Communication with Communities (CwC) Assistant

Details

Mission and objectives

UNHCR’s main objectives in Poland are to monitor access to territory and reception conditions as well as advocate for an efficient and protection-sensitive asylum system and related policies. UNHCR also aims to improve durable solutions such as local integration opportunities and increase public awareness of refugees and asylum issues. UNHCR works closely with both governmental and non-governmental organisations in Poland to achieve these objectives.

Context

UNHCR has been in Poland for 30 years, working with national authorities on refugee-related matters. With the arrival of nearly 1.4 million refugees from Ukraine recorded in Poland, majority being women and children, as well as older people and people with disabilities, UNHCR has substantially scaled up its presence and operations supporting government-led efforts through a multisectoral response focusing on ensuring access to asylum and protection, assisting the most vulnerable refugees, and facilitating inclusion. UNHCR currently has a Country Office and Frontex Liaison Office in Warsaw and has opened two field offices in Warsaw and Lublin, in addition to sub-offices in Rzeszow and Krakow. In implementing its programme, UNHCR works with several international and national partners to respond to the most pressing needs of refugees. These include ACTED/REACH, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the Halina Niec Legal Aid Centre, the Lutheran World Federation, Caritas Polska, Polish Red Cross, International Medical Corps (IMC) and others. UNHCR leads the overarching refugee coordination structure in Poland, in support of the Government-led response. The thematic sector working groups include Protection (with sub-sector working groups on Child Protection, Gender-based Violence, Counter-trafficking, Third-country nationals, and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support); Health; Education; Social Economic Inclusion, Information Management. In addition, there is a transversal taskforce on Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and a network on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA). Community-based protection and empowerment programmes, including two-way communication, information provision, referral pathways to established national social services and government and civil society actors form up a strategic component of UNHCR’s country programme in Poland. The Communication with Communities (CwC) Assistant is a member of the Community-based Protection (CBP) team, part of the Protection Unit, at UNHCR Poland. Based in Warsaw, s/he will report to the Snr. Community-based Protection Officer and work collaboratively with other colleagues in the CBP team and wider Protection Unit. S/he will be part of the CwC team’s efforts to enhance the operation’s two-way communication with refugee population from Ukraine. S/he will oversee and provide technical support to Counselling line operators, collect data by monitoring the conversations, concerns and comments related to UNHCR’s mandate and activities that are posed by persons of concern on social media channels, and assist the operation to respond to them as appropriate. S/he will also assist in the design and implementation of communication interventions, including the production of both printed and online materials that inform people of concern of their rights, obligations and the services available to them. To effectively carry out his/her duties, the Associate CwC Officer will engage with fellow UNHCR colleagues, protection and assistance partners, and communities of concern, in a regular way.

Task description

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of Snr. Community-based Protection Officer, the Communication with Communities (CwC) Assistant/Refugee UN Volunteer will: • Assist the Multi-functional team and snr.management to integrate participatory and community-based approaches in the overall protection strategy. • Ensure that the perspectives, capacities, needs and resources of the persons of concerns are reflected in the protection strategy, planning processes and operations plan addressing the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, people with diverse characteristics. • Assist in initiatives with host communities to involve national civil society groups in the protection of persons of concern. • Support implementing and operational partners as well as displaced and local communities to develop community-owned activities to address, where applicable, the social, educational, psycho-social, cultural, health, organisational and livelihood concerns as well as child protection and prevention and response to GBV. • Assist in the analysis that identifies the capacities of communities of concern and risks they face. Support participatory assessments by multifunctional teams and ongoing consultation with PoC. • Assist the Protection team in maintaining an overview of Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) tools and CwC activities, as well as keeping the bank of CwC materials developed by UNHCR and partner organizations, up to date. • Support efforts to build the office capacity for community-based protection. • Support communities in establishing representation and coordination structures. • Ensure community understanding of UNHCR's commitment to deliver on accountability and quality assurance in its response. • Collect data for monitoring of programmes and budgets from an AGD perspective. • Draft and type routine correspondence, documents and reports and maintain up-to-date filing systems. • Oversee and provide technical support to UNHCR Counselling line operators. • Support the Protection team in designing and producing print and online materials intended for people of concern, including leaflets, posters, and online (website and social media) content. • Contribute to the development of multi-lingual materials by producing and translating texts to and from English to Ukranian and Russian, and liaising with translators/interpreters for Ukranian and other languages. • Oversee and provide technical support to UNHCR Counselling line operators. • Perform other duties, as required. 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 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. Results/expected outputs: • As an active UNHCR team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNHCR and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including: • Community-based protection approach and practices, as well as Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective are systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment. • Effective and timely support is provided to the formulation of a clear and coherent protection and solutions-oriented strategy, which incorporates a thorough age, gender and diversity analysis and reflects regional and country level priorities. • AGD sensitive analysis of community risks and capacities provides the essential basis for all of UNHCR’s work. • The participation of persons of concern is assured through continuous assessment and evaluation using participatory, rights and community-based approaches, which inform protection and assistance programming and ensure that UNHCR meets its commitments to accountability to persons of concern. • National protection capacities are improved through direct engagement and advocacy with relevant external interlocutors. • Communication with community as a whole and targeted communication with community groups are aligned based on the principles of accountability, transparency and “do no harm”. • Communication networks with various community entities and their engagement in the communication and information dissemination process is attained. • Information needs of the communities are systematically addressed and feedback mechanisms are improved to provide accurate, timely and specific feedback. • 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.