Senior Protection Assistant

This Job Opening is available to eligible UNHCR staff members and external applicants. Please note that there is a lien held against this position, in accordance with Section V of the APPC Procedural Regulations. Senior Protection Assistant
Senior Protection Assistant

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The Senior Protection Assistant normally reports to the Protection Officer, the Senior Protection Officer, or another more senior staff member.  He/she monitors protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards and provides functional protection support to information management and programme staff.

The Senior Protection Assistant provides quality, timely and effective protection support to persons of concern and identifies opportunities to mainstream protection methodologies and safeguards in operational responses. He/she contributes to designing a comprehensive protection strategy and may liaise externally with local authorities and partners on protection issues as guided by the supervisor.

The Senior Protection Assistant 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, local authorities and protection and assistance partners.

In FO Tyre, the incumbent will report to the Senior Protection Associate (Community-Based). Through close coordination with the supervisor, he/she may be responsible for ensuring UNHCR¿s response to child protection and/or response to cases of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV). This includes providing quality, timely and effective protection support to persons of concern (children, women, survivors of SGBV, including men and boys) and identifies opportunities to mainstream Child Protection and/or Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) protection methodologies and safeguards in operational responses. This includes providing capacity building training to UNHCR, partner, and government staff on protection principles, including on child protection and SGBV, regularly interviewing and assessing cases to make the appropriate referrals, and closely monitoring and following up with cases which have been referred. The incumbent will ensure the effectiveness and impact of CP and/or SGBV interventions, improve the quality of the BID/BIAs/protection reports and tracking systems, strengthen partnerships including with UN agencies, local authorities and INGOs and NNGOs. The incumbent might represent the organization externally through relevant coordination such as the SGBV and CP working groups.

This position requires someone with experience in partner management and coordination as well as child protection and/or SGBV prevention and response. He/she should have excellent written and oral communication skills including report writing and the ability to exercise diplomacy when communicating information. He/she should be able to work independently with minimal supervision to meet tight deadlines, while always exercising UNHCR¿s Core Values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity. Flexibility, adaptability, teamwork, attention to details, and strong organizational skills are also essential for the successful fulfillment of the roles and responsibilities of this position
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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.
- Protection activities are guided by the UNHCR country protection strategy.
- The participation of persons of concern is facilitated through supporting participatory, rights and community based approaches.
- Support is provided to identify and report protection incidents
Responsibility

- Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct. 
- Provide counselling on protection issues to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
- Support activities in protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
- Conduct preliminary information gathering and interviews in support of eligibility, status determination, durable solutions and social needs assessment.
- Contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
- Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy.
- Contribute to a country-level education plan for persons of concern as part of the protection strategy. 
- Monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
- Participate in individual protection case management including cases of SGBV and child protection. Monitor and report on cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.
- Assist in identifying durable solutions for persons of concern in voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
- Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
- Assist in drafting reports, routine correspondence, updating relevant databases and compiling statistics for the protection unit / section.
- Contribute to initiatives to enhance national and local protection capacities.


Authority

- Select persons of concern for preliminary interviews and decide which relevant information to share.
- Enforce integrity in the delivery of protection services by local implementing partners.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED.

- Education: Completion of secondary school.  Additional Training courses in protection related issues.
- Job experience: relevant to the function: 4 years.
- Fluency in English and working knowledge of another relevant UN language or local language

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

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

- Good computer skills.
- Completed Protection Learning Programme. Please also note that English is essential for this Job Opening. Interested qualified internal and external candidates meeting the requirements of the Job Descriptions posted online can apply no later than 8 September 2019 Midnight Geneva Time.