Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)

D

Family

UNOPS IICA2

2025-01-01

November 3, 2024

The situation in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar has significantly deteriorated in 2024 with the escalation of the conflict in Rakhine State. Increasing activities by organised groups engaged in an ongoing power struggle and confrontations inside the camps have led to a rise in killings, abduction, extortion, trafficking, and violent incidents, which have compromised the civilian and humanitarian character of the camps and impacted the physical safety and well-being of refugees.

This, further compounded by the restrictions to freedom of movement as well as lack of meaningful economic, livelihood and education opportunities for Rohingya refugees, make young people easy prey to trafficking, dangerous onward journeys by land and sea, exploitation by criminal groups, and other negative coping mechanisms such as child marriage. Young people, children, adolescent girls, single women, widows, and people with disabilities continue to be at particular risk; refugee volunteers and community leaders continue to face direct threats to comply with demands of organised criminal groups.

The Protection Sector, led by UNHCR, works closely with the two Sub-Sectors: Child Protection and Gender-Base Violence. The Protection Sector also hosts a number of Working Groups such as the Gender Diverse Person Working Group, the Anti-Trafficking Working Group, the Peace & Security Working Group, as well as the Housing Land and Property Adviser, and works with all protection partners covering the 33 refugee camps to ensure protection monitoring and analysis, the delivery of appropriate protection services and the response to protection risks and needs.

Protection monitoring allows for the timely identification of protection risks, data collection and analysis on issues such as security incidents including violence against children, gender-based violence, exploitation, human trafficking, and barriers to accessing essential services. The collective response ensures all protection risks are addressed through coordinated interventions including case management, referral to protection services, access to and provision of legal aid and specialized services to refugees. The Sector works in ensuring ongoing capacity building to partners, Law Enforcement Agencies, and refugee volunteers together with continuous advocacy for security in the camps, prevention of child and gender-based violence and HLP rights.

The Protection Sector ensures a holistic and coherent response with the two Sub-Sectors, Child Protection and GBV, and its various Working Groups. As part of the overall protection response, the Sector ensures community-based protection mechanisms and engagement with diverse community structures to support community resilience is implemented by partners. These efforts are always oriented to ensure gender equality and the inclusion of persons with specific needs, gender-diverse population and persons with disabilities. The Protection Sector also works to enhance collective accountability to affected populations (AAP) through different complaint and feedback mechanisms, responsive services, and case referrals. The Sector is responsible of mainstreaming protection across the various sectors of the refugee response and ensuring the centrality of protection in the Joint Response Plan.

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

• The Protection Officer (IICA-2) will be a part of the Protection Sector, led by UNHCR. S/he will report to the Senior Protection Officer, who is the Coordinator of the Protection Sector.
Under the supervision of the Senior Protection Officer, the Protection Officer will:
• • Lead all programmatic matters in line with the Joint Response Plan (JRP) programme cycle by ensuring a coordinated effort of all protection partners, to assess protection needs, identify gaps in services and resources, prioritize protection service distribution and inform the analysis for effective, efficient and responsive Protection Sector Log Frame.

– Support the identification of gaps and needs on service provision to refugees and ensure minimal protection standards are met including periodic quality check on the delivery of assistance and protection activities such as: awareness raising, community engagement, case management, protection monitoring, and capacity building activities carried out by partners.

• Develop mechanisms to avoid the duplication of service delivery and overlapping of partners across all camps, by rationalising resources, prioritising needs; identify and find solutions for existing or emerging protection gaps, barriers, and cross-cutting protection issues.

• Support a holistic and coherent approach to referral mechanisms with the two Sub-Sectors, Child Protection and Gender-Based Violence, ensuring that all systems and mechanisms are up-to-date and operate effectively.

• Support the Associate Protection Officer in their coordination at field level with all 33 Protection Focal Points (PFP), providing guidance on case work and other functions of the protection contingent to needs.

• Review and implement the Protection Sector’s Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR) Plan and support the protection emergency response through the Rapid Protection Assessment Teams (RPAT) to collect in-depth protection information -including Child Protection and GBV- and develop a response plan accordingly.

• Coordinate and draft the quarterly Joint-Protection Monitoring Reports to ensure the systematic and regular collection, triangulation, and analysis of protection incidents and risks for the Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar camps. This should be followed by a quarterly Response Update of the Sector (including Child Protection and GBV Sub Sectors).

• Draft protection flash-updates as required following security concerns in close collaboration with the Child Protection/GBV Sub Sectors and the HLP (House Land and Property technical advisor).

• Provide ongoing training to ensure protection is mainstreamed across all the response.

• Support the development of systems (SOPs, Guidance notes) to streamline protection.

• Attend coordination meetings and support the Snr Protection Officer in coordinating meetings when needed.

Desired Candidate Profile:
• Experience in coordination and clear understating of operational contexts involving the Refugee Coordination Model as well as the IASC Cluster system and UNHCR’s mandate.
• Solid Field field experience, including in working directly with refugees in camp settings.
• Experience in protection monitoring tools and system and analysis of protection trends.
• Good Solid and up-to-date knowledge of protection programming and other guidelines and standards governing protection responses for refugees and host communities, and experience working on the Humanitarian programme cycle with the Protection Cluster and/or programming for protection.
• Experience in providing trainings on programming for protection, protection monitoring, to mainstreaming of protection and other protection topics to support effective coordination.

Essential requirements
• Knowledge on protection mainstreaming and minimum protection standards for service delivery.
• Excellent drafting skills in English
• Strong coordination skills
• Facilitation skills and ability to provide effective training externally.

Personal Characteristics
• The candidate must have excellent coordination and communication skills. Due to the complexity and emergency shifts in the response, the candidate must be highly flexible, adaptable, and able to work under pressure.

Standard Job Description

Protection Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
In the Bureaux, the Protection Officer works under the direct supervision of the Senior Protection Coordinator or Senior Protection Officer. In the Field, the incumbent normally reports to the Representative, Deputy or Assistant Representative (Protection), Head of Sub Office or Senior Protection Officer as appropriate. The incumbent may have direct supervisory responsibility for protection staff whose work may include RSD, community-based protection, registration, resettlement, complementary pathways, internal displacement and education, among other areas. In HQ, the incumbent may report to a Senior Protection Officer, Chief of Section or Deputy Director and may supervise other protection staff.

The incumbent acts as an advisor to senior management in, when not responsible for, designing a comprehensive protection strategy under the area of responsibility (AoR). S/he represents the Organization to authorities, UN sister agencies, partners and other stakeholders on protection policy and doctrine.

The Protection Officer coordinates quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern under the AoR. S/he ensures that persons of concern of all age, gender and diversity groups are involved with the Office in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying and implementing appropriate solutions to their problems. To undertake this role effectively, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with other relevant teams within the operation or the Bureau (including programme; PI and external relations; IM) and with DIP, communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection and achieving solutions.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
– Provide technical guidance and support to UNHCR and partners on all protection related issues.
– Stay abreast of and report as relevant on legal political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
– Engage relevant national authorities and structures in identifying and expanding opportunities in view of developing or strengthening national asylum/RSD systems.
– Facilitate a consultative process with government counterparts, partners and persons of concern to develop and implement a comprehensive protection and solutions strategy addressing the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, persons with disabilities, persons of diverse sexual orientation and/or gender identities (LGBTI persons), persons living with HIV/AIDS; gender equality and Gender Based Violence (GBV) priorities with regard to these persons.
– In operations applying the Cluster Approach, seek to ensure the response of the Protection Cluster is grounded in a strategy which covers all assessed and prioritized protection needs of the affected populations.
– Support senior management to ensure the protection strategy is fully integrated into the Country Operations Plan, the UN Development and Assistance Framework (UNDAF), the Humanitarian Country Team’s common humanitarian response plan where applicable, as well as with the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees and the Three Year Strategy on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways.
– Promote relevant International, Regional and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct and ensure that all sectors and /or in clusters in applicable operations fulfil their responsibilities in mainstreaming protection.
– Promote the implementation of the AGD policy, including UNHCR’s updated commitments to women and girls, and, design, deliver I and monitor programmes on an AGD basis to address identified protection needs.
– Develop, implement and monitor community-based protection strategies and ensure systematic application and integration of participatory and community-based approaches in protection and solutions planning, programming and strategies.
– Support the establishment of feedback and response systems and the incorporation of feedback received from persons of concern into programme design and adaptation.
– Support the operation to develop and implement robust prevention, identification, and responses to fraud within protection processes and procedures, including registration, RSD, resettlement and complementary pathways, ensuring the integrity of interventions across all protection activities.
– Assist UNHCR management at country level to comply with polices and commitment on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse measures.
– Oversee and manage individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection.
– Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to internal and external interlocutors; ensure legal assistance is accessible to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documents to persons of concern (including women and others in need of civil documentation, in particular birth certificates).
– As designated Data Protection Focal Point, assist the data controller in carrying out his or her responsibilities regarding the Data Protection Policy (7.2 DPP).
– Oversee and undertake eligibility and status determination within the AoR ensuring compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles.
– Promote and implement effective strategies and measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness within the AoR.
– Contribute to the development and implementation of an education plan as part of protection strategy within the AoR as relevant.
– Contribute to the development and implementation of a child protection plan as part of the protection strategy within the AoR ensuring programmes use a child protection systems approach.
– Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners.
– Work to safeguard the rights of persons of concern in the context of mixed movements as relevant.
– Coordinate the preparation of, implement and oversee Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
– Ensure that durable solutions through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement and complementary pathways are sought and provided to the largest possible number of persons of concern, including undertaking and/or overseeing resettlement and complementary pathways activities.
– Contribute to the coordination of the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related programming with implementing and operational partners.
– Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy through a consultative process with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
– Ensure that the Protection Sector or Cluster has an effective information management component which: provides disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems; researches, collects and disseminates relevant protection information and good practices to enhance protection delivery.
– Build the protection capacity of national and local government, partners and civil society to assume their responsibilities vis-à-vis all persons of concern through protection training, mainstreaming and related activities.
– Coordinate capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
– Advise and capacitate national authorities, relevant institutions and civil society to strengthen legislation and status determination procedures and mechanisms.

– Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
– Perform other related duties as required.

For positions in Bureaux

– Support the Regional Bureau and Country Operations to reflect the protection and solution angle in support of persons of concern within regional processes.
– Support Country Operations in the development of strategies to build and further develop national asylum/RSD systems with a view to ensuring their fairness, efficiency, adaptability and integrity, favourable protection environment and solutions.
– Assist UNHCR management at regional and country level to comply with polices and commitment on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse measures.
– Support Country Operations and ensure they meet their complementary pathways objectives and resettlement quotas.
– In close collaboration with DIP, (a) contribute to the development of background and general normative, policy, and legal positions, in compliance with UNHCR’s global protection policies and standards; (b) contribute to the development of strategies at the regional and country level on the usage of law and policy approaches, including legislative and judicial engagement and UN human rights mechanisms – and/or regional ones – and other protection frameworks, and integrated human rights standards in protection strategies and advocacy; and (c) support coordination and review of UNHCR’s country reports to the UN human rights mechanisms.
– Engage in relevant international and regional fora and contribute to forging regional partnerships to advocate for key protection and mandate issues, and engage in cross-cutting protection-related matters, including mixed movement, internal displacement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses, as well as Statelessness, in cooperation with DIP and where relevant RSD.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P3/NOC – 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Law; International Law; International Refugee Law;
International Human Rights Law; International Humanitarian Law;
Refugee and Forced Migration Studies; Political Sciences
or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses
RSD- Resettlement Learning Programme
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Minimum 4 years of relevant professional experience in the area of refugee protection, internal displacement, human rights or international humanitarian law, including experience in working directly with Field Offices. Good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles. Excellent legal research, analytical skills and drafting.

Desirable
Diverse field experience. Good IT skills including database management skills.

Functional Skills
*PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
*PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)
PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards
PR-International Humanitarian Law
PR-Comprehensive Solutions Framework
LE-Judicial Engagement
PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation
PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement
PR-Accountability to Affected People – Principles and Framework
PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Required Languages

,

,

Desired Languages

,

,

Additional Qualifications

Skills

LE-Judicial Engagement, PR-Accountability to Affected People – Principles and Framework, PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD), PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation, PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement, PR-Comprehensive Solutions Framework, PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination, PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards, PR-International Humanitarian Law, PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators

Education

Bachelor of Arts (BA): International Humanitarian Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA): International Human Rights Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA): International Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA): International Refugee Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Political Science, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Refugee and Forced Migration Studies

Certifications

HCR Resettlement Learning Program – UNHCR

Other information

This position doesn’t require a functional clearance

Home-Based

No