Protection Adviser

NRC in Afghanistan

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) established operations in Afghanistan in 2003. One of the first programmes we established was our global access to justice programme for displaced people, which is referred to as ‘ICLA’ (Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance). Afghanistan remains a protracted and complex emergency. Conflict-induced displacement and recurrent natural disasters occur at the same time as ongoing return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran. We respond, carrying out legal assistance work from ten offices across Afghanistan, including in hard-to-access provinces, working in together with our other Education, Shelter, Food & Livelihoods, Camp Management and Emergency programmes.

About the position

The purpose of the Protection Adviser is to strengthen the protection sensitivity of the country programme through protection mainstreaming, staff capacity and systems development, and specialised research/assessments, and also to advise on how to strategically respond to critical protection risks relevant to NRC’s operations in both emergency response and providing durable solutions, including through integrated protection programming.

The Protection Adviser reports to the Head of Programme, and have supervision of two staff.

Generic responsibilities

1. Develop Protection Strategy and technical guidance
2. Compliance with and adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
3. Contribute to fundraising, develop and revise funding proposal, budgets and donor reports
4. Identify trends technical standards and donor priorities
5. Follow up on compliance with contractual commitments relevant to protection, ensure high technical quality and synergies in project implementation
6. Provide technical direction and project implementation support
7. Ensure that key learnings are extracted from operations regarding protection, and incorporate them into staff development processes
8. Provide systematic training and build capacity of technical staff
9. Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy

Specific responsibilities

1. 30% time – Protection Mainstreaming and Integration

   • Design and implement the NRC Afghanistan Country Office – Protection Mainstreaming Action Plan / Strategy

   • Lead on integrated protection programming initiatives as appropriate, particularly the embedding of psychological first aid and psychosocial support into projects in design and/or implementation

   • Coordinate and/or lead relevant internal and externally-commissioned protection assessments that inform or help strengthen the protection sensitivity of Core Competency activities and strategies

2. 30% time – Protection Information and Advocacy

   • Regularly gather, analyse and internally disseminate protection information

   • Support protection advocacy, particularly evidence-based advocacy based upon commissioned research into protection issues (e.g. secondary displacement, deportation)

   • Support NRC involvement as an NGO representative in the Displacement & Returnee Executive Committee (DiREC) and on IDP Policy Working Group

3. 40% time – Protection Coordination

   • Support Afghanistan Protection Cluster as Co-Coordinator, with division of responsibilities as per UNHCR-NRC Memorandum of Understanding

   • Support protection coordination items with ECHO-funded Emergency Response Mechanism

Our ideal candidate have:

• Minimum 4 years of experience within technical expertise area in a humanitarian/ recovery context
• Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
• Protection expertise
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal

• Knowledge of the protection context in Afghanistan, desirable

• Knowledge of relevant legal and policy frameworks, international and domestic

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organisation’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity and accountability. These attitudes and beliefs shall guide our actions and relationships.

Additional Information

Contract period: 12 months

Salary/benefits: According to NRC’s salary scale and terms and conditions.

Duty station: Kabul, Afghanistan

Travel: Approximately 40% travel to field offices in Afghanistan

This is an unaccompanied post/non family duty station, with shared housing/ accommodation of moderate standard.
Due to the unstable security situation, recreational and social facilities are limited.
All international staff working and residing in Afghanistan are obliged to pay income tax to the Afghanistan authorities.
Approved health certificate will be requested before contract start.
Selected candidate need to provide certified University diplomas prior to applying for visa to Afghanistan.

Please note that you are required to enter the geographical location for all your previous positions while registering your CV. There is no specific field for this information in our CV form, but you can use the "Company name" field for both company and location.