UNHCR’s main objectives in Poland are to monitor access to territory and reception conditions as well as advocate for an efficient and protection-sensitive asylum system and related policies. UNHCR also aims to improve durable solutions such as local integration opportunities and increase public awareness of refugees and asylum issues. UNHCR works closely with both governmental and non-governmental organisations in Poland to achieve these 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 (www.unhcr.org). As the UN-mandated agency to provide international protection to refugees, UNHCR leads the refugee coordination structure in support of the Government-led response, with the aim to complement, support and strengthen the national response to the refugee crisis, along with ensuring no duplication of interventions and complementarity of action.

Poland’s eastern borders with Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine serve as the European Union’s external boundaries. The country currently hosts over 1 million refugees from Ukraine, in addition to a smaller number of asylum seekers and refugees from different countries.

The overarching principles guiding UNHCR’s strategy in Poland include: i) localization and centrality of protection, ii) strengthening national systems, avoiding duplication and rationalizing the Refugee Coordination Model (RCM) so that it serves the purpose efficiently and iii) capitalizing on the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) paradigms to advance the rights of refugees and stateless persons in Poland.

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of Assistant Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Officer or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UNV Senior Livelihood and Economic Inclusion Associate will:

Partnerships & Coordination

• Support engagement with government, private sector, development actors, and NGOs to advance refugee economic inclusion.
• Advocate for inclusion of persons of concern in public and private services (training, financial services, business support, social protection).
• Coordinate with internal units and relevant working groups to ensure integrated and protection sensitive programming.

Programme Design & Technical Support

• Contribute to the design and refinement of livelihoods and economic inclusion programmes.
• Provide technical support to ensure interventions are market based and aligned with UNHCR strategies.
• Identify gaps and propose evidence based recommendations.

Monitoring & Partner Support

• Monitor partner activities through field visits, reports, and regular follow up.
• Support the review and oversight of Small Grants Agreements with grassroots and community actors.

Data, Analysis & Reporting

• Contribute to socioeconomic surveys, labour market assessments, and other data collection to inform programming.
• Prepare concise field reports, analytical inputs, and updates for planning and advocacy.

Events & Capacity Building

Support the organization of workshops, meetings, and capacity building activities with partners and communities.


Results/expected outputs:

As an active UNHCR team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNHCR and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions would be expected, including:

• Reporting and documenting area related actions and defining recommendations for interventions that enhance refugee economic inclusion to the designated supervising Officer.
• Regular and well-documented monitoring of partner activities, including visit reports, follow-up notes, analysis of progress against indicators, and identification of areas for improvement.
• Effective coordination and follow-up with partners at national and local levels, ensuring timely delivery of activities, strengthened accountability, and improved responsiveness to operational needs.
• High-quality support to the management of Small Grants Agreements, including documentation of deliverables, monitoring of community-level initiatives, and contributions to final assessments.
• Clear and evidence-based recommendations for improving programme implementation, stakeholder engagement, and policy advocacy.
• Strengthened internal information flow, ensuring that updates, analyses, and lessons learned are shared across relevant UNHCR units and contribute to informed decision-making.
• Contribution to knowledge products, including reports, factsheets, meeting minutes, and briefing materials.
• A final statement of achievements documenting contributions to volunteerism, capacity-building efforts, community engagement, and support to newly arrived UN Volunteers.
• Information flow and sharing within UNHCR Poland on economic inclusion initiatives taken by Livelihood and Economic Inclusion team.
• Systematic application of the Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment.
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed.