Advocacy Officer Lazio

Advocacy Officer
Roma
Lazio, Lazio

Overview:

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare.

These programs are run through five operational centres.

MSF Italy is a primary partner of the Operational Centre Brussels (OCB) and a secondary partner of the Operational Centre Barcelona and Athens (OCBA).

MSF Italy is also working in cooperation with the three other Operational Centres of Amsterdam (OCA), Geneva (OCG) and Paris (OCP).

As a partner section, MSF Italy is engaged in saving lives and alleviating suffering through fundraising; communication and advocacy, recruitment and deployment of field workers; as well as running operations in Italy and supporting international operations through expertise and other kinds of direct support.

Being employed by MSF means adhering to MSF's humanitarian principles: neutrality, impartiality and independence.

The beneficiaries of MSF - the patients - are at the core of everything that MSF does.

Medical ethics and voluntarism are part of the MSF spirit.

The **Humanitarian Affairs (HA) Officer** is the focal point for the migration advocacy activities within the context of Italian MSF projects in line with MSF policies and values.

The HA Officer is a member of the Humanitarian Affairs Unit, within the Programmes Department and acts as a sparring-partner for all operational and medical teams.

S/he is the focal point for transversal platforms with civil society at Italian level related to migration topics and will contribute to the development of the humanitarian affairs unit activities and strategies.

Additionally, the Advocacy Officer will participate to international platforms and working groups on migration-related topics, to develop strategies and coordinate joint initiatives.

**Responsibilities**:

**CORE OBJECTIVES

- To contribute to the definition and implementation of MSF humanitarian affairs activities related to migration, including responsibility for drafting humanitarian affairs strategies addressing medical-humanitarian priorities in relation to operational needs - ensure that advocacy components are included in project and operational strategies.

- To contribute to the definition of a protection strategy and provide guidance to the team for the implementation in project locations

- Monitor and compile regular updates on migration policies dynamics to increase the leverage capacity and the national impact of MSF lobbying in line and in coordination with operational plans, regular activities and medical-humanitarian advocacy objectives.

- Draft ad hoc lobbying points and internal/external reports in relation to main medical-humanitarian consequences of migration and asylum policies while strengthening the integration of humanitarian affairs (analysis, critical reflection, contextual understanding) and operational communications.

- Drafts regular situation reports as well as reports for external use in line with a comprehensive humanitarian affairs strategy.

- Undertake field assessments and other work-related traveling as required at Italian as well as at European level.

- If relevant supervises staff under his/ her direct responsibility.

**DATA COLLECTION - ANALYSIS**:

- Support to the implementation of data collection systems with regards to the operational contexts (focus on national level with potential regional/global repercussions, and local developments in project locations), and medical-humanitarian issues, in order to provide reliable information for operational and strategic decision-making.

- Undertake actor mapping and stakeholders' analysis on behalf of projects and Programmes Department, while providing guidance / support to PCs for the management of relations with local authorities, and strategic advice within the Programme Department for national-level organizational positioning.

- Contribute to data and discourse analysis in support of the Programmes Department to inform MSF positioning in-country (project-level and at national level), particularly in terms of political / operational environment (regulation frameworks, donor/aid agreements, trade and economic developments).

**REPRESENTATION - COMMUNICATION**:

- Support networking needs by leading or participating representation duties in non-project locations, including with domestic civil society, professional groups (doctors'/nurses' associations) and local academics/universities.

- Ensure representation of MSF at relevant platforms (mainly Tavolo Asilo and Tavolo Salute e Immigrazione).

- Define, draft and review advocacy messages on migration related topics and targeting (including communications and dissemination strategies) to raise awareness of medical-humanitarian issues across MSF projects and at national level (transversal thematic).

- Contribute to the design and organization of debates, conferences in collaboration with Commu