Assistant Protection Officer at United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Job ID: 29723

Job Type: Temporary contract for an initial period of 3 months, this expectancy of extension/renewal.
Salary Grade: NA
Hardship Level: U
Family Location Type: Pending

Job Description
Operational Context:

• The North West (NW) continues to register significant population displacements and outflows into Niger.
• The primary threat factors that influence the operational landscape are increased general crime and the Incremental expansion of organized crime group (OCG) activities in Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina States and the increasingly evident NSAG influences from the NEA and the Sahel.
• The activities of organized crime groups (OCG) have registered an uptick over the past eight months with increasingly elevated incidents of individual and mass kidnappings.
• The attacks not only underscore the elevated threats and risk within the operating environment but also highlight, on the part of security forces, the limited and stretched capacities in terms of personnel and equipment, a situation that does not afford flexibility and agility in security force responses and actions to emerging security events.
• The indications of external NSAG influences from the NEA and the Sahel region have been evident and will further precipitate the security situation. Humanitarian outreach and delivery will require to be viewed against this backdrop and evolving operational environment.
• The security posture is not anticipated to improve in the immediate (end 2021) to short-term periods (December 2022).
• The security and threat contexts are likely to be expanded and the security situation further degraded as OCG exploit SF structural challenges and operational gaps. Attacks on communities are projected to continue resulting in population displacements.
• The mild approaches to conflict resolution that were undertaken at State levels in the recent past (general amnesty/ unquestioned firearm collections) did not elicit the intended outcomes.
• Federal and State efforts at addressing the underlying issues continue to remain noticeably minimal, incoherent and without long-term and inclusive focus and approach.
• The Identification and isolation of the capacities that exist within the threat actors and the inclusion of the wider public in changing the existing narratives and contexts are necessary but, unfortunately, have also been disappointingly non-existent.

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

• The Assistant Protection Officer reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer.
• Depending on the size and structure of the Office, the incumbent may have supervisory responsibility for protection staff including community-based protection, registration, resettlement and education.
• S/he provides functional protection guidance to information management and programme staff on all protection/legal matters and accountabilities.
• These include statelessness (in line with the campaign to End Statelessness by 2024),  Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) commitments, age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP) through community-based protection, Child protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, gender equality, disability inclusion, youth empowerment, psycho-social support and PSEA, registration, asylum/refugee status determination, resettlement, local integration, voluntary repatriation, human rights standards integration, national legislation, judicial engagement, a predictable and decisive engagement in situations of internal displacement and engagement in wider mixed movement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses.
• S/he supervises protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards.
• The Assistant Protection Officer is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (PoC), ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards.
• The incumbent contributes to the design of a comprehensive protection strategy and represents the organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor.
• S/he also ensures that PoC is meaningfully engaged in the decisions that affect them and support programme design and adaptations that are influenced by their concerns, priorities and capacities.
• To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection.
• 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

• Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
• Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
• Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to PoC.  
• Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
• Conduct eligibility and status determination for PoC in compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles. 
• Promote and contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
• Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy.
• Contribute to a country-level education plan as part of the protection strategy.
• Provide inputs for the development of protection policies and standards within the AoR.
• Implement and monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
• Manage individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.
• Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of PoC through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
• Assess resettlement needs and apply priorities for the resettlement of individuals and groups of refugees and other PoC.
• Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
• Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
• Contribute to and facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems. 
• Assist capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
• Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
• Intervene with authorities on protection issues.
• Assist the supervisor in deciding priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
• Assist the supervisor in enforcing compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
• Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications
Years of Experience / Degree Level:

• For P1/NOA - 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education:

• Law, International Law, Political Sciences or other relevant fields.

Certificates and/or Licenses:

• Not specified

Relevant Job Experience
Essential:

• Knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles

Desirable:

• Completion of the Protection Learning Programme, RSD- Resettlement Learning Programme

Functional Skills:

• PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
• LE-International Refugee Law
• PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)
• PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination
• MG-Projects management
• PR-PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards
• PR-International Humanitarian Law
• PR-Protection and mixed-movements
• PR-Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Operations & IDPs Status/Rights/Obligation
• PR-Climate change and disaster-related displacement
• PR-Community-based Protection
• MS-Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation

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.

Position Competencies
Core Competencies:

• Accountability
• Communication
• Organizational Awareness
• Teamwork & Collaboration
• Commitment to Continuous Learning
• Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies:

• Judgement and Decision Making

Cross-Functional Competencies:

• Stakeholder Management
• Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Political Awareness

Language Requirements:

• Please also note that English is essential for this Job Opening.
• Knowledge of local Language is highly recommended.