Administration and Parliamentary Monitoring Support (Batch 4)

Contract

This is a UNV contract. More about UNV contracts.

The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. 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.

UNHCR’s Representation is based in Canberra and is responsible for the promotion and protection of refugee rights in the region, which includes Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

UNHCR works with governments to improve laws and national systems so that people forced to flee can safely find help. To supervise the implementation of international refugee and statelessness law, UNHCR monitors law, policy and practices throughout the region. Capacity building and training activities for governments, lawyers and civil society are also used to improve and increase access to asylum procedures. Parliamentary monitoring directly informs our office of developments in government, and positions UNHCR to be in the best position possible to promote refuge protection.

To that end, we are seeking the support of online volunteers to monitor parliamentary proceedings. The Administration and Parliamentary Monitoring Support assignment reports to the External Relations Officer.

Organizational Unit External Relations
Duration of volunteering: 8 weeks. Expected start date: 6 February 2024 Timeline requiring support: • 6 February – 9 February • 13 February – 16 February, & 19 February • 27 February – 1 March • 19 March – 22 March • 26 March – 29 March

The online volunteer will be requested to deliver the task based on the 2024 Australian Parliamentary Sitting dates and must be available for the weeks indicated in the timeline above.

We are seeking the support of online volunteer to monitor parliamentary proceedings and provide a summary of the relevant information the following day. Specifically, the online volunteer is expected to: - Keep abreast of developments on UNHCR activities in the country and adjust monitoring process and focus accordingly. - Oversee creation of the production of Public Information parliamentary monitoring outputs. - Arrange timely distribution of outputs. - Live parliamentary monitoring as required.
- Drafting of Parliamentary profiles. - Make note of various sources of information provided by politicians likely to affect UNHCR’s activities in the host country and keep the External Relations officer, and in turn other staff briefed accordingly.

Upon completion of the task and at the end of the assignment, the online volunteer will be awarded with certificate from UNV.

Required: - Proficiency MS Office Suite essential.
- Demonstrated high-level writing skills.
- English proficiency essential.
- Experience of Parliamentary monitoring would be an advantage.

Desirable: - Knowledge of and/or demonstrated interest in asylum or refugee protection.
- Previous experience in politics and/or political monitoring.
- Bachelor's degree in Politics, Law, International Relations, Journalism, Communications or related field.
- Experience in working remotely. - The ability to thrive in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.