Associate Protection Officer

Contract

This is a UNV International Specialist contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Specialist contracts.

Eligibility criteria

Minimum age: 25 years old. Nationals of the country of assignment are not eligible, except the assignments in Headquarters duty stations.

Description of task

Under the direct supervision of Senior Protection Officer, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• 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.
• 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, persons with disabilities, minority groups such as sexual minorities and persons living with HIV/AIDS;
• Utilize the IDPs footprint during the planning process;
• Coordinate the promotion of international refugee law principles and standards and also IDP legislation or policies ensuring that all sectors and clusters fulfill their responsibilities mainstreaming protection;
• Coordinate the implementation and monitoring of programmes ensuring that identified protection needs, including an Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) approach, are adequately addressed;
• Provide policy guidance and operational support to UNHCR and partners on all protection related issues;
• Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to internal and external interlocutors; ensure legal assistance is accessible to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documents to persons of concern (civil documentation, in particular birth certificates);
• Monitor, and assist with the intervention in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners;
• Assist in the coordinated implementation and oversight of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities;
• Ensure that durable solutions through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement are sought and provided to the largest possible number of persons of concern;
• Ensure 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;
• Support a consultative process with government counterparts at local levels, partners and persons of concern to develop and implement integrated strategies that address the key protection priorities, including, for example, child protection, education and SGBV, and solutions approaches;
• Promote confidence building and conflict resolution among populations of concern, authorities and host communities;
• Maintain protection presence through regular field missions and reports, making direct contact with persons of concern, host communities, local authorities and partners. In operations applying the humanitarian cluster system, contribute to ensuring that the response of the Protection Cluster is grounded in an AGD-compliant strategy which covers all assessed and prioritized protection needs of the affected populations;
• Contribute to the Protection team's information management component which: provide disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems; researches, collects and disseminates relevant protection information and good practices to enhance protection delivery and provide technical advice if necessary;
• Ensure participatory, community-based protection and AGD approaches are included in, strategies and plans in the country operation;
• Support persons of concern to develop structures that enhance their participation and protection. Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Assist the deployment of the Protection Monitoring Tool at UNHCR, Armenia.
• Analyze information on the trends and patterns of violations of rights and protection risks for populations we serve.
• Support analyzing the mapping of services/community structures, incident and post distribution monitoring, etc.
• Support the monitoring of the collective shelters/transitional centers, populations in refugee-like situation as well as populations hosting them, etc.).
• Monitor appropriate application of collection tools, including KoBo toolbox.
• Undertake regular field visits to support implementation of Protection Monitoring activities. Promptly report emerging protection concerns to the Senior Protection Officer, provide recommendations for improvements and referrals.
• Present monitoring findings provide assistance in possible course-correcting actions designing. Keep track of management decisions and follow-up actions and communicate monitoring findings to key stakeholders.
• Liaises with UNHCR and partners involved in Protection Monitoring data collecting to ensure that sufficient resources and appropriate competencies are made available to implement and sustain the Protection Monitoring system.
• Support partners data collection methodologies and sources, age, gender and diversity aggregation and data reporting and sharing based on agreed protocols and standards, in close collaboration with protection, evaluation and IM staff.
• Identify training needs of the stakeholders involved in the Protection Monitoring. Support partners working in their area of responsibility as needed to ensure the quality and timeliness of primary data collection, methodological consistency, referrals as well as reporting.
• Provide capacity building on data collection and processing.
• Contribute to preparation of Protection Monitoring snapshots and reports; guide implementing partners in preparing their progress reports in accordance with approved reporting formats and ensure their timely submission.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with other I/NGO, government authorities, and other key stakeholders to ensure active coordination, collaboration, and Protection Monitoring information dissemination.
• Follow up on complaints and feedback received directly or through UNHCR hotline regarding the Protection Monitoring activities.

Qualifications/Requirements

Required degree level:

Bachelor degree or equivalent

Education - Additional Comments:

University degree in Law, International Law, International Relations, Social Sciences, Political Sciences or related field.

Required experience:

24 Months

Experience remark:

• Minimum 2 years of experience with refugees and/or other people of concern in a protection capacity required.
• Field experience;
• Commitment to help persons of concern and willingness to cooperate with counterparts.

Language skills:

• English(Mandatory), Level - Fluent
• Russian(Mandatory), Level - Working Knowledge

Area of expertise:

Monitoring and evaluation

Area of expertise details:

• Knowledge of UN policies and procedures;
• Good analytical skills;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills in a multi-cultural setting;
• Ability to live and work in the difficult and harsh conditions of developing countries is essential.
• Relevant experience in protection monitoring activities and referral mechanisms
• Experience in individual case management
• Computer skills: Office Package (excellent knowledge of Word, good knowledge of Excel and Power Point) and Internet browsing.

Driving license:

Yes

Competencies values:

Accountability, Adaptability and Flexibility, Commitment to Continuous Learning, Communication, Integrity, Planning and Organizing, Professionalism, Respect for Diversity, Working in Teams

Application procedure:

If you have not yet registered in the UNV Talent pool, please apply by registering your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/signup.

Important: Once you have created your UNV account by validating your email address, please complete all sections of your profile.

Go to‘My Page’ section of your profile, click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink and select the special call you would like to apply.

If you are registered in the UNV database, please update your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/profileGo to ‘My Page’ section of your profile, click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink and select the special call you would like to apply.

Application deadline: 07-04-2021

Disclaimer

United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme which welcomes applications from qualified professionals.