Assc Protection Officer

This vacancy is opened in the context of the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) scheme sponsored by the Government of the USA and is addressed exclusively to candidates WITH THE US NATIONALITY ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT.

Since the 1960s, Sudan has been hosting large numbers of refugees from neighbouring countries including Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Somalia, Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad. In February 1974, Sudan acceded to the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol and in November 1978, to the 1969 OAU Convention. In April 1974, it adopted the Asylum Act which has now been superseded by the 2014 Asylum Act.

A majority of refugees in East Sudan reside in camps and rural settlements covered by the UNHCR Khashm el Girba Field Office, while a smaller number stay in urban locations, primarily in Gedaref and Kassala.

The JPO will report to the Head of Field Office, Khashm el Girba and will contribute to the protection activities of the office working alongside community-based protection, registration, mixed migration and resettlement colleagues. S/he will contribute to various protection functional areas. The JPO will coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern, ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. The JPO will also contribute to the design of a comprehensive protection strategy and represent the organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. S/he will also ensure that persons of concern are meaningfully engaged in the decisions that affect them and support programme design and adaptations that are influenced by the concerns, priorities and capacities of persons of concern. To achieve this, the JPO will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection.

UNHCR Field Office Khashm el Girba ,where the JPO will be based, is approximately an hour¿s drive from Kassala Town in the East of Sudan and is classified as a non-family duty station with the hardship category ¿E¿ on the International Civil Servant Commission (ICSC) scale (Hardship scale ranges from A to E), mainly due to its remoteness and low level of basic facilities. Field Office Khash el Girba falls under the UNHCR Sub Office Kassala. A one-week Rest and Recuperation break is mandatory every eight-weeks to ensure health and work-life balance. Medical facilities, banks, transport and other services are available in Kassala.

The security level is categorised Low - with the situation calm and stable - on the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) Risk Scale. All security briefings are provided in Khartoum by the Senior Field Safety Officer upon arrival. Security clearance is required for all travel between Kassala and Khartoum.

Travel between Khartoum and Khashm El Girba is facilitated by a shuttle service provided by the Office during the working days twice a month. A commercial airline (Badr Air) is also cleared by the UNDSS for staff travel and has several flights per week between Kassala and Khartoum.
    
FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT.

Accountability (key results that will be achieved)

The JPO will be expected to support the overall efforts of the Protection Unit in UNHCR Field Office Khashm El Girba, working closely with protection colleagues in UNHCR Sub-Office Kassala, and contribute to the offices joint work with UNHCR Khartoum, which is the hub for liaison and coordination with other agencies in Sudan.

The JPO is accountable to perform his/her duties as reflected in this TORS, and as guided by the supervisor. This will be done in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, the JPO will be expected to discharge his/her responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR¿s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Responsibility (process and functions undertaken to achieve results)

The JPO will focus on protection situation in East Sudan within the area of coverage of UNHCR Field Office Girba. S/he will work closely with the protection team at the field office and in close liaison with the UNHCR Sub-Office Kassala. With guidance from the supervisor, the JPO will contribute to the broader protection services delivery, within which s/he is expected to perform the following duties:

¿ Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
¿ Promote International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct and foster their consistent and coherent interpretation and application through mainstreaming in all sectors and /or in clusters in applicable operations.
¿ Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to persons of concern.  
¿ Assist in providing legal advice and guidance on protection issues to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
¿ Oversee and manage individual protection cases, including those on SGBV, child protection and mixed migration.
¿ Contribute to the office¿s monitoring and intervention in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners.
¿ Assess and identify resettlement needs of refugees for referral to the resettlement unit.
¿ Participate in the organisation and implementation of participatory assessments and methodologies throughout the operations management cycle and promote AGD sensitive programming with implementing and operational partners.
¿ Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy through a consultative process with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
¿ Contribute to effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems. 
¿ Promote, contribute to and integrate community-based approaches to protection and contribute to capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
¿ Support activities in the area of risk management related to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, fraud, case-processing, data protection, and human rights due diligence at the field office.
¿ Participate in initiatives to capacitate national authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
¿ Perform other related duties as required.


Authority (decisions made in executing responsibilities and to achieve results)

¿ Intervene with authorities on protection issues.
¿ Negotiate locally on behalf of UNHCR.
¿ Decide priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals. Also, support activities towards direct assistance of persons of concern in
¿ Enforce compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
¿ Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED. 

EDUCATION/QUALIFICATION:  Undergraduate, Graduate or Doctorate  degree or equivalent in law, international relations, political science, criminology, public administration or related field. The degree must have been obtained in an accredited institution listed under whed.net.

WORK EXPERIENCE: 3 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 2 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 1year relevant experience with Doctorate degree  of progressively responsible professional work experience in humanitarian or development work, including 1 year at the international level in the relevant fields. Professional experience in the area of refugee protection, internal displacement, human rights or international humanitarian law. Good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles. Internships, part-time and voluntary work in the relevant fields are counted at a rate of 50%.

SKILLS: Proven ability to work independently and as a member of a multidisciplinary and multicultural team;
Well-developed communication skills to liaise, negotiate and advocate with key stakeholders including with other implementing agencies;
Ability to conduct assessment, research, write reports and reviews and conduct presentations by clearly formulating positions on issues and defending recommendation.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES. 

Field experience, including in working directly with refugee or similar communities. Good IT skills including database management skills. REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Code Managerial Competencies               

M001: Empowering and Building Trust

Code Cross-Functional Competencies      
X001: Analytical Thinking
X004: Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
X005: Planning and Organizing
X007: Political Awareness
X008: Stakeholder Management LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE

Essential: English, 
- Desirable:  Arabic is desirable. Fluency in one or more of the national languages in the region is an advantage. 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
¿ BSAFE
¿ Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA)
¿ UN Programme on the Prevention of Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority (SHAP)
¿ Protection Induction Programme (PiP)
¿ Information Security Awareness Foundation Course (InfoSec)
¿ Fundamentals of Fraud and Corruption Awareness

LEARNING ELEMENTS
The JPO position offers an opportunity to practically learn the intricacies of the international refugee protection regime Through immersion on the job learning, the JPO will learn:

¿ Case management across a broad array of protection issues including child protection, mixed migration, SGBV and response and prevention of the derogation of rights.
¿ Reporting: including initiating and assessing reports.
¿ Project management: including providing inputs and assessing project proposals, drafting project budgets to UN standards.
¿ Monitoring: including monitoring towards project targets and deliverables - in protection addressing a myriad of issues and formulating recommendations. LIVING CONDITIONS AT THE DUTY STATION

Housing/accommodation: Accomodation is available at the UNHCR Staff Guest House in Khashm El Girba.

Health care: Basic medical facilities are available locally in Girba and in Kassala Town

Educational facilities: N/A

Security: Level 2 on UNDSS Scale

Other: UNHCR provides transport for missions to the camps and other locations locally. Banks are available locally - international transfers are not possible to/from Sudan. Please note that the closing date for this JPO advertisement is Wednesday 31 March 2021 (midnight Geneva time).