Job Requisition Type

Evergreen (Formerly known as talent pools, in order to have a balanced number of ready-to-hire candidates who can be deployed at short notice to a vacancy that best matches their skills. Evergreens are primarily used to fill Temporary Appointments.)

Current UNHCR staff members holding an Indefinite or Fixed-term Appointment in the international professional category who are looking for Internal Temporary Assignment (ITA) opportunities – instead of applying to an Evergreen profile – should contact the Emergency and Temporary Staffing Unit.

Call for applications - Protection Officer, P4

Location: Various location

Why should you join us?

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, takes the lead in protecting people forced to flee the world, providing life-saving aid including protection shelter, food and water to ensure safety, rights and dignity. With over 20,000 women and men working in 137 countries, we work tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of millions forcibly displaced people worldwide.

Our dedicated and professional staff work around the world in roles including legal protection, community-based protection, health and more. Despite the challenges, our staff are proud to work for UNHCR and determined to make a positive impact on the lives of people forced to flee.

How can you make a difference?

The Senior Protection Officer plans, leads and coordinates quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern to UNHCR. This includes ensuring that operational responses in all sectors are shaped in a protection perspective, are consistent with and promote respect for relevant international law and UNHCR’s doctrine, mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. Another important element of the incumbent’s functions is to ensure that persons of concern of all age, gender and diversity groups are involved in making decisions that affect them. To undertake this role effectively, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with other relevant teams within the operation or the Bureau (including programme; PI and external relations; IM) and with DIP, communities of concern, authorities, partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection and achieving solutions.

Key responsibilities and duties:

• Manage a consultative process with government counterparts, partners and persons of concern to develop and implement a comprehensive protection and solutions strategy

• Ensure that the protection strategy is fully integrated into the Country Operations Plan, the UN Development and Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and the Humanitarian Country Team’s common humanitarian response plan as well as with the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees and the Three Year Strategy on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways.

• Promote relevant International, Regional and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct and ensure that all sectors and /or in clusters in applicable operations fulfil their responsibilities in mainstreaming protection.

• Develop, implement and monitor community-based protection strategies and ensure systematic application and integration of participatory and community-based approaches in protection and solutions planning, programming and strategies.

• Guide the operation in the development and implementation of robust prevention, identification, and responses to fraud within protection processes and procedures, including registration, RSD, and resettlement, ensuring the integrity of interventions across all protection activities.

• Oversee the management of individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection.

• Oversee eligibility and status determination in the operation.

• Promote and implement strategies and measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.

• Develop and implement an education plan and a child protection plan as part of the protection strategy

• Monitor and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners.

• Ensure that durable solutions through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement and complementary pathways are sought and provided to the largest possible number of persons of concern including undertaking, supporting, and/or overseeing resettlement and complementary pathways activities, including implementation of the GCR Three Year Strategy.

• Ensure that the Protection Sector or Cluster has an effective information management component which provides disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems.

• Develop the protection capacity of national and local authorities, partners and civil

• Advise and capacitate national authorities, relevant institutions and civil society to strengthen legislation and status determination procedures and mechanisms.

Who are we looking for?

Candidates with 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree.

Requirements

Minimum 7 years of relevant professional experience in the area of refugee protection, internal displacement, human rights or international humanitarian law, including experience in working directly with Field Offices. Very good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles, and of UNHCR’s protection strategies and policies. Excellent legal research, analytical skills and drafting.

Advantage

Diverse field experience. Good IT skills including database management skills.

For a more detailed description, please review the job description:

https://www.unhcr.org/63dcfb424

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

UNHCR’s workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, age and perspectives. We seek to sustain and strengthen this diversity and to ensure equal opportunities, as well as an inclusive working environment, for our entire workforce. Joining us means living, sharing and promoting these core values of inclusion, diversity and gender equality.

Applications are encouraged from qualified candidates without distinction on the grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.