Associate External Relations and Reporting Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

Le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés (HCR) a pour mandat de diriger et de coordonner l’action internationale visant à protéger les réfugiés. Il a pour but premier de sauvegarder les droits et le bien être des réfugiés. Il met en œuvre ses programmes de protection dans le monde entier et sensibilise le grand public à la situation des personnes réfugiées dans le monde. Le HCR Mauritanie fournit protection et assistance à quelque 65 000 réfugiés maliens dans la région aride du sud-est où se trouve le camp de réfugiés de Mbera, et à quelque 9 000 réfugiés urbains et demandeurs d'asile dans les villes de Nouakchott et Nouadhibou. La situation sécuritaire au Mali est toujours instable et des retours à grande échelle ne sont pas attendus. Les Maliens continuent d'arriver en Mauritanie dans le cadre de flux de population mixtes.

Context

UNHCR Mauritania provides protection and assistance to some 90,000 Malian refugees in the arid south-eastern region where the Mbera refugee camp is located, and to 14,906 urban refugees and asylum seekers in the cities of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou. Conditions in Mali are not yet conducive for large scale returns, and as such the refugee population in Mbera camp is the highest it has been since the camp was established in 2012. The Government of Mauritania has committed to a policy of inclusion for refugees. Accordingly, UNHCR continues to build refugee resilience and to deepen its engagement with development actors to enhance capacity of national services. The External Relations unit is responsible for donor relations, for reporting to headquarters, for supporting senior management in inter-agency representation and for engaging with the general public and the media (communication). The External Relations Unit supports the operation both in the urban areas where it is present (Nouakchott, Nouadhibou, Nema) and in the Hodh Chargui region where the Mbera refugee camp is located.

Task description

Associate External Relations Officer in Nouakchott (secondary reporting line), the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: • Keep abreast all developments in operations to prepare appropriate briefings and reports. • Prepare periodic reports, i.e. donor updates, internal sitreps, briefing notes for senior managers, and activity-specific reports as required. • Prepare funding submissions for donors, and draft any required after-action reports. • Develop and maintain working relationships with the government, NGOs, and UN agencies to ensure cooperation in inter-related activities. • Support the UNHCR-led Cluster activities by preparing and distributing minutes, assisting in the organization of meetings; occasionally chairing meetings, and serving as the general secretariat for the relevant Cluster. • Support the supervisor in preparation for meetings and missions drafting of talking points. • Organize and accompany missions for VIP visitors, delegates to visit refugee sites or the activities of UNHCR implementing partners. • If there is no Public Information (PI) focal point in country, serve as PI focal point, contributing to and coordinating press events, interviews, PI missions and other activities related to information dissemination to the general public to promote UNHCR activities. 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. • The volunteer will act as the primary liaison with the External Relations Unit at the nation-al level, including coordination, drafting and quality control of inputs from the Sub-Office for proposals and reports. • UNHCR teams adopt a multifunctional approach to its protection work. In this context, the volunteer can be required to perform other duties as assigned by supervisors.