Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org).
In line with this mandate UNHCR supports the Republic of Uganda in protecting individuals who seeks asylum in the country as well as those in the country at risk of being stateless or who already are considered stateless. UNHCR also provides direct assistance through implementing partners to refugees and asylum seekers in Uganda.
UNHCR puts strong effort into identifying durable solutions for all refugees in Uganda and to reduce the risk of persons in the country becoming stateless.

Context

UNHCR Field Office Moyo reports to Sub Office, Adjumani. It is in Moyo District in northern Uganda and shares a border with South Sudan to the north and east, Adjumani District to the south across the West Nile, and Yumbe District to the west. Moyo District comprised West Moyo and Obongi Counties and has an estimated population of 140,000. Obongi became a District on 1 July 2019. Over 94% of Moyo’s population lives in rural areas and depends on natural resources for their livelihoods. More than 85% of the district’s households mainly depend on substance agriculture as their main economic activity; most agricultural production is for household consumption. Only 9.7% of the population was dependent on earned incomes and 0.4% on property income by 2014 statistic. 99% of the households relies on wood fuel for their domestic energy needs.
Palorinya Refugee Settlement in Obongi District was established in December 2016. It hosts 130,889 refugees verified as of 31 March 2024. The settlement still receives new arrivals from South Sudan. The profile of refugees in Palorinya is characterized by a high proportion of children (56%) and women (26%), and other vulnerable categories of refugees. At-risk children (6%) include orphans, unaccompanied and separated children, teenage mothers, etc. Protection priorities include ensuring access to asylum and documentation; protection from crime and access to justice; registration; child protection; SGBV mainstreaming, prevention and response; protection-based social welfare support to persons with specific needs; and community feedback and referrals. In addition, UNHCR maintains simultaneous protection presence at litigation desks at the four food distribution points in Palorinya, to address and resolve the litigation cases.
The incumbent will, in collaboration with protection, programme, field and technical teams, support the office to develop and transition towards implementing cohesive self-reliance/solutions-oriented approaches, distinct from the prevailing partner frame agreement dominated emergency response/care-and-maintenance oriented approaches whereby UNHCR continues to engage stakeholders in sectoral silos. The incumbent will participate in consultative processes within UNHCR and with external partners to promote area-based programmes, and ensure through collaboration with protection, programme, field, and technical teams, that refugees and nearby host communities (Sub County level) are appropriately engaged community-based assessments and responses.
UNHCR Field Office Moyo collaborates with the Office of the Prime Minister, Moyo and Obongi District Local Governments incorporating relevant line ministries, UN, and NGO partners to provide protection, basic social services and livelihood support for refugees and host communities in Palorinya Settlement, Obongi District.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of Head of Field Office, the Associate Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer will undertake the following tasks:
• Maintain close contact and cooperation with partners to facilitate the economic inclusion of refugees, such as line ministries, private sector and development actors in accordance with UNHCR Global and Country level policies, priorities, and strategies, in particular the Global Compact on Refugees. This includes advocating with public and private sector ser-vices providers to include UNHCR POC in supporting services (business development, micro-finance, training, saving accounts, poverty alleviation and social protection, etc.).
• Work with the multi-functional team, more specifically with the Protection Unit, to assess the legal framework for the right to work and rights at work and recommend/implement advocacy initiatives and policy reforms to improve UNHCR POC’s economic inclusion, rights and access to work.
• Build on UNHCR databases to support regular information sharing and coordination among different humanitarian, developmental and governmental stakeholders. This includes supporting the implementation of socioeconomic and wealth ranking surveys utilizing community-based strategies to inform targeting, monitoring and facilitation of development programmes.
• Conduct necessary assessments in collaboration with relevant private and public stake-holders such as JICA, including impact assessments on local economies and surveys that help to identify investment and funding opportunities that enhance the economic inclusion of UNHCR POC.
• In case UNHCR is implementing specific livelihoods activities, strengthen, guide and monitor the livelihoods interventions to help ensure they are market-based, and that the role of UNHCR has been strategically determined in consideration of its comparative ad-vantage vis-à-vis other partners.
• Support and monitor implementation of settlement livelihoods and economic inclusion strategy, including developing partnerships with development actors and private sector, and developing linkages with existing programmes/projects in the districts to bring them closer to/within the settlements, among others.
• Take lead in regular mapping exercises of the various stakeholders/partners in the districts determine gaps, capacity, and comparative advantage of different actors.
• Together with Office of the Prime Minister and the Districts Local Government, co-chair, monthly livelihoods sector working group coordination meetings and facilitate/support joint monitoring and other sector working group activities.
• Monitor and report on Implementing Partner and Operational Partner implementation of livelihoods and economic inclusion projects.
• Be part of district planning processes, developing gap and needs assessments,