Associate Field Officer (Protection)

This vacancy is advertised in the frame of the US JPO Programme and is only open to candidates with US nationality. The Protection Section in SO Gore is currently composed of 5 units: Field, SGBV/Child Protection, Data/Registration, RST, Legal Protection. The JPO will work with the Legal Protection Unit, currently comprised of 1 NOA Associate Officer and 1 Associate G6. The Protection Unit works essentially with 2 NGO implementing partners:  ¿Association de Promotion des Libertés Fondamentales au Tchad (APLFT)¿ intervening in the context of legal SGBV programmes, ACRA for education and child protection. The Legal Protection Unit works closely with the government counterpart, CNARR in a number of key areas such as registration and profiling, documentation; camp management and community-based protection, legal and judicial monitoring cases. Last but not least, the Protection Unit also works closely with the ¿Detachement pour la protection des Humanitaire et des Réfugiés (DPHR) as a national security force which has been deployed to ensure the security of the refugees settled in refugees camps and that of the humanitarian partners undertaking activities therein.

Resettlement opportunities are rather very limited being made available only to persons with specific needs that have no prospects local integration nor for voluntary repatriation, nevertheless the priority area for RST activities in 2019 will be SO Gore. The main focus of the protection and assistance interventions on behalf 98.000 CAR refugees in SO Gore (inclidung refugees in the 3 Field Offices Maro, Haraze and Moissala) is made on the promotion of their socio-economic integration through the facilitation of access to farming land and other income-generating activities intended to help them become self-sufficient and thus prevent them from becoming chronically dependent on humanitarian assistance. For the purposes of improving the quality of personal data available about the refugees in Chad, a biometric registration was undertaken in 2015 for both Sudanese refugees in the East and the CAR refugees in the South.

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT.

Accountability

- Integrity in the delivery of protection services is assured by all protection staff;
- Protection concerns and humanitarian needs of persons of concern are timely identified and addressed;
- Active involvement of persons of concern throughout the programme cycle is ensured through continuous monitoring and evaluation using participatory, rights and community-based approaches;
- The protection needs of persons of concerns are met in accordance with the applicable international standards while taking due account of relevant local legislation.

Responsibility
- Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment;
- Lead a consultative process with local government counterparts, partners and persons of concern for an effective needs assessment and develop and implement a protection strategy which derives from the country-level comprehensive protection strategy;
- Ensure through direct action and advocacy with the Senior Protection Officer that necessary resources are made available, if possible, to address protection and operational gaps;
- Maintain protection presence both in refugee camps through daily field visits as well as in out of camps sites, making direct contact with persons of concern, host communities local authorities and partners;
- Monitor and report on the protection, well-being, security and safety situation of persons of concern. Timely identify, document and report on human rights violations, including SGBV incidents, to the Snr Protection Officer making sound recommendations for appropriate follow-up actions;
- Monitor and oversee the integrity of UNHCR¿s protection and operations management standards and procedures, including resettlement activities, in the AOR ensuring respect for the deadlines;
- Design, deliver and monitor protection and assistance programmes on an age, gender and diversity basis to meet identified needs;
- Ensure that the established minimum set of common performance and impact indicators for the implementation of each of the UNHCR¿s thematic strategies (Child Protection, SGBV, access to documentation) are effectively used to measure progress made in these areas;
- Support refugees in enhancing representation and coordination structures and promote confidence building and peaceful conflict resolution initiatives among populations of concerns and between the latter and members of the local population;
- Oversee the management of individual protection cases including those related to SGBV and child protection;
- Provide advice and guidance on protection issues to internal and external interlocutors; ensure legal assistance is accessible to persons of concern and work closely with the National Refugee Commission on issues related to documentation, camp security and access to livelihood opportunities;
- Build the capacity of local partners and civil society through training and other initiatives to protect persons of concern;
- Develop and coordinate capacity-building initiatives for communities and persons of concern to assert their rights. 

Authority

- Negotiate with local authorities, partners and populations of concern on protection-related issues such as access to land, admission into the territory, freedom of movement and respect for other fundamental human rights and freedoms; 
- Approve the field/AOR protection strategy for endorsement by the Senior Management;
- Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection and assistance standard operating procedures;
- Ensure effective implementation of UNHCR¿s thematic strategies for child protection, and prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence;
- Decide on indicators to measure impact and performance of partners on protection delivery;
- Chair protection meetings with relevant implementing partners;
- Approve expenditures under the UNHCR field protection budget.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED. 

EDUCATION/QUALIFICATION:
Graduate degree (equivalent of a Master's) obtained in a recognised institution (listed under www.whed.net), plus minimum 2 years of relevant professional work experience. An undergradute degree (equivalent of a Bachelor's) plus 3 years or a Doctorate degree (equivalent to a PhD) plus 1 year may also be accepted.

Fields: Law, international relations or other clearly related fields.

WORK EXPERIENCE: As the candidate will closely work with Legal Protection Unit (on documentation, monitoring of detention centers, monitoring of judicial cases, protection monitoring on the field), it would be important having both field experience in refugee context and academic knowledge of refugee law.  

SKILLS: Good knowledge of refugee law, UNHCR¿s programmes and computer skills

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES. 

SGBV, Child protection or RSD experience could be a very good asset. Experience in facilitating trainings is also desirable. REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Managerial Competencies             

M001: Empowering and Building Trust
M002: Managing Performance
M003: Judgement and Decision Making
M006: Managing Resources

Cross-Functional Competencies    
X001: Analytical Thinking
X004: Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
X005: Planning and Organizing LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE

- Essential: English, French (which is the working language in Chad)
- Desirable: Working knowledge of any other UN language ( Spanish, Chinese, Russian or Arabic) SUPERVISION: The JPO will be under the direct supervision of the manager indicated under `Supervisor title and position number¿.  The supervisor will be responsible for the performance evaluation of the JPO. The manager will also ensure that the JPO is provided a thorough induction and orientation briefing, followed by on-the-job training as well as continuous guidance for training/learning opportunities throughout the assignment. In support to the manager, the JPO Unit provides the Supervisory Guidelines upon recruitment/reassignment of the JPO. TRAINING COMPONENTS AND LEARNING ELEMENTS

TRAINING COMPONENTS:
- Mandatory training courses:
1. Basic Security in the Field (NB: needs to be retaken every 3 years)
2. Advanced Security in the Field  (NB: needs to be retaken every 3 years)
3. Protection Induction Programme (PIP)
4. UN Course on Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority
5.    Orientation to IPSAS

- Recommended training courses

-  Age, Gender and Diversity approach
- Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV)
- Best Interests of the Child ¿ Basic Principles and Procedures
- The Identification of Refugees in Need of Resettlement


LEARNING ELEMENTS

- A better understating of operational protection in camps and settlements;
- Design, implementation and evaluation of appropriate protection interventions;
- Advocacy with national authorities and other stakeholders for the respect of refugees fundamental rights and freedoms;
- Ability to develop protection partnerships and to work with multi-functional teams;
-       Accurate understanding of UNHCR¿s result-based management framework as well as the key underlying approaches to protection programming (Rights-based approach, Community-based approach and age, gender and diversity mainstreaming). LIVING CONDITIONS AT THE DUTY STATION

Housing/accommodation: UNHCR will provide accomodation within their Guest houses currently at the rate of 641 USD. A dozen of international colleagues are currenttly living in the main Guest house and rooms are availble.

Health care: Only primary health care is provided in Gore district hospital which is also limited due to an insufficiency of staff. Specialized care is referred to Moundou or Ndjamena. 

Educational facilities: N/a

Security: The security situation in Gore is calm though some limitations to the movement of staff have been imposed due to security concerns resulting from banditry and common crimes. Movement is highly constrained and typically staff members are advised to not stay out between 20.00 pm to 5.00 am. Gore is Non-Family Duty-Station.


Other (transports, banks, etc): Banks are located in Moundou, the main town of the area which 100 Km from Gore (2 hours drive) Please note that the closing date for applications for this position is Sunday 7 April (midnight Geneva time).