The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Humanitarian Coordination Pool (HC Pool) is a roster of pre-identified and pre-vetted high-calibre humanitarian professionals from the UN, the Red Cross/Red Crescent movement, NGOs and other organisations, who are qualified for humanitarian coordination leadership positions.
Acting on behalf of the IASC, OCHA’s Humanitarian Leadership Strengthening Section (HLSS) conducts calls for applications to the HC Pool as needed. Each call aims to deepen the pool of suitable candidates for wider humanitarian coordination leadership positions, and to identify those who are ready for immediate leadership assignments, including in the context of IASC scale-up emergencies to meet the urgent leadership needs on the ground.
In consultation with the IASC, HLSS has revamped the HC Pool in 2023 to replenish the pool of available candidates as well as to improve diversity of the HC Pool composition, especially with respect to gender, geography, and agency of origin.
What is the purpose of the IASC HC Pool?
- Identification of high calibre candidates for humanitarian coordination leadership positions [e.g. Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator (DHC), Regional Humanitarian Coordinator (RHC), Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator (DRHC), Resident Coordinator positions that carry a Humanitarian Coordinator designation (RC/HC)].
- The IASC are collectively able to assess candidates’ suitability for humanitarian coordination leadership posts.
- The ERC and IASC have a pre-vetted roster of suitable candidates for urgent deployment.
Placement in the HC Pool does not provide access to other leadership talent management initiatives. The HC Pool, RC/HC Talent Pipeline and RC Pool are all independent processes.
Who can apply to the IASC HC Pool?
Candidates to the HC Pool Call must meet all the following eligibility criteria:
- Master’s degree or equivalent in in Political Science, Political Economy, International Relations, International Law, Public Administration, Sociology or related fields. A first level university degree with a relevant combination of academic qualifications and experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
- A minimum of fifteen (15) years of substantive professional experience and result in leadership roles;
- A minimum of two (2) years of representational and leadership experience at senior level (D-1 equivalent and above);
- A minimum of three (3) years of recent (within the past 7 years) field experience managing and/or coordinating multi-sector humanitarian assistance operations and/or multilateral context preferably at the country level in a high-risk environment (conflict and/or insecurity);
- Commitment to take up high-level coordination leadership functions in non-family duty station within the next two (2) years;
- A strong record of performance (e.g., rating of fully meet performance expectations or equivalent in last two (2) performance appraisals);
- Record of good standing; candidates will not be considered if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts.
How to apply?
Interested candidates should gather and prepare the following documents to support their application package:
- Updated Administrative Profile (PHP) generated from the Inspira platform
- Copies (PDF format) of their two (2) most recent performance appraisals, or equivalent
Once the abovementioned documents are ready, candidates should refer to the HC Pool Application Guide (listed below) for the link to the online application form.
The call for applications to the HC Pool will be launched on Monday, 31 July 2023. The deadline to submit an application is Thursday, 31 August 2023 (23:59 CET). No late submissions will be accepted.
How are IASC HC Pool members selected?
An eligibility review panel composed of human resource focal points from IASC organisations will screen all applications against the criteria outlined in the application guide (click here). HLSS will then carry out reference checks for all eligible candidates.
The admission panel, composed of senior-level IASC officials (which may include Emergency Directors), from both UN and non-UN entities, will interview suitable candidates.
Candidates recommended by the admission panel are admitted to the HC Pool.
Currently serving HCs may join the HC Pool if recommended by the IASC Emergency Directors at the time of the annual HC Performance review, and in such cases, do not need to undergo the application process.
For any questions on the IASC HC Pool and its process, please reach out to the HLSS Team at hcpool@un.org.