Internship - RSD Section of Division of International Protection in Geneva, Switzerland

Terms of Reference
RSD Section Internship
Division of International Protection
Title: RSD Section Intern
Duty Station: Geneva, Switzerland
Duration: 6 months
Contract Type: Internship
Start date: 01 February 2021

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a full-time internship within the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) Section of the Division of International Protection (DIP) at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Established in December 1950, UNHCR is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for asylum seekers, refugees, returnees, internally displaced communities and stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women and children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution. UNHCR currently operates in over 130 countries, using its long expertise to protect and care for millions.

Organisational context
The internship will be based with UNHCR¿s RSD Section, within the Division of International Protection (DIP). The RSD Section is responsible for overseeing and providing strategic support to UNHCR¿s RSD mandate operations worldwide. It is also responsible for drafting UNHCR¿s country-specific policy guidance documents (eligibility guidelines, protection consideration, return advisories, etc.), which are used by States and by UNHCR staff to guide decisions on claims for refugee status. The Section also maintains Refworld (www.refworld.org), which contains legal and policy information and the RSD Practitioners Platform (RSD PP), an internal UNHCR Community of Practice for RSD staff.

The position
The incumbent will assist with administrative tasks and technical support of the RSD Practitioners Platform (SharePoint 365 site) and assist in the development, design and improvement of features of different sub-pages on the RSD PP, as well as ongoing site maintenance. 
In addition, incumbent will be asked to provide technical support to the various Dashboards used by the RSD Section, such as the RSD Statistical Dashboard and different Powerbi Dashboards drawing information from data collected using the Kobo toolbox.  The incumbent may also be asked to support in the design or implementation of surveys or data collection exercises.
The incumbent will also be asked to support various RSD Section activities and events, including by acting as rapporteur or managing invite lists.   
The Intern is supervised by the Senior Refugee Status Determination Officer but may report to different members of the Section in relation to specific tasks.

Duties and responsibilities

1. Information Management/ RSD Practitioner Platform
¿ Contribute to the management and strategic expansion of knowledge-sharing of the RSD PP;
¿ Improve technical features on the RSD PP for the purpose of making it more user-friendly.
¿ Curation of RSD-specific pages on the RSD PP, including technical adjustments, uploading resources, modifying existing resource metadata, and the provision of administrative support to RSD personnel with regards to the RSD PP.

2. Data Collection Exercises and Dashboards
¿ Assessing statistical data for errors, user management and other support to users of the RSD Statistical Dashboard.
¿ Develop and maintain technical feature and trouble-shoot problems in Powerbi Dashboards, which draw on information from Kobo data collections exercises (including the RSD Procedural Standards Checklist, the RSD Staffing Survey etc.)
¿ Design and develop or amend surveys using Kobo, Microsoft forms and other similar tools

3. Support to RSD Section Events and Activities
¿ Act as rapporteur for various RSD Section events (e.g. regional meetings or workshops)
¿ Manage invite lists and invitations for RSD Section events

4. Any other tasks, upon request.

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required
The ideal candidate will:
¿ Be a recent or current student in a graduate/undergraduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited by UNESCO;
¿ Have completed at least two years of undergraduate studies, preferably in a program/data management related field;
¿ Have excellent communication skills with strong interpersonal and negotiation skills;
¿ Have excellent computer experience, using the Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint);
¿ Have solid experience in using Sharepoint 365, a Microsoft-branded platform, or Sharepoint Online and good knowledge of the Microsoft 365 `ecosystem¿ of programs.
¿ Experience in working with KOBO Toolbox or other similar tools
¿ Experience in working with Powerbi or other similar tools
¿ Demonstrate a genuine desire to learn and develop;
¿ Be highly organised and have good attention to detail;
¿ Be able to multi-task and to prioritize workload;
¿ Be able to work independently;
¿ Be a flexible team-player;

Desirable
¿ Language skills (French, Spanish, Russian, or Arabic) are useful but not a requirement for internships with the RSD Section.
¿ Experience with or knowledge of content management systems
¿ Knowledge of refugee status determination and/or international refugee/human rights law an asset

Conditions:
This internship is full time (40 hours per week) Monday to Friday. The successful candidate will be assigned to support the team in Geneva, Switzerland; however, bearing in mind COVID-19 imposed restrictions, remote working arrangements are possible, and working from home will in any case sometimes be required.

Allowance

Interns who do not receive financial support from an outside party will receive an allowance in accordance with applicable UN rules.

The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.

UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, travelling, processing or training).

We welcome applications from candidates with a refugee or stateless background. Please note that the closing date for this internship advertisement is Friday 4 December 2020 (midnight Geneva time).