Advocacy Lead-Food, Fuel and Finance Crisis

Location: Global

Department: Income Security

Fixed term contract: 6 months

Grade: UK Grade E or equivalent according to location / type of contract

HelpAge and Strategy 2030 – delivering real impact for older people

HelpAge International works with partners and a diverse global network of more than 150 organizations across 85 countries, supporting millions of older people to live safe, dignified and healthy lives. Through our partnership and collaborations, we work to ensure the inclusion of older people across society and strive to deliver a just and fair world for everyone, whatever their age. Our work is driven by our desire to deliver real impact for older people, to be inclusive, to work in partnership and to learn from our shared experience.

Our 2030 strategy Ageing in a Just World sets out how we will work together to shape the future we all share. By working together we aim to help inspire a movement for change and through ensuring all our work promotes older people’s wellbeing, dignity and voice, we can transform the lives of older people now and in the future.

As part of our 2030 strategy we have a continued commitment to inclusive humanitarian action, supporting older people and their families at a time of crisis.

Global Food, Fuel and Finance Crisis

The evolving global food, fuel and finance crisis is having a devastating effect on older people in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries. This crisis is heightened as a result of the Russian war in Ukraine but builds on the ongoing effects of the global pandemic, pre-existing levels of poverty and the increasingly destructive consequences of climate change, including droughts, floods and resource related conflict.

HelpAge International is collecting data on the implications of this crisis for older people in 10 countries. We are also drawing on our experience of crises since 1983 in countries including South Sudan, Sri Lanka and Yemen which allows an insight into what may happen if an appropriate response, that includes the voices of older people and responds to them, is not mounted immediately.

It is critical to sound the alarm now so that key global actors in food, energy and finance systems address the issues raised by older people and include older people in their response plans.

We are now seeking a passionate, professional and experienced candidate for a roles to support our response to this crisis. We are looking for talent which thrives in collaborating with others (inside HelpAge International and beyond) and who can work in agile ways and across boundaries.

Key areas for impact/influence and responsibilities:

These outline the broad areas of responsibility in the role, but in collaboration with your colleagues you will be able to shape and design specific activities that are relevant at any point in time. We want you to work creatively to deliver impact and respond to relevant opportunities.

As Advocacy Lead you will lead the implementation of the HelpAge global advocacy plan on the crisis and support national advocacy work in close cooperation with global and national colleagues. You will be a core member of the HelpAge task team on the Food, Fuel and Finance crisis. Although this role sits in Income Security team, you will work collaboratively with colleagues from other technical areas such as health, humanitarian, climate, and rights, as well as communications on messaging and business development on key stakeholders.

Developing core global messages on the food, fuel and finance crisis and its impact on older people

• Develop, update and disseminate key advocacy messaging in alignment with HelpAge global priorities and positions and creating maximum space for the voices of older people.
• Provide a central advocacy helpdesk for national advocacy efforts in the 10 project countries, facilitating peer advice and feedback on advocacy strategies, providing global materials and supporting the development of key messages and identification of key stakeholders at the national level.
• Produce high-quality policy guidance and briefs and support the preparation of briefs, technical papers and research reports for dissemination or publication, working with relevant global staff and national teams.

Building strategic partnerships

• Identify and initiate strategic partnerships with an agreed portfolio of key organisations, institutions and research bodies to support influencing efforts, in coordination with relationship leads in the Business Development and Global Impact teams.
• Maintain and strengthen strategic advocacy networks and alliances.
• Actively engage with government, UN partners, donors NGOs and coalitions, and academia to promote awareness and understanding of the rights and needs of older people.

Disseminating knowledge and creating platforms for older people’s voices

• Lead the planning and preparation for key strategic global policy events and engagements, facilitating senior staff and technical lead involvement as necessary providing platforms for leaders among older people’s associations and HelpAge network members.

Organisational relationships and cross-team working

• Support the global Humanitarian Advocacy Advisor to develop and deliver global level advocacy for the inclusion of older people in policies, programmes and funding plans.
• Support HelpAge Communications Team to develop media and communications messages that incorporate key advocacy messaging.
• Support HelpAge Business Development Team to identify and develop key stakeholder relationships in the donor community to increase HelpAge’s profile and likelihood of securing timely, high quality and relevant humanitarian assistance for older people.

Let’s talk about you

You will be someone with:

• Proven abilities and experience in influencing decision-makers on policy, planning and delivery
• Understanding of global humanitarian and development policy and frameworks.
• Strong knowledge of global institutional structures and how they can be navigated to seek out strategic opportunities that produce change.
• Comfortable with complex issues with the ability to convert them into clear and actionable demands for decision-makers
• Excellent communication, representative and persuasive skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication abilities in English.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and dependably with colleagues in a way that encourages experimentation, learning and agency and develop positive relationships with dispersed terms.

Desirable:

• Strong food systems knowledge and experience.
• Knowledge and experience in humanitarian responses.

At HelpAge International, we believe in the importance of empowering our people to be change makers and leaders at all levels. We expect our people to embrace and live our values, challenging themselves every day to identify issues that are most important to older persons and their communities, and to make an impact that matters.

In addition, as an HelpAge employee you are expected to:

• Work collaboratively, building mutual trust and respect, with external organisations and partners to achieve our strategic aims and objectives; being accountable for the work you do together
• Adapt to new directions or opportunities arising within the organization and in your work area; being flexible in your role, constantly using the feedback to learn more and evolve further.
• Lead behavioral and cultural change through embracing a supportive, collaborative and highly inclusive environment where everybody feels supported, respected and engaged
• Extend HelpAge’s reach and impact, by creating and identifying new business development opportunities and building relationships with new partners.
• Lead and promote a culture of including the voices of older people across our support, convening and thought leadership roles, in a way that is transformative, empowering and highly inclusive of those marginalized by gender, economic status, disability and other factors of discrimination.

Safeguarding

HelpAge International is committed to safeguarding the communities with which we work, our partners, staff and any others who we come into contact with.

Therefore, you will also be responsible for:

• Preventing harm and abuse from our people, operations and programmes to anyone that encounters our work;
• Reporting all safeguarding incidents you see, hear, hear about or suspect, using our internal reporting mechanism;
• Complying with all safeguarding framework policies and practices
• Completing mandatory training courses relating to our safeguarding policy framework and complying with HR vetting procedures.