UN Youth Volunteer in Programme Management

Contract

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

Central Asia hosts ‘Convention' and 'Mandate' refugees. Mandate refugees had been recognised by UNHCR pursuant to its mandate before States introduced national asylum systems, but do not have legal status in Central Asian countries. While their stay is tolerated, they do not have access to rights (except education) or basic services, and are therefore especially vulnerable. Convention refugees are recognised by the State and can access some rights as accorded by the 1951 Convention, however they are still excluded from rights such as social support and naturalization, and therefore cannot meaningfully integrate into host communities.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many thousands of residents did not manage to confirm or acquire the nationality of a successor independent State and are without the protection of any country. Through community outreach, legal counselling, and assistance to confirm or acquire nationality, Central Asian States, supported by UNHCR, are making significant progress in reducing and preventing statelessness on their territories. UNHCR supports government and humanitarian partners across the four countries to prepare and respond to forced displacement emergencies. Under the overall leadership of UNHCR, the 2022 Afghanistan Situation Regional Refugee Response Plan supports host governments to meet the needs of Afghans of varying statuses, including refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as host communities, and potential new arrivals in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Partnerships are fundamental to UNHCR’s operations in Central Asia. Government partners include Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour, Internal Affairs, Emergency Situations, and Justice; Migration and Registration Services; Border Guards; Human Rights Centres and Ombudspersons. UNHCR also partners with civil society organizations, academia and the judiciary, building technical capacity of those involved in the asylum system, ensuring refugees and stateless people can exercise their rights.

Under the direct supervision of MCO Deputy Representative, the UN Volunteer will support effective planning and implementation of UNHCR programmes across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and undertake the following tasks: • Support multi-functional teams in assessing and analysing the needs of refugees, asylum-seekers and stateless persons in a participatory manner, using an Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective as basis for planning activities to safeguard fundamental human rights; • Assist in the provision of technical advice to ensure partnership agreements are regularly monitored and reported on in compliance with established guidelines and procedures included in the framework for implementing with partners; • Support the implementation and performance of partnership agreements by accompanying senior staff on field visits to locations of UNHCR’s programmes across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; • As part of the Programme Unit, the youth volunteer will provide support on programmatic aspects of developing multi-year protection and solutions strategies and annual plans with corresponding priorities taking into account corporate priorities; • Contribute to the review and analysis of plans, mid-year and year-end reports of the four offices, ensuring quality assurance and compliance with established policies, guidelines, procedures and standards; • Contribute to ensuring consistent and coherent monitoring approaches, tools and systems, in line with global standards and polices; • Support implementation of UNHCR’s system for monitoring protection and solutions strategies and results in cooperation with relevant teams across the countries, regional bureau and headquarters; • Assist in coordinating to create coherence on monitoring standards, plans, tools, indicators and resources across UNHCR and project partners and ensure that monitoring actions are grounded in protection and solutions principles and approaches; • Assist in monitoring findings and identifying possible course-correcting actions, keeping track of management decisions, following-up actions and supporting communication of findings to key stakeholders; • Assist in coordinating with partners and stakeholders to facilitate coherence of monitoring approaches and indicators across multi-partner initiatives and engage in UN fora on monitoring (UNSDCF, RRP etc.), ensuring coherence and avoiding gaps and overlaps; • Contribute to efforts to improve systems, procedures and tools to govern different forms of partnership in light of broader reforms in line with the Global Compact for Refugees;
• Assist the development and dissemination of materials concerning the UNHCR’s programme guidelines and through sharing of information in briefing sessions, meetings and consultations as well as during field visits; • Perform other related duties as required.

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Building Trust ☒ Client Orientation ☒ Commitment and Motivation ☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning ☒ Communication ☒ Ethics and Values ☒ Integrity ☒ Judgement and Decision-making ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Professionalism ☒ Respect for Diversity ☒ Self-Management ☒ Technological Awareness ☒ Working in Teams

(up to three years) and/or demonstrated interest in: • Project management, Results-based management, or Monitoring and evaluation • Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly regarded;

Desirable skills • Interest in the humanitarian cause. • Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint essential). • Attention to detail. • Effective time management. • Strong organizational abilities. • Ability to work well in a team environment as well as independently, and manage own work related to multiple tasks and activities.

The UNHCR Multi-Country Office for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan is located in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan and is a category ‘A’ duty station. The city is well connected by air with international destinations. There is a good choice of apartments and houses for rent. There are several international schools, and many supermarkets and shopping centres with local and imported products.

Medical services are largely available and are provided in acceptable to high quality infrastructure, many working 24/7. Many specialized medical services (like dental care) are provided at international standards. There are both private and state clinics and hospitals. Kazakh and Russian are equally spoken and are the official languages of Kazakhstan.