Undertakes analysis and draws on the ICRC operational practices as well…