Details
Mission and objectives
The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assem-bly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country. The UN Refugee Agency in Niger acting within its mandate of protecting persons in need of international protection, and in partnership with the Government of Niger has established the Evacuation Transit Mechanism (ETM). The mechanism aims at evacuating persons of con-cern with acute protection needs from Libya to Niger, where they undergo RSD and are di-rected to appropriate durable solutions. Most of these evacuees come from Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia and are victims of severe human rights violations during their journey.
Context
The UN Refugee Agency acting within its mandate of protecting persons in need of international protection has begun the evacuation of persons of concern at high risk from Libya to Niger, in partnership with the government of Niger through the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM). The partner organization COOPI provides assistance to these persons of concern. Most of these evacuees come from the Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia) and are victims of human trafficking, smuggling and severe human rights violations on their way towards Europe. These evacuees will be temporarily hosted in Niger, where their needs and vulnerabilities will be assessed and their case processed in view of finding durable solutions. Assistance, psychosocial support and medical screening will be made available to ensure they receive adequate follow up of their protection needs stemming from their experiences before arrival in Niger.
Task description
The Interpreter will be assigned to work with one of the ETM/Protection Units, namely either Child Protection/BlD, RSD, Resettlement, or Field (Protection)/Community Services. The interpreter will report to the Head of the pertinent Unit. The Interpreter and Translator will provide operational support to registration, protection, refugee status determination, resettlement, child protection/BlD, and field staff of UNHCR and to the staff of partner organizations through language support services for evacuees from Libya. The Interpreter will translate oral statements between English/French and Tigrinya for reception, registration, RSD, RST, BID interviews, and cultural orientation training as well as for counselling sessions. The interpreter/translation may be asked to translate written documents or statements as necessary. Major Responsibilities: -Act as an interpreter during Reception & Orientation, Registration, RSD, RST and BID interviews, training, and counselling, including health and psychological counselling, for UNHCR Niger and partner organizations as assigned by planning. -Translate documents from target languages (Tigrinya) to French and/or English language and vice versa as necessary In the fulfilment of his/her duties the interpreter must abide by relevant standards. In particular: The interpreter is required to read, understand and comply with UNHCR's Code of Conduct and realizes that he/she shall be expected to work in the spirit of the principles set forth therein. -The interpreter is required to read and understand the Undertaking of Confidentiality and Impartiality and understands that he shall be expected to respect the principle of confidentiality and remain impartial in his/her work. -The interpreter is required to read and understand, and agree to abide by the standards of conduct set forth in the Secretary-General's Bulletin, ST/SGB/2003/13 of 9 October 2003, concerning "Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse". Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to: Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day); -Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country; -Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities; -Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.; -Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers; -Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible. Results/Expected Outputs The results achieved by the interpreter and translator will be mainly measured through the satisfaction of the staff with the services provided including with reference to the standards mentioned above. In addition, the number of activities facilitated or conducted will serve as indicator, in accordance with the overall workplan of the protection, RSD, RST, BID and field staff as well as the partner organizations' staff. Promotion of Volunteering I Volunteerism Successful submission of UNV articles (I —2) for peacebuilding and development for UNV websites The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counterparts, including Implementing Partners (IPs); Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed Qualifications I Requirements