Project Assistant

About US

Action Against Hunger leads the global movement to end hunger. We innovate solutions, advocate for change, and reach 24 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. As a non-profit organization that works across over 50 countries, our 8,300 dedicated staff members partner with communities to address the root causes of hunger, including climate change, conflict, inequity, and emergencies. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good. 

Action Against Hunger USA is part of the Action Against Hunger International network. As an independent NGO, Action Against Hunger USA currently manages operations in 8 countries: Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia and Haiti.  Action Against Hunger-USA has over $100 million in programs, and approximately 1,100 permanent staff based in New York City, Washington D.C, Nairobi, and country offices. Additional growth is anticipated. 

Organization context and rationale for this position 

Action Against Hunger (ACF), in consortium with IGAD and ICPAC, is implementing the DG ECHO-funded Regional Disaster Preparedness Program across Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti, operationalizing the SCALAA methodology and the IGAD Anticipatory Action Roadmap through four interdependent Result Areas. Within the Djibouti component, Result Area 3 addresses the city's acute and growing exposure to extreme heat events with temperatures regularly exceeding forty-five degrees Celsius and climate projections indicating increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves through 2030-2050, and to flash flooding driven by the Ambouli Wadi drainage system, which affects the majority of Djibouti Ville's densely populated neighborhoods. These two hazards represent the highest-frequency, highest-severity risk drivers for the program's fifty-two thousand, two hundred and eight direct beneficiaries. The Project Assistant (IGAD) position exists because the technical depth, data analysis and stakeholder engagement demands of the heatwave and flood preparedness planning mandate require dedicated full-time support that neither the Project Manager and Coordinator nor the Project Officer can provide alone. By placing this role within IGAD's institutional framework in Djibouti, the program simultaneously strengthens IGAD's operational presence in Djibouti and builds institutional heatwave and flood preparedness planning capacity within the IGAD system, contributing to the sustainability and regional replication of Djibouti's urban climate preparedness approach across the Greater Horn of Africa. 

1. SUMMARY OF POSITION

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3. This position wil be hired through our local partner in Djibouti

The Project Assistant (IGAD) provides dedicated technical and operational support focused specifically on urban heatwave and flood preparedness planning across all target neighborhoods in Djibouti Ville. Based within IGAD's Djibouti operational presence, this role bridges ICPAC climate science, municipal government planning and community-level preparedness activities, conducting technical analyses, supporting stakeholder consultations, preparing planning documents and tracking preparedness indicators, under the direct operational guidance of the Project Manager and Coordinator and in close coordination with the Regional Climate and AA Modeling Specialist and IGAD AA TWG. 

Purpose To provide dedicated, specialized technical and operational support for urban heatwave and flood preparedness planning in Djibouti Ville, translating ICPAC climate data, community vulnerability evidence and government planning mandates into actionable preparedness products that protect all direct beneficiaries from Djibouti's most severe recurring hazards. 

Engagement To engage with CIGRC, ONARS, municipal health authorities, the Regional Climate and AA Modeling Specialist, ICPAC, IOM, community health workers, Urban DRR Committees and IGAD technical staff, functioning as the technical bridge between climate science and municipal preparedness planning for heatwave and flood risk. 

Delivery To deliver high-quality technical analyses, preparedness planning documents, training materials, stakeholder consultation outputs and monitoring data supporting the Municipal Heatwave Preparedness Plan, Flood Preparedness Plan, WASH preparedness activities and urban health surveillance systems across all six target municipalities. 

2. ESSENTIAL JOB ROLES 

Heatwave Preparedness Planning and Technical Support 

• Provide dedicated technical and analytical support for the development of the Municipal Heatwave Preparedness Plan, conducting heat exposure mapping analyses using ICPAC thermal data, ERA5 reanalysis and local temperature station records in coordination with the Regional Climate and AA Modeling Specialist, analysing historical heatwave event data, health impact records and vulnerable population distribution data from ONARS and IOM, and synthesizing these into evidence-based heat risk profiles for each of the ten target neighborhoods that directly inform threshold calibration and priority intervention targeting. 

• Support CIGRC, ONARS and municipal health authorities in the design of heatwave alert communication protocols and institutional response procedures, drafting protocol templates, preparing technical briefing notes on heat health risks, facilitating consultation workshops with health workers and community representatives across all six districts, documenting feedback and revisions systematically, and ensuring finalized protocols are tested through seasonal preparedness drills before each peak heat period from June through September. 

• Support the development and operationalization of the cooling centre network across target neighborhoods, identifying potential cooling centre sites in coordination with municipal authorities and community DRR committees, developing cooling centre operational protocols covering activation triggers, staffing arrangements, supplies and beneficiary targeting, training cooling centre focal points, and coordinating with IOM and ONARS on targeting procedures for persons on the move and refugees and asylum seekers during heat emergencies. 

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• Design and support delivery of heat health training for frontline health workers, community health volunteers, Urban DRR Committee members and school teachers, covering recognition of heat exhaustion and heatstroke, hydration messaging, first-line management, surveillance reporting and referral pathways, and contribute training materials to IGAD AA TWG and SCALAA as replicable tools for urban heat preparedness in comparable East African contexts. 

• Track and document heatwave preparedness indicators for the DG ECHO Results Framework, monitoring progress on cooling centre establishment, health worker training completion, alert system testing and vulnerable population coverage, and prepare regular monitoring updates for the Project Manager and Coordinator and Regional MEAL Specialist, ensuring all evidence meets the data quality standards required for DG ECHO reporting. 

2. Flood Preparedness Planning and Technical Support 

• Provide dedicated technical support for the development of the Municipal Flood Preparedness Plan, compiling and analysing Ambouli Wadi catchment hydrology data, ICPAC rainfall forecasts, historical flood event records and community-level drainage vulnerability assessments, mapping high-priority drainage bottlenecks in coordination with the Project Manager and Coordinator, and producing flood risk summary products that inform the targeting and prioritization of drainage maintenance, evacuation route improvements and pre-positioned flood response resources across all ten target neighborhoods. 

• Support the development of flood-specific early warning communication procedures and community preparedness protocols, drafting community flood alert templates in French, Somali and Afar aligned with CIGRC's alert classification system, facilitating consultation sessions with Urban DRR Committees to validate alert language and response procedures, supporting integration of flood alert protocols with the multi-channel early warning system under Activity A3.4, and testing protocols through community simulation exercises ahead of the Kharif flash flood season from August through October. 

• Support the Drain Maintenance Committee strengthening program under Activity A3.6, providing technical input on priority drainage segment identification using flood risk data, supporting training design for Drain Maintenance Committee members on drainage bottleneck inspection and reporting, tracking committee operational performance through seasonal inspection cycles, and compiling maintenance records for MEAL evidence and DG ECHO reporting. 

• Support coordination of pre-flood season preparedness activities, assisting the Project Manager and Coordinator in planning intensified drainage clearance campaigns, early warning system seasonal tests, Urban DRR Committee pre-flood briefings and municipal authority preparedness readiness reviews, tracking seasonal preparedness milestones against the implementation workplan, and preparing pre-flood season readiness assessment reports for the Regional Consortium Coordinator. 

• Document flood preparedness planning evidence and innovations, preparing technical summaries, case studies and learning notes on Djibouti's flash flood preparedness approaches for contribution to IGAD AA TWG, SCALAA and the Eastern Africa Dialogue Platform, and support the Regional MEAL Specialist in conducting Post-Activation Reviews following any Crisis Modifier flood-related activations. 

3. Urban WASH Preparedness Support  

• Support the implementation of urban WASH preparedness and outbreak prevention activities, assisting in the design and delivery of water quality monitoring protocols at community water points, preparing hygiene promotion materials on safe water storage, water treatment and sanitation practices linked to flood and heat early warning alerts, and coordinating community hygiene promotion sessions with Urban DRR Committees and ONARS, ensuring materials are accessible to non-literate community members in French, Somali and Afar. 

• Support the development of contingency WASH measures for flood emergency scenarios, compiling an inventory of emergency water purification resources, temporary latrine options and solid waste management contingencies available through CIGRC, ONARS and humanitarian partners, documenting these as pre-positioned response options within the Municipal Flood Preparedness Plan, and coordinating with IOM on WASH contingency arrangements for displacement sites and informal settlements within flood risk zones. 

• Support integration of WASH preparedness trigger thresholds with the multi-hazard trigger matrix under Result Area 1, working with the Project Manager and Coordinator and Regional Climate Specialist to identify which WASH preparedness measures should be activated as pre-emptive early action under the Crisis Modifier, and drafting the WASH early action package specifications for review and inclusion in CM SOPs. 

• Track and document WASH preparedness indicators including community water quality monitoring coverage, hygiene promotion session reach, contingency measure readiness status and WASH-related feedback from the complaints mechanism and prepare regular WASH preparedness monitoring updates for the Project Manager and Coordinator and Regional MEAL Specialist. 

• Coordinate community WASH preparedness activities with ONARS for refugee and asylum-seeker populations, ensuring all hygiene promotion materials, community consultations and WASH preparedness information are accessible to all refugees and asylum seekers through ONARS distribution channels and community focal points, and documenting complementarity with ONARS and IOM WASH activities in formal coordination records. 

4. Urban Health Surveillance Support  

• Support the strengthening of urban health surveillance systems for heat-related illness and flood-related disease across Djibouti Ville, coordinating with CIGRC, municipal health authorities and IOM to compile baseline data on heat illness incidence, diarrheal disease burden during flood seasons and health facility referral capacity, and preparing technical inputs for the heatwave health preparedness plan including evidence-based alert thresholds calibrated to health system capacity. 

• Support the design and delivery of heat illness surveillance reporting training for community health workers and frontline health facility staff, developing surveillance case definitions, simple reporting forms and digital reporting pathways, facilitating training sessions at health facilities across target districts, and ensuring surveillance data flows from community level to CIGRC's health alert system to enable early detection of heat health emergencies. 

• Track health surveillance data trends during peak risk periods, monitoring CIGRC and municipal health authority disease surveillance reports for early signals of heat-related illness increases or post-flood disease outbreaks, preparing regular health surveillance monitoring briefs for the Project Manager and Coordinator, and supporting activation of the Municipal Heatwave Preparedness Plan's public health communication procedures when surveillance thresholds are approached. 

• Support integration of IOM people-on-the-move health data and ONARS refugee health data into CIGRC's beneficiary targeting system for health emergency activations, ensuring that health surveillance coverage and health emergency response targeting explicitly includes all persons on the move and refugees and asylum seekers through formal data-sharing protocols established between ACF, IOM, ONARS and CIGRC at program inception. 

• Prepare health surveillance and preparedness evidence documentation for IGAD AA TWG and SCALAA learning platforms, compiling case studies on Djibouti's urban heat and flood health surveillance system, health worker training approaches and health emergency trigger calibration methodology, and contributing these to IGAD and SCALAA's regional learning repositories as replicable models for urban health surveillance integration in extreme climate urban contexts. 

5. IGAD Technical Support and Regional Learning 

• Provide dedicated technical support to IGAD's operational functions in Djibouti, assisting in the preparation of IGAD AA TWG meeting materials and technical briefs on heatwave and flood preparedness approaches, supporting documentation of Djibouti's National AA Roadmap development process, and contributing to cross-border SOP coordination across the Somalia-Djibouti corridor by providing Djibouti-specific heatwave and flood risk data for integration into cross-border multi-hazard trigger matrices. 

• Contribute to IGAD's regional urban preparedness knowledge base, drafting technical summaries, annotated tools and operational guidelines on urban heatwave and flood preparedness planning for use across the IGAD region, presenting Djibouti-specific evidence at IGAD AA TWG sessions, and supporting the Project Manager and Coordinator in facilitating knowledge exchange visits between Djibouti national staff and counterparts in Ethiopia and Somalia. 

• Support the Project Manager and Coordinator in preparing contributions to SCALAA's shared simulation calendar and regional learning system, documenting heatwave and flood preparedness simulation designs, findings and After-Action Review outputs from Djibouti, contributing these to SCALAA's knowledge management system, and ensuring Djibouti's urban climate preparedness evidence is accessible to the broader ECHO-funded disaster preparedness portfolio. 

• Maintain accurate records of all technical activities, stakeholder consultations, training events and planning processes under IGAD secondment, producing clear meeting minutes, activity reports, training documentation and preparedness planning records that meet IGAD's institutional reporting standards and ACF's DG ECHO documentation requirements, and submit regular written updates to the IGAD Djibouti focal point and ACF Project Manager and Coordinator. 

• Contribute to the program's MEAL system by supporting data collection for heatwave and flood preparedness indicators, assisting the Data Analyst with survey data collection in target neighborhoods, documenting preparedness activity outputs, contributing community feedback observations to the complaints mechanism, and supporting the Regional MEAL Specialist in preparing evidence needed for the baseline, mid-term and endline evaluations across heatwave and flood preparedness activities. 

3. SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES  

No direct supervisory responsibilities. Works under the day-to-day operational guidance of the Project Manager and Coordinator and under the technical guidance of IGAD AA TWG for IGAD-specific activities. Collaborates with the Project Officer and Data Analyst on field activities as assigned by the Project Manager and Coordinator. 

4. Key Relationships 

Internal Relationships 

• ACF Urban Program Project officer: Administrative line manager, HR management and operational support 

• Project Manager: Day-to-day technical and operational guidance, workplan assignment and output review 

• IGAD AA Technical Working Group: Technical reporting under secondment, AA Roadmap support and regional learning 

• Regional Climate and AA Modeling Specialist: Technical inputs, heatwave thresholds, flood risk analysis and ICPAC data coordination 

• Regional MEAL and Learning Specialist: MEAL data contributions, Results Framework indicators and learning documentation 

• Data Analyst Ethiopia- Djibouti: Data collection collaboration, MEAL support and reporting data provision 

External Relationships 

• CIGRC: Key government partner, heatwave plan, flood preparedness coordination and health alert protocols 

• ONARS: Government partner, refugee targeting for heat and flood emergency activations 

• Municipal Health Authorities in all 6 districts: Health surveillance, health worker training and heat emergency referral pathways 

• IGAD Regional Office Djibouti: Secondment host, institutional support and regional technical coordination 

• ICPAC: Climate data source, heatwave and flood threshold calibration in coordination with Climate Specialist 

• IOM Djibouti: Data sharing, persons on the move health data and WASH complementarity 

• Urban DRR Committees in all 10 neighborhoods: Community-level preparedness, early warning and heatwave and flood protocol testing 

• Community Health Workers: Health surveillance reporting, heat illness case identification and referral 

5. PHYSCIAL DEMANDS 

• Regular field activities across all six target districts in extreme heat conditions regularly exceeding forty to forty-five degrees Celsius, including community consultations, training facilitation, preparedness drill observations and drainage site inspections. 

• Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job. 

6. WORKING CONDITIONS, TRAVEL AND ENVIRONMENT 

• The duties of the job require regular attendance at least five days per week; must be available to work outside normal office hours or on weekends as required during simulation exercises, seasonal preparedness campaigns and emergency alert activations. 

• 100 percent based in Djibouti Ville with field presence across all six target municipalities; no international travel beyond occasional IGAD regional forums. Embedded working presence within IGAD's Djibouti operational office. Exposure to extreme urban heat and outdoor environmental conditions during regular field activities. 

7. GENDER EQUALITY COMMITMENT & ZERO TOLERANCE TO ABUSE 

• Foster an environment that supports values of women and men, and equal access to information. 

• Provide a work environment where women and men must be evaluated and promoted based on their skills and performance  

• Respect beneficiaries’ women, men, boys and girls regardless of gender, sex orientation, disability, religion, race, color, ancestry, national origin, age or marital status,  

• Values and respects different cultures.  

• Promote and uphold the Safeguarding/PSEA policy and procedures 

8. FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY 

• No direct budget management authority. Provides technical support to activities funded under the Djibouti component budget and the IGAD Co-Partner Budget for Djibouti activities. 

• Tracks activity-level expenditure for heatwave and flood preparedness activities and submits accurate supporting documentation to the Project Manager and Coordinator and ACF Djibouti Country Finance function in accordance with DG ECHO documentation requirements. 

9. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS 

Bachelor’s degree in public health, Environmental Health, Disaster Risk Management, Urban Planning, Climate Studies, Environmental Science or a related field. Additional training or certification in urban DRR, heatwave preparedness, climate change adaptation or humanitarian WASH is an added advantage. 

10.  REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE 

• Minimum of two to three years of professional experience in humanitarian programming, disaster preparedness, public health emergency response, urban DRR or environmental planning in a complex or resource-constrained urban context. 

• Demonstrated experience contributing to climate-related preparedness planning, heat health programming, flood risk reduction or WASH emergency preparedness, with ability to translate technical climate or public health data into accessible planning products for government and community audiences. 

• Knowledge of urban risk analysis methodologies, community-level early warning systems, vulnerability mapping approaches or health surveillance systems is desirable; experience working in IGAD-supported programs or with IGAD institutional counterparts is a strong asset. 

• Excellent facilitation and communication skills, able to lead community consultations, technical workshops and multi-stakeholder coordination meetings effectively in French and Somali; strong written communication for preparation of training materials, technical briefs and activity reports. 

• Fluency in English language is required while French is highly desirable.  Knowledge of Afar or Arabic is an additional asset. Knowledge of Djibouti's institutional landscape is highly desirable. 

This position wil be hired through our local partner in Djibouti