Associate Protection Officer

Before submitting an application, UNHCR staff members intending to apply to this Job Opening are requested to consult the IOM-FOM issued for this Compendium / Fast Track exercise, as well as the  Revised Policy and Procedures on Assignments (UNHCR/HCP/2015/2 refers). Associate Protection Officer

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Associate 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 services, registration, resettlement and education. He/she provides functional protection guidance to information management and programme staff; and supervises protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards.

The Associate Protection Officer is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern, ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. He/she contributes in designing a comprehensive protection strategy and in representing the organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. He/she also ensures that persons of concern are involved with the Office in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying appropriate solutions to their problems. 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.

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT

Accountability

- The protection of populations of concern is met through the application of International and National Law, relevant UN/UNHCR protection standards and IASC principles.  
- The protection strategy incorporates a thorough age, gender and diversity (AGD) analysis and reflects the Organization's global, regional and country level priorities.
- The Participation of persons of concern is assured through continuous assessment and evaluation using participatory, rights and community based approaches.
- Protection incidents are immediately identified and addressed.

Responsibility

- Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
- Promote International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
- Foster their consistent and coherent interpretation and application through mainstreaming in all sectors and /or in clusters in applicable operations.
- Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to persons of concern.  
- Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
- Conduct eligibility and status determination for persons of concern 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 to ensure programmes use a child protection systems approach.
- Contribute to a country-level education plan.
- Implement and oversee Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
- Oversee and manage individual protection cases including those on SGBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners.
- Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of persons of concern 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 persons of concern.
- 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 through a consultative process with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
- Facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems. 
- Contribute to capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
- Participate in initiatives to capacitate national authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.

Authority

- Intervene with authorities on protection issues.
- Negotiate locally on behalf of UNHCR.
- Decide priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
- Enforce 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.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

- Education: University degree in Law, International Law, political Sciences or related field.
- Job Experience: Minimum 4 years (2 years with Advanced University degree) relevant professional experience.
- Excellent knowledge of English and working knowledge of another UN language.

(In offices where the working language is not English, excellent knowledge of UN working language of duty station and working knowledge of English.)

***For National Officer positions, very good knowledge of local language and local institutions is essential.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

- Diverse field experience desirable.
- Good IT skills including database management skills.
- Completion of the Protection Learning Programme, RSD- Resettlement Learning Programme. C001L2 - Accountability Level 2
C002L2 - Teamwork & Collaboration Level 2
C003L2 - Communication Level 2
C004L2 - Commitment to Continuous Learning Level 2
C005L2 - Client & Result Orientation Level 2
C006L2 - Organizational Awareness Level 2
M003L2 - Judgement and Decision Making Level 2
X001L2 - Analytical Thinking Level 2
X004L2 - Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Level 2
X007L2 - Political Awareness Level 2 The candidate will be expected to have proven managerial and excellent functional competencies with strong leadership skills. Performance orientation, proactiveness and maturity are equally important to keep the workforce together and to yield best results in this difficult working environment. Strong leadership and negotiation skills are required, as well as attention to risk management. Prior protection and/or resettlement experience desirable.
The incumbent of this position should be able to assist the office in the running of the protection unit in line with the objectives set for Chad in general and particularly for Southern Chad.

He/she should also be able to ensure continuous liaison and constructive cooperation with other UNHCR units, implementing partners and refugee community representatives. Furthermore, there is a persistent pattern of refugees engaging into sexual exploitation or sex for survival that needs to be aggressively addressed.

Given the considerable work load, it is important that the applicant be motivated, hard-working, organized and fluent in French (written and spoken), as all communications within the office and with external partners are conducted in French. Excellent knowledge of English, especially written, is also required. UNHCR¿s operation in southern Chad is essentially about the delivery of protection and assistance to Central African Republic (CAR) refugees, the promotion of their self-reliance and the search for durable solutions for their problems including through the use of resettlement.  These activities are carried out in close collaboration with relevant government institutions, UN sister Agencies, implementing and operational partners.

By the end of June 2017, there were 69,180 CAR refugees out of whom nearly 42,000 persons are to be found in Gore area where they are mostly accommodated in four refugee camps (Dosseye, Amboko, Gondge and Doholo ¿ 32,000+) while more than 9,000 are staying with host families in local villages within the Moissala and Nbaibokoum districts which are more or less three hours drive from Gore. The remaining 28,000 refugees are residing in two other refugee camps namely Belom (approx. 20,000 persons) and Moyo (8,000) which are covered respectively by the Maro Field Office and the Haraze Field Office.

It should be stated that southern Chad remains one of the main destinations for CAR refugees fleeing the ongoing violence and human rights violations and where more than 20,000 new refugees have been registered since early 2013, which number is still on the rise in view of the ongoing influx, albeit limited in scale, of new asylum seekers crossing into Chad in quest of safety. In terms of working and living conditions, Gore is small town that has only very basic infrastructures with very limited leisure and recreational facilities. Also, very limited health facilities are available locally. The office has established a guest house for the international colleagues but private accommodation is possible as well. Essential foodstuffs and basic domestic items can be found locally in Gore and there is a possibility for staff members to get whatever other items needed from the city of Moundou using the airport shuttle arranged by the office twice a week.

The R&R cycle is 8 weeks. The overall situation remains calm throughout the South and Southeast, and camps, though armed escort for missions in remote locations is resorted to as a precautionary measure. The civilian character of camps has so far been preserved and secured by DPHR team (governmental organization responsible for the security of humanitarian staff). No threat directed specifically against the presence of the United Nations system and other partners in the international humanitarian community has so far been reported.

Regions of Logone Oriental, Moyen Chari and Salamat that fall within the UNHCR-Gore-Sub-Office¿s area of responsibility are Level II according to the security classification system of the United Nations that is low risk. The main security challenges are characterized by attacks of bandits and some theft cases at home.

The risk of insecurity spillover from northern CAR to southern Chad is minimal due to the security cordon set up by the Chadian authorities. Illicit cross-border trafficking, however, remains a widespread phenomenon. In sum, there are no major security constraints in the area of operation where the level of general criminality is low.

Please note that the closing date for all vacancies in the Add. 3 to March 2017 Compendium is Thursday, 3 August 2017 (midnight Geneva time).