Protection Reporting in Bulgaria

Contract

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Since the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, over 2.1 million refugees from Ukraine have entered Bulgaria. As of mid-December 2023, the Government of Bulgaria has granted Temporary Protection to more than 173,400 refugees fleeing Ukraine, with the majority being women and children. An estimated 52,000 Ukrainian refugees remain within the country as of mid-December 2023. Additionally, Bulgaria, as an external EU border, plays a strategic role in refugee protection within Europe.

In 2022, Bulgaria's State Agency for Refugees (SAR) registered over 20,400 asylum seekers, primarily from Syria and Afghanistan. As of the end of October 2023, more than 19,000 asylum applications have been received by SAR, surpassing the numbers for the same period last year. SAR operates six reception centers for the registration, Refugee Status Determination procedures, and accommodation of asylum seekers. Amid an increase in arrivals of Afghan and Syrian asylum seekers since 2022, UNHCR supports Bulgaria's Government to ensure policies and legislation align with international and EU standards. UNHCR promotes a comprehensive refugee response grounded in a multi-stakeholder, whole-of-society approach.

UNHCR supports government-led efforts to provide key protection, including legal assistance, information on services, education, and psychosocial support. This support extends to reception and accommodation, as well as the delivery of core relief items for winterization and cash assistance for the most vulnerable groups. UNHCR's priority protection interventions include access to territory and asylum procedures, inclusion of refugees in state-led programs, Child Protection, Gender-Based Violence response, support to persons with specific needs, and mitigation of risks related to trafficking and other forms of abuse and exploitation. UNHCR also assists refugees and asylum seekers with legal information and legal aid, a dedicated legal hotline, and other outreach mechanisms, along with communication through community channels.

Participatory assessment is a process of building partnerships with refugee women and men of all ages and backgrounds by promoting meaningful participation through structured dialogue. Participatory assessment includes holding separate discussions with women, girls, boys, and men, including adolescents, in order to gather accurate information on the specific protection risks they face and the underlying causes, to understand their capacities, and to hear their proposed solutions. UNHCR country office in Bulgaria is in the process of conducting focus groups discussions with asylum seekers and refugees from Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and other countries. The selected volunteers will be asked to support the Office by analysing the data collected in this process.

Selected volunteers will have a chance to learn more on the protection reporting, including participatory assessment, and UNHCR Age, Gender and Diversity Policy, while supporting the team at first hand.

We expect the selected online volunteer(s) to start with this task. 1. February 2024 2. June 2024

• Desk review of available information provided by UNHCR in refugee protection assessments conducted in Bulgaria
• Systematising and compiling an initial draft of a Participatory Assessment Report based on Focus Group Discussion (FGD) forms / dashboard prepared by UNHCR (approximately 18 pages)
• Drafting an Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) Assessment for Bulgaria, under the guidance of the Senior Protection Officer/Protection Officer.
• Three thematic assessments (e.g., prevention and risk mitigation of gender based violence and socio-economic inclusion, refugee livelihoods, and inclusion of refugees with disabilities) in the second quarter of 2023 under the guidance of the Senior Protection Officer/Protection Officer and teams (approximately 10 pages).

Education or experience in Community-based protection, social work, community work, social studies, research or other relevant field; Familiarity with refugee or humanitarian work Professional integrity and commitment to core humanitarian principles Digital literacy Excellent drafting skills; analytical skills; experience in data analysis