Associate Protection 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 co-ordinate 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.
During times of displacement, we provide critical emergency assistance in the form of clean water, sanitation and healthcare, as well as shelter, blankets, household goods and sometimes food. We also arrange transport and assistance packages for people who return home, and income-generating projects for those who resettle.

Context

The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate 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 re-turn home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org).
UNHCR FO Malakal was established in 2005 after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the North and South Sudan in Kenya. Following the downgrading of sub-office Malakal to field office in 2013, the field office has been supporting IDP and returnee protection programs through protection leadership, protection monitoring, protection needs assessments and response in Upper Nile State. UNHCR FO Malakal activities aim to streamline, improve and expand on existing protection activities. It also enhances access to protection services for the most vulnerable members of the community (persons with specific needs and extremely vulnerable individuals) through the operation of “One-Stop Shop” Com-munity Center and Mobile Outreach Units.
In addition, FO activities provide a solid platform for housing, land and property (HLP), legal aid and strengthen community protection structures and self-reliance through peaceful coexistence projects in the Malakal PoC, Malakal town and areas beyond Malakal. It also address-es the acute needs of PSNs and extremely vulnerable individuals through distribution of NFIs and shelter repairs.
The protection program is mainly implemented through Protection Desks / Centers, which are run by HDC, DRC and ADRA throughout Upper Nile state, which encompasses protection monitoring, prevention and response including GBV, HLP/legal aid, child protection and pro-vision of services through established effective referral mechanisms. Field Office Malakal is also involved in CCCM and response to emergencies and influxes. Moreover, FO Malakal is increasingly taking on integration and reintegration activities under the solutions Roadmap, which include provision of shelters, community support and peacebuilding projects.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of Head of UNHCR Field Office Malakal, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
• Through relationships with persons of concern, authorities and network of partners stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment and provide advice to senior management.
• Ensure that the perspectives, capacities, needs and resources of the persons of concerns are reflected in the protection strategy, planning processes and operations plan addressing the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, persons with disabilities, minority groups such as sexual minorities and persons living with HIV/AIDS.
• Utilize the IDPs footprint during the planning process
.
• Coordinate the promotion of international refugee law principles and standards and also IDP legislation or policies ensuring that all sectors and clusters fulfill their responsibilities mainstreaming protection.
• Coordinate the implementation and monitoring of programmes ensuring that identified protection needs, including an Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) approach, are adequately addressed.
• Provide policy guidance and operational support to UNHCR and partners on all protection related issues.
• 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 (civil documentation, in particular birth certificates).
• Monitor, and assist with the intervention in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners.
• Assist in the coordinated implementation and oversight of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
• Ensure that durable solutions through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement are sought and provided to the largest possible number of per-sons of concern
• Ensure through direct action and advocacy with more senior protection staff that the necessary resources are allocated to enable protection activities to identify and address protection and assistance gaps.
• Support a consultative process with government counterparts at local levels, partners and persons of concern to develop and implement integrated strategies that address the key protection priorities, including, for example, child protection, education and SGBV, and solutions approaches.
• Promote confidence building and conflict resolution among populations of concern, authorities and host communities.
• Maintain protection presence through regular field missions and reports, making direct contact with persons of concern, host communities, local authorities and partners. In operations applying the humanitarian cluster system, contribute to ensuring that the response of the Protection Cluster is grounded in an AGD-compliant strategy which covers all assessed and prioritized protection needs of the affected populations.
• Contribute to the Protection team’s information management component which: provide disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems; research, collects and disseminates relevant protection information and good practices to enhance protection delivery and provide technical advice if necessary.
• Ensure participatory, community-based protection and AGD approaches are included in, strategies and plans in the country operation.
• Support persons of concern to develop structures that enhance their participation and protection.
Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for in-stance in events that mark International Volunteer Day).
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country.
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers.
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.
. Results/Expected Outputs:
• Protection strategies are developed covering all different persons of concern.
• Specific protection needs are identified and addressed.
• International refugee law standards and principles are enacted and respected.
• Legal advice and guidance on protection issues are provided.
• Durable solutions are provided to the largest number of refugees and IDPs
• Countries in the region maintain regular contacts.
• The participation of persons of concern is assured through continuous assessment and evaluation using participatory, rights and community-based approaches, which inform protection and assistance programming.
• National protection capacities are improved through direct engagement, research and advocacy with all relevant external interlocutors.
• Protection incidents and needs are immediately identified and addressed through direct intervention, advocacy and public exposure.
• Coordination with partners and other humanitarian actors is effectively maintained.
• The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counterparts, including Implementing Partners (IPs);
• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment.
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in, and capacities developed.