Associate Legal Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve 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 (www.unhcr.org).

Context

UNHCR’s engagement in Serbia builds on 45 years of supporting refugees, displacement and statelessness issues since 1976. In the 1990’s, UNHCR assisted Serbia initially with emergency reception and accommodation of refugees and IDPs from the region, and subsequently with facilitating voluntary return or local integration, including through the Regional Housing Programme (RHP). In 2015/16 when more than a million people transited the country towards the European Union, UNHCR assisted the Serbian Government in emergency response to the massive influx by providing emergency shelter, food and non-food aid, as well as protection support. Since mid-2016, when the number of arrivals has started to decrease, UNHCR has been focusing on more sustainable developmental and institutional protection and solutions interventions. UNHCR Serbia actively promotes a protection-sensitive approach to the management of mixed movement flows which includes promoting synergies, complementarity of mandates/activities and responsibility sharing among different actors. It capitalizes on the tradition in Serbia of hosting forcibly displaced persons and aims to support the strengthening of national asylum system and related processes to provide protection and viable solutions to refugees and asylum seekers. This will be done within the framework of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) which recognizes that sustainable solutions can only be achieved through solidarity, responsibility-sharing, and collaboration across all sectors of society. UNHCR also actively promotes and supports Serbia's accession to the EU in the respective areas. UNHCR’s strategy in the country builds on the strengths and capacities of the persons of concern and explores innovative ways and partnerships to facilitate protection and solutions, including inclusion and integration. The strategy aims at contributing to the following two impact areas: 1. Refugees, asylum seekers, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and persons at risk of statelessness benefit from an improved and more systematically implemented legal framework and can thus access rights in line with international standards: persons in need of international protection have access to territory and asylum procedure, receive protection and assistance in safe reception conditions, and particularly children at risk benefit from a system which addresses their needs. A fair and fast asylum procedure, identity documents and a solid legal framework guarantee the rights for refugees and asylum seekers, and they can effectively enjoy these rights. The factors for the risk of statelessness are mitigated through adjustment of the relevant legislation and practice which facilitate immediate birth registration, and vulnerable IDPs have better access to socioeconomic rights and are eventually provided with solutions. 2. Refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs and persons who are no longer at risk of statelessness are a meaningful part of the Serbian society and are welcome to contribute with their human capital to the local community. Persons of concern live in an environment where their rights are guaranteed and where they are included; they possess education and skills to be utilized in the labor market and are able to provide for their families; children and youth receive quality education enabling them to thrive; and persons with specific needs receive social support.

Task description

Under the direct supervision of Head of Protection Legal Unit, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: • Support the coordination and promotion of international refugee law principles and standards as well as IDP legislation or policies • Contribute to the Protection legal team with legal analysis; researches, collects and disseminates relevant protection information and good practices to enhance protection delivery and provide technical advice if necessary; • Provide policy guidance and operational support to UNHCR and partners on all protection related issues and stay abreast of developments in the area of asylum and migration at the international level • Advise through direct action and advocacy with more senior protection staff that the necessary resources are allocated to enable protection activities to identify and address protection and assistance gaps; • Maintain protection presence through regular field missions and reports, making direct contact with persons of concern, host communities, local authorities and partners. • Monitor, and assist with the intervention in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners; • Promote confidence building and conflict resolution among populations of concern, authorities and host communities; • Through relationships with persons of concern, authorities and network of partners stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment and provide advice to senior management. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities: • Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take an 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; • Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities. • 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.