Protection Associate (Office Switzerland & Liechtenstein)

The usual eligibility requirements are waived. Please refer to regulation 16 of the APPC Procedural Rules and Regulations. Protection Associate (Office for Switzerland and Liechtenstein)

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

Under the supervision of the Head of Office for Switzerland & Liechtenstein, the Protection Associate will work to enhance the protection of refugees and persons of concern, and promote international and regional refugee law principles through the handling and follow-up of individual cases, including through legal representatives, provision of country of origin/asylum information, evaluations of the asylum system and recognition practice and support to assure the quality of the asylum systems including through training and support reporting including to human rights partners and other actors. To achieve this, the Protection Associate will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with legal representatives, the authorities, the relevant courts, protection partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection and the communities of concern.

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT

Accountability

- Promotion of protection principles and international law as relevant to persons of concern is undertaken.
- Support to improve the quality of the asylum system is provided.
- Assistance is provided in individual cases as feasible.

Responsibility

- Monitor the development of law and doctrine and implementation by the authorities, including recognition practice on specific refugee groups.
- Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen the quality of the national asylum system; including with respect to particularly vulnerable persons.
- Provide advice to individual cases approaching UNHCR and/or appropriate referrals; liaise with Senior Legal Associate for legal interventions as needed and/or follow-up with competent authorities.
- Inform and act on the reports received from persons of concern to UNHCR, NGOs, and lawyers or from the local authorities as required.
- Follow up on specific protection issues with authorities concerned, including relevant courts, including in relation to country of origin/asylum information requests and issues relating to particularly vulnerable persons.
- Provide support to the resettlement process; also on issues relating to family reunification and integration.
- Support engagement with the relevant actors at federal, cantonal and local level as needed.
- Support efforts to raise awareness of protection principles with counterparts, universities and other partners and liaise with RR Brussels, DIP, and Bureau work units and external actors as needed.
- Support drafting of reports on issues relevant to UNHCR mandate and/or of concern for internal and external consumption, including human rights bodies.
- Consistently apply international and national law and UNHCR policies and standards.
- Act as back-up support for the preparation of legal advice and drafting of position papers and guidelines on issues of concern to UNHCR, in particular UNHCR positions on legislative proposals as well as positions on other relevant issues.
- Provide inputs to the formulation of protection strategies and reporting related to protection activities to enhance awareness of protection principles.
- Draft protection documents and policies in cooperation with supervisor.
- Facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems.
- Supervise protection interns as may be necessary.
- Ensure the filing of protection-related documents.
- Undertake other activities and duties as requested by the Head of Office.

Authority

- Participate in meetings within UNHCR and with external counterparts at the relevant level.
- Assist in the development of project proposals and project implementation.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

- Completion of secondary school.  Certificate/ training in Public Law, International Law, International Relations or related field is required.
- Excellent legal research, analytical and drafting skills.
- Job experience relevant to the function: 8 years.
- Good knowledge of the Swiss asylum and nationality system and law as relates to UNHCR's mandate.
- Good knowledge of international refugee and human rights standards.
- Good knowledge of Swiss actors in this field.
- Excellent communication skills orally and in writing in German, French, English are essential. Italian would be very desirable.
- Good skills in managing sensitive relations with counterparts and partners as well as cross-cultural sensitivity.
- Ability to work independently as well as part of a team.
- Strong understanding of UNHCR mandate and organization.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

- Completion of UNHCR learning programmes on protection would be an asset or any other equivalent external courses.
- Good computer skills.
- Previous UNHCR or international experience would be a strong asset. 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
X006L2 - Policy Development & Research Level 2
X007L2 - Political Awareness Level 2 Excellent knowledge of English, French and German is required. Italian is desirable. Closing date for submissions or applications is 9 July 2019.

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