Protection Assistant

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known as the UN Refugee Agency, operating in 130 countries in the world, is mandated to lead and coordinate international actions for the worldwide protection of refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons and to seek, together with Governments, durable solutions for them. In Armenia, UNHCR operates since 1992 and is engaged in provision of humanitarian assistance, legal counselling, and advocacy for the inclusion and integration of refugees. In parallel, UNHCR helps build the capacity of the authorities to ensure protection, wellbeing and integration of refugees.

The core mandate of UNHCR is the international protection of refugees. The provision of international protection by UNHCR implies ensuring the basic human rights of refugees in their countries of asylum and that refugees will not be returned involuntarily to a country where they could face persecution. Longer term, the organization helps refugees find appropriate durable solutions to their plight, by repatriating voluntarily to their homeland, integrating in countries of asylum or resettling in third countries.

UNHCR has presence in the Republic of Armenia since 1992, under a Co-operation Agreement signed with the Government. The overarching focus of UNHCR Armenia is the UNHCR global mandate to provide protection to displaced populations and assist the Government in finding durable solutions for them. UNHCR works to ensure that the rights of asylum-seekers, refugees, persons in refugee-like situation, and stateless persons are respected and protected and that they can access their rights in safety and with dignity.

UNHCR’s standard work in Armenia concentrates on capacity-building activities geared towards strengthening national authorities, laws and policies to ensure the proper handling of refugee and asylum issues, the reception and care of refugees, the promotion of self-reliance of refugees and the realization of durable solutions. These are carried out in combination with other activities such as advocacy, information dissemination and monitoring. As a result of the recent escalation of the conflict in the Karabakh conflict zone, many people had to arrive in Armenia to seek emergency support and humanitarian assistance. UNHCR has been engaged in interagency coordination and humanitarian response and leads the Protection and NFI/Shelter Working Groups.

UNHCR Armenia strategy supports the implementation of relevant elements of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework in continuing dialogue and cooperation with the Government and other partners in Armenia notably regarding:

• Continuous efforts to strengthen the national protection systems in admission, registration, reception and processing of applications of asylum-seekers, as well as integrating recognized refugees and stateless persons;

• Sufficient capacities for preventative action and emergency preparedness through regular review of early warning, risk monitoring, disaster risk reduction, contingency planning and emergency preparedness, and humanitarian response;

• Support for sustainable development programs to enhance resilience for host communities and refugees in the areas of education, jobs and livelihoods, health, gender equality, child protection, GBV prevention and response, accommodation, environment, food security and nutrition, civil registration, legal assistance, and social cohesion and reconciliation;

• Support for creating durable solutions in cooperation with countries of origin to ensure conditions are conducive for safe and dignified return, and in the long term through offering resettlement and other legal pathways for admission and integration in Armenia.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Community-Based Protection Assistant or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UN Volunteer will:

• Ensure that UNHCR’s policies, standards and procedures are constantly and coherently applied in the Area of Responsibility (AoR).
• Ensure that the needs of forcibly displaced people in the AoR are assessed and analyzed in a participating manner and using an Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective to form a firm basis for planning.
• Support the Protection Unit in organization, facilitation and logistic of workshops, seminars, meetings and other activities on displacement and protection issues.
• Participate in needs assessment and protection monitoring activities. Assist in organizing household protection monitoring activities in collaboration with partners among asylum-seekers and refugees. Participate in post-distribution monitoring, as a member of the Multi-Functional team as relevant.
• Support with implementation of community support initiatives in different communities.
• Assess protection and assistance needs of forcibly displaced population approaching the UN House, identify vulnerable groups and individuals who may need special attention, provide counselling and make recommendations/ referrals for follow-up actions.
• Record file and prepare replies to letters, emails sent by forcibly displaced people. Individual file maintenance and storage support including managing of both physical and electronic files.
• Participate in protection monitoring and community outreach missions to provinces as a member of the Multi-Functional team.
• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and taking active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Provide annual and end-of-assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities;
• 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.