Assistant Government Liaison Officer - TA

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Office in Afghanistan invites qualified AFGHAN candidates to apply for the following vacancy:

Functional Title: Assistant Government Liaison Officer
Type of Appointment: Temporary Appointment - 6 months
Grade: NOA
Position Number: n/a
Duty Station: Country Office Kabul
Issue Date: 21 September 2021
Closing Date: 30 September 2021

Organizational/ Operational Context:

Having entered the fifth decade of their displacement, Afghan refugees constitute one of the largest protracted displacement crises of our time. Over the years, the region has remained in flux and return movements have been interspersed with waves of emigration, sporadic flows of refugees, and exponential internal displacement. COVID-19 has pushed millions of vulnerable people further into poverty, with potential implications for population movements within the region and further afield. Hundreds of thousands remain further afield, notably in Germany, other European Union Member States and Turkey.

Between 2002 and 2020 an estimated 7 million Afghans have returned to Afghanistan, with more than 5.2 million being refugees who have voluntarily repatriated with UNHCR¿s assistance. Refugee returns during the last three years have been far lower than in previous years, with 2,147 Afghan refugees returned from Pakistan (1,092), Iran (939), and other countries (116) in 2020, the lowest return figure that could be attributed to the deteriorating political, security and economic situation in Afghanistan and the impact of COVID-19. These returns have taken place against a backdrop of increased internal displacement due to conflict and natural disaster. OCHA, estimates that overall, nearly five million persons have been displaced since 2012 and have not returned to their place of origin.

Despite strong political will to achieve peace in Afghanistan, uncertainties result from the current political context, including the significant delays in the intra-Afghan peace negotiations and the withdrawal of US troops as part of the US/Taliban negotiations. There are currently two elements constituting the international military forces in Afghanistan: the US Operation Freedom with 2,500 troops, which were recently reduced from 4,500 troops on 15 January 2021 with a possible complete withdrawal by May 2021; and the NATO Resolute Support with fewer than 12,000 troops from dozens of nations involved in a non-combat mission of training and advising the Afghan security forces.

There are 72,445 refugees living in Afghanistan. Most of this group were displaced from Pakistan to Afghanistan in 2014 and settled in areas of Khost and Paktika provinces. A small number (approximately 380 people) reside in urban areas of Kabul and other cities. Refugees constitute one of the most vulnerable populations in the country. They face significant legal challenges due to the fact that that the National Law on Asylum still has not been enacted.

UNHCR provides international protection and finds solutions to the refugee situation in Afghanistan building upon the ongoing consultations within the context of the Support Platform for the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) and the Global Compact on Refugees. These include the Inaugural Meeting of the Core Group of the SSAR Support Platform (7 October 2020), the 7th Meeting of the SSAR Quadripartite Steering Committee (1 October 2020), and the High-Level Meeting on the SSAR Support Platform (6 July 2020).

While ongoing security challenges remain significant, there is also an opportunity at present for Afghanistan¿s gradual progression on the path towards peace and stability, which could pave the way for
the long-awaited solution of voluntary repatriation. UNHCR will expand the Priority Area of Return and Reintegration (PARR) from 20 to 40 areas in 2021. Full, explicit and impactful inclusion of returning refugees into national development planning and programming is essential to enable their sustainable reintegration which will in turn solidify and fortify the broader peacebuilding, reconciliation and stabilization efforts, the integral linkages between timely, inclusive and forward-looking planning for return and reintegration and the three overarching pillars of Afghanistan¿s National Peace and Development Framework (ANPDF II) for 2021-2025, as well as relevant implementation mechanisms, including the National Priority Programs (NPPs):

1. Peace-building: ensuring that the imperative of voluntary return and reintegration is firmly embedded in relevant peace processes and any subsequent agreement with a view to enabling returning refugees to become part of cohesive and harmonious communities and to
participate in peace-building and reconciliation efforts;

2. Market-building: capitalizing on the human capital, skills and assets acquired by refugees in host countries to support market-building efforts and address human resource gaps, including through return of qualified individuals, private sector investments or opportunities for regional connectivity; and

3. State-building: advancing inclusion of the displaced in development processes, planning and programmes; with particular focus on enhancing absorption capacity and delivery of quality services and ensuring rights through targeted humanitarian, development, and peace (triple nexus) investments in priority areas of return and reintegration, building resilience of communities as a whole; in full alignment with the strategic long-term approach to peacebuilding outlined by the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

The Assistant Government Liaison Officer plays a crucial support role in ensuring UNHCR¿s approach to the Government is consistent, strategic and coherent. UNHCR assists the Government on coordination, response delivery and protection issues. Typically, this involves joint coordination arrangements, partnership with various government departments in service delivery, and regular dialogue at all levels on refugee protection issues. The main aim is to assist senior management to ensure that UNHCR can fulfil its role to support the Government to lead the refugee response ensuring the protection of refugees and - in line with the GCR - promote the inclusion of refugees into national systems by coordinating with other actors - including development actors at the early stages of a refugee response and in mixed situations supporting the Government to prevent, respond to and resolve internal displacement while complementing and reinforcing national response efforts. This should be done in line with UNHCR¿s Mandate, the Global Compact for Refugees, the IDP policy, and agreed inter-agency commitments. More specifically, s/he advises the senior management on issues and processes concerning the relationship with the Government and related positioning, coordination, advocacy, information, resource allocation, fundraising, reporting, and communication with other UN agencies, NGOs, civil society actors, private sector, media and other relevant actors through strong engagement in humanitarian inter-agency processes, but also with a focus on development processes as they impact on UNHCR. The overall goal of the position is to support the effectiveness of UNHCR¿s leadership roles and responses to situations affecting people of concern to UNHCR (refugees, asylum-seekers, IDPs, stateless persons, returnees, host communities) through an open and transparent partnership approach with the Government.

The Assistant Government Liaison Officer ensures that support is provided for strategic planning, assessment, monitoring and analysis concerning the relationship with the Government. The Assistant Government Liaison Officer will support all planning and reporting activities. The incumbent will support the supervisor in maintaining a constant dialogue with the Government on the overall protection context. A key tool in this regard will be the facilitation and support of periodic meetings with the Government, as well as to support the broadening of mutual information through meeting reports, situation updates and newsletters.

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 and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the representative, the incumbent will undertake the following responsibilities:

- Assist in the establishment of close working relations with Government Officials and/or other external parties.
- Provide suggestions for promoting UNHCR¿s policies and liaising with Government authorities on issues related to latest humanitarian and development processes.
- Support coordination meetings as required, including by preparing meetings and background information, drafting minutes and follow-up documentation.
- Manage the flow of information to/from the supervisor and other senior staff; identifies priority matters that need to be urgently addressed by the supervisor.
- Draft correspondence, documents and reports, and prepares tables and ensures follow-up.
- Assist in ensuring appropriate links with the Government through establishment/maintenance of appropriate coordination and information exchange.
- Act on behalf of the supervisor to convey, clarify and explain UNHCR¿s positions to Government or other external parties as applicable.
- Inform the supervisor on a continuing basis of relevant information on the outcome of discussions with external parties.
- Act as interpreter during meetings held by the supervisor with senior officials or other external parties.
- Accompany the supervisor and Headquarters visitors to camps, border missions and provincial cities.
- May be required to coordinate the work of lower level staff.
- Perform other related duties as required.

Essential qualifications, skills and professional experience

Education:
- Completion of undergraduate degree or higher

Field(s) of Education

- Law/International Law;
- Political Science;
- Social Science;
- Business Administration;
- or other relevant field.

Language:
- Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English

Work Experience:
- For P1/NOA - 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree

Relevant Job Experience

Essential:
- n/a

Desirable:
- n/a

Functional Skills:
- MS-Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation;
- MG-Negotiation;
- CL-Multi-stakeholder Communications with Partners, Government & Community
- MS-Networking;

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

Cross-Functional Competencies
- Stakeholder Management
- Political Awareness
- Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

Managerial Competencies
- Empowering and Building Trust

APPLICATION:

The management of the advertised openings in this announcement is in line with the provisions of the UNHCR Administrative Instruction on Recruitment and Assignment of Locally Recruited Staff (RALS).   The vacancies are open to eligible internal (Group 1 and Group 2) and external applicants.

- Internal applicants (Group 1 and Group 2) are requested to submit their applications through MSRP ¿ Self-Service ¿ Recruiting ¿ Careers or CLICK HERE . It is important that applicants update their fact sheets (languages, education and prior working experience) before submitting their applications.

- External applicants are requested to submit their applications through the UNHCR website - www.unhcr.org ¿ Career ¿ Career Opportunities ¿ Other Opportunities  or CLICK HERE and Filter by country (Afghanistan). You will need to create an account as ¿New User¿ or login  and then click on ¿My Account Information¿. Complete the application and submit it.

Important note:

- An eliminatory written test for shortlisted candidates will be conducted and those who attain the pass-mark of 50% will be invited for the competency-based interview.
- Due to the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be invited for written test.
- The recruitment for this position shall be in line with the new Recruitment and Assignment of Locally Recruited Staff (RALS) policy.
- Only applications submitted through MSRP will be accepted.
- Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply for consideration