Assistant Protection Officer

This position is advertised open to internal and external applicants. Interested applicants should consult the Administrative Instruction on Recruitment and Assignment of Locally Recruited Staff (RALS).Applicants must be nationals of, and be locally recruited within the country of their employment. Assistant Protection Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Assistant Protection Officer reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer. Depending on the size and structure of the Office, the incumbent may have supervisory responsibility for protection staff including community-based protection, registration, resettlement and education. S/he provides functional protection guidance to information management and programme staff on all protection/legal matters and accountabilities. These include: statelessness (in line with the campaign to End Statelessness by 2024),  Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) commitments, age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP) through community-based protection, Child protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, gender equality, disability inclusion, youth empowerment, psycho-social support  and PSEA, registration, asylum/refugee status determination, resettlement, local integration, voluntary repatriation, human rights standards integration, national legislation, judicial engagement, predictable and decisive engagement in situations of internal displacement and engagement in wider mixed movement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses. S/he supervises protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards.

The Assistant Protection Officer is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (PoC), ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. The incumbent contributes to the design of a comprehensive protection strategy and represents the Organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. S/he also ensures that PoC 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 them. To achieve this, the incumbent 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.


All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, 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, staff members are required to discharge their 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.


Duties
- Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
- Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
- Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to PoC.  
- Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
- Conduct eligibility and status determination for PoC in compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles. 
- Promote and 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 as part of the protection strategy.
- Provide inputs for the development of protection policies and standards within the AoR.
- Implement and monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
- Manage individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.
- Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of PoC through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
- Assess resettlement needs and apply priorities for the resettlement of individuals and groups of refugees and other PoC.
- Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
- Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
- Contribute to and facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems. 
- Assist capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
- Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
- Intervene with authorities on protection issues.
- Assist the supervisor in deciding priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
- Assist the supervisor in enforcing 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.
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P1/NOA - 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Law, International Law, Political Sciences 
or other relevant field.
(Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified;
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles

Desirable
Completion of the Protection Learning Programme, RSD- Resettlement Learning Programme.

Functional Skills
*PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
*LE-International Refugee Law
*PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)
PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination
MG-Projects management
PR-PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards
PR-International Humanitarian Law
PR-Protection and mixed-movements
PR-Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Operations & IDPs Status/Rights/Obligation
PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement
PR-Community-based Protection
MS-Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.


All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.


This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.
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See below for this postion's Operational Context
======================================================================================================== The political landscape and operational context in Sudan have changed substantially since April 2019. The Transitional Government has been working on structural improvements in different sectors including economic, rule of law, governance, and human rights.
The Juba Peace Agreement will encourage the return of Sudanese refugees from various hosting areas in the region. 95% of the nearly 150,000 refugees in the Upper Nile State in South Sudan originate from the Blue Nile (BN) and larger scale return movements are expected as part of formal facilitated mechanisms, with smaller spontaneous movements already taking place. In addition, the outbreak of violent conflict in Western Ethiopia towards the end of 2020 resulted in several asylum seekers and refugees crossing the border into the BN State.
Under the strategic guidance and oversight of the Representation Office in Khartoum, the UNHCR BN operation has mounted a response to that influx with operations at the border point while a camp has been established (Camp 6) near Village 6 for relocation of refugees; about 2,100 asylum seekers have been relocated so far.
The Associate Protection Officer will be based in Damazine, capital of BN State, and will report to the Protection Officer.
The incumbent of this position should possess:
¿ Knowledge and previous experience of Mixed Movements. This in particular given, that the BN State is one of the main entry points to Sudan- being a Country of Asylum, Country of Origin as well as a Country of Transit.
¿ Good inter-personal and net-working skills. A major part of the work involves coordination among many different stakeholders such UN agencies, INGOS and government counterparts and interlocutors.
¿ Experienced in research, data collection and documented drafting skills is also important as the need for well-informed reports on the Mixed Movements is crucial in the Advocacy and Coordination work undertaken by UNHCR.
¿ An overall knowledge of SGBV, individual case-management and communications with communities is an added asset, as is a good understanding of durable solutions, such as resettlement. This will support the incumbent while also working with the most vulnerable of the persons of concern, among those Victims of Trafficking.
Damazine is classified as D non-family duty station.
The security situation is stable in Blue Nile and in Ad Damazine. Khartoum is approximately 800 Kilometers away, which is an 8-hour trip in average. All UN personnel are using UNHAS (WFP) flight from Khartoum to Ad Damazine as there are no commercial flights to Blue Nile. Transportation by road is also possible, using UNHCR vehicles. Travel permits are compulsory for interstate or inter-region trips and police escorts are required to travel to the border.
Public transportation such as buses, taxis, and rickshaws are available for commuting within the city. However, it is highly recommended to never take a ride on them but to always use UNHCR vehicles.
The standards of housing and public services are low in Ad Damazine. Majority of International Staff working for the UN and International NGOs as well as local staff coming from other regions of the country are either living in their Organization guest houses or in a Hotel.
International credit and debit cards are not accepted by the banks, hotels and shops. Staff are recommended to bring cash in USD to cover their needs. International staff are also encouraged to open US Dollar bank accounts with local banks whereby the local portion of their salary will be transferred.
There are Government hospitals and several private health providers in Ad Damazine. The Police Hospital is recommended in case of an urgency.
The climate in Ad Damazine is hot and semi-arid with increasing rainfall and lower temperature from May to September.
Cotton clothing is recommended to ensure comfort in the heat. Rain gears are necessary during the raining season.  It is also important to carry clothing that is both light and covers the arms. This is mainly to protect against many insects (including mosquitoes, flies among others).