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Registration Assistant, G4, TA. San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose

  • Organization: UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  • Location: San Jose
  • Grade: Administrative support - Administrative Services and Support - Generally no need for Higher Education
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Administrative support
    • Information Technology and Computer Science
    • Refugee rights and well-being
  • Closing Date: Closed

CANDIDATES MUST BE LEGALLY PRESENT IN COSTA RICA AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION, RECRUITMENT, AND HIRING. ONLY CANDIDATES WHO HAVE A PERMANENT RESIDENCE AND WORK PERMIT IN COSTA RICA WILL BE CONSIDERED ELIGIBLE. Duties:

- Conduct scheduling of Persons of Concern (PoC) for registration interview.
- Ensure orderly reception of both refugees and asylum-seekers in the office.
- Support other registration staff by conducting registration interviews and mobile registration in accordance with local SOPs and registration standards as needed.
- Provide counselling to, and respond to queries from, asylum-seekers and refugees regardingUNHCR¿s registration procedures and PoC's rights and entitlements.
- Maintain accurate and up-to date records and data related to all individual registration cases.
- Identify persons with particular vulnerabilities and specific needs, and ensure timely referral for follow up as required.
- Collaborate with protection staff and/or partners in the delivery of assistance and programming,including protection monitoring activities.
- Draft correspondence and reports relating to registration activities in the operation, when required.
- Act as interpreter and translator when needed.
- To be efficitent and detailed orientation when supporting Data Entry task. i.e., to review and record the infromations available in the Physical files at the Refugee unit of DGME, the Migration Authority into a stipulated database tool. 
- Sistematically organize the physical file and demostrate good and accurate organization and management skill when organizing the files at the Refugee Unit.
- Ensure all information are accurately and sistematically updated in the newly developed data entry tool at the Refugee unit of DGME.
- Support on Registration related activity and clean up at the Refugee unit of DGME.
- Provide statistics and reports related to registration data, as requested.
- Perform other related duties and protection-related duties as required. 


Minimum Qualifications:

Education & Professional Work Experience:

Years of Experience / Degree Level:
For G4 - 1 year relevant experience with High School Diploma; or Bachelor or equivalent or higher


Field(s) of Education:
Completion of the secondary Education with post-secondary training/certificate in Social Science, statistics, Mathematics, Information Technology, or related fields is desirable. (Preferably those with University degree).

Certificates and/or Licenses:
Social Sciences; Statistics; Mathematics; Information Technology; HCR Protection Lrng Prog;


Relevant Job Experience

Desirable:
Experience in working with UNHCR ProGres software.


Functional Skills:
IT-Computer Literacy;
Prior knowledge and experience on refugee issues, proGres database and KOBO will be an asset ¿¿¿¿¿


Competency Requirements

Core Competencies:
Accountability
Communication
Organizational Awareness
Teamwork & Collaboration
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies:
Not applicable.

Cross-Functional Competencies:
Analytical Thinking
Technological Awareness
Planning and Organizing Fluency in Spanish and English is desirable
G4-C2 Spanish, B2 English
========================================================================================================
See below for this postion's Operational Context
======================================================================================================== 3. Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The socio-political crisis and rise in persecution factors in Nicaragua since April 2018 has produced a particularly sharp increase in the number of Nicaraguan asylum-seekers in Costa Rica. Only 78 Nicaraguans were registered as asylum-seekers in 2017. However, from April 2018 to mid-2020, the number had grown to over 86,000. This includes a significant number of vulnerable persons: at least one quarter of the arrivals has required humanitarian assistance, although this figure has likely increased in the months since the arrival of COVID in March 2020. With the onset of the COVID pandemic and related measures, the regular influx of new asylum seekers slowed to a trickle, but is expected to increase again once the situation ¿normalizes¿ and borders are reopened on a greater level. The level of humanitarian and legal protection needs has only increased for those asylum-seekers, refugees, and persons at risk of statelessness ¿ known collectively as Persons of Concern (¿PoC¿) ¿ in the country.  
Costa Rica also continues to receive asylum-seekers from Venezuela, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Cuba and other countries with approximately 100,000 total PoC in Costa Rica at mid-2020. The country also hosts a significant number of persons from within and outside the region who are in transit through Costa Rica as part of mixed movements, but some of these persons apply for asylum as well.

The response capacities of Costa Rica, a country of approximately 5 million people, and those of UNHCR and other partners, have been severely stretched, resulting in inadequate reception facilities and significant delays in registering and processing asylum claims. The large backlog can inhibit asylum-seekers from timely access to documentation, work authorization, health insurance and other rights, as well as a final refugee recognition decision, increasing their vulnerability and exposure to protection risks, and increasing their dependency on humanitarian aid. 

UNHCR carries out registration activities for Persons of Concern (POC) to ensure that they are identified and monitored for protection interventions and case management activities. Registration involves the recording, verifying and updating of information on POC to UNHCR with the aim of protecting, and of implementing durable solutions. Registration with UNHCR would result in identifying persons with specific needs and facilitate access to protection interventions. 

According to Conclusion No. 91 (LII) of the Executive Committee (ExCom), registration is a protection tool and should be an ongoing process that records both essential information on initial displacement and changes in the refugee population. The continuous process of updating the information guarantees the integrity of the database so that quality protection, well-targeted assistance and durable solutions can be provided to the PoC.

While the Costa Rican government registers refugees for refugee status determination, UNHCR registers refugees and asylum-seekers to provide effective protection for people, manage individual cases, provide financial assistance, and for programmatic responses.

The Registration Assistant is supervised by a more senior member of the team who normally reports directly to the Associate Registration & Identity Management Officer. The Registration Assistant is responsible for supporting all activities related to registration, as per below. The Registration Assistant also responds to queries from asylum-seekers and refugees regarding UNHCR¿s registration procedures and their rights and entitilements. The Registation Assistant liaises with protection staff and partners to ensure timely identification and referral of persons of concern for follow up on protection concerns.  S/he responds to queries from asylum seekers, and refugees regarding UNHCR¿s registration procedures and their rights and entitlements, conduct scheduling activities, or perform reverification interview when needed.
Additionally, as part of the multifunctional team in UNHCR, the registration unit at San Jose will be conducting scheduling of persons of concern, conduct assessments, re-verification and issuance of documentation to persons of concern as part of the UNHCR-CCSS (Caja Costarricense De Seguro Social) continuation of project from 2020 to identify and provide beneficiries with health insurance coverage.

Additionally, the focus for the year 2021 also includes supporting and strenghtening the asylum system of the government of Costa Rica and digitalize the Registration and Refugee Status Determination System. As part of the effort, the registration staff will also support with the data entry of all infromation available in the physical files at the refugee unit. This includes approximately data entry of 100,000 files in the refugee unit HOW TO APPLY

Internal candidates:
- Your application must be submitted by: MSRP - Self-Service - Recruiting - Careers - Costa Rica -NAME OF THE POSITION

External candidates:
- Candidates must submit their application through UNHCR's official application site: www.unhcr.org/careers.html
- click on Vacancies
- Look for Costa Rica
- To apply you must register in the upper right part of the page
Click on position you are interested  and follow the instructions

(In case of technical problems, please login with a different browser).

For any technical problems encountered during the online application, please contact the Global Service Desk (hqussd@unhcr.org) prior to the deadline to allow sufficient time to resolve the issues. For any questions regarding the selection process, please contact Human Resources (cossarrhh@unhcr.org).

CVs will NOT be accepted by email. ONLY THOSE APPLICATIONS SENT THROUGH THE SYSTEM WILL BE CONSIDERED.

We are committed to maintaining diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity and culture.  Persons belonging to minority groups, persons with special abilities, men and women, are encouraged to apply for vacancies. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.

We do not confirm receipt of applications or report on the status of the process. Only qualified candidates will be contacted for an interview and possibly a written test.

Closing Date
Closing date for submissions or applications is 15 June 2021, (midnight Geneva time) 16:00 hours (Costa Rica time).
No late applications will be accepted.
UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing or any other fees).
This vacancy is now closed.
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