Job Title: Protection Associate
Job ID: 32775
Location: Americas
Full/Part Time: Full-Time
Regular/Temporary: Regular
Duties and Qualifications
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has an international mandate on protection of refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs, statelessness and returnees. The Field Unit in Ocotepeque, Honduras requires support in the protection area to analyze the protection needs and risks of the displaced population and strategies for their protection. The Protection Associate will support the work of the unit to strengthen response capacities of governmental institutions and resilience capacities of communities, through the 3 priority strategies: 1) Enhancement of national protection systems, 2) developing comprehensive measures to improve durable solutions, and 3) strengthen strategies with partners and coordination with other humanitarian and Human Rights agencies working in the area.
The Protection Associate will report to the Protection Officer or the Associate Field Officer. The incumbent monitors protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards and provides functional protection support to information management and programme staff.
The Protection Associate is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (PoC) and identify opportunities to mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards in operational responses in all sectors. S/he contributes to designing a comprehensive protection strategy and liaises externally with authorities and partners on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor.
The Protection Associate also ensures that PoC are involved in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying appropriate solutions to their problems. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, local authorities and protection and assistance partners.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR's core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.
Duties
- Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
- Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
- Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to PoC.
- Provide advice on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
- Assist in conducting eligibility and status determination for PoC.
- Contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
- Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy.
- Contribute to a country-level education plan as part of the protection strategy.
- Monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
- Manage individual protection cases including those on SGBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.
- Assist in identifying durable solutions for the largest possible number of PoC through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
- Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
- Facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on PoC and their problems.
- Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
- Assist the supervisor in prioritizing PoC for interview, counselling and propose protection support for individual cases.
- Assist the supervisor with enforcing compliance of local implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
- Assit the supervisor with enforcing compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.
- Submit individual payments request for PoC for approval.
- Perform other related duties as required.
Minimum Qualifications:
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level:
For G6 - 3 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher in International Law, Political Science
or other related field.
Desirable:
Protection Learning Programme
Functional Skills
IT-Computer Literacy
CL-Protection & Solutions Awareness
PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Language Requirements:
Fluency in Spanish & working knowledge of English.
All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.
As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.
Position Competencies
Core Competencies:
Accountability
Communication
Organizational Awareness
Teamwork & Collaboration
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Client & Result Orientation
Managerial Competencies:
Judgement and Decision Making
Cross-Functional Competencies:
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
Political Awareness
Stakeholder Management
Eligible Applicants
This position is advertised to internal and external applicants. Candidates must be legally present in Honduras at the time of application, recruitment and hire.
Group 1 Candidates: comprises current GS staff members holding an indefinite or fixed-term appointment who, at the date of the deadline for application, are serving in the country of the vacancy at the grade of the position or one grade below or above.
Group 2 Candidates: comprises candidates from the categories listed in the RALS after completion of one cumulative or continuous year of service in the country of the vacancy. The Group 2 status should have been confirmed by the HR Unit in the relevant country before the application is submitted.
External Candidates: are candidates who are not in Group 1 or Group 2.
Additional Information
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. No late applications will be accepted.
Shortlisted candidates may be required to sit for a technical assessment or written test and later on, invited for an oral interview.
Remuneration:
A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. For information on UN salaries, allowances and benefits, please visit the portal of the International Civil Service Commission at: http://icsc.un.org.
UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing or any other fees).
UNHCR strongly encourages qualified female applicants for this position. UNHCR seeks to ensure that male and female employees are given equal career opportunities. UNHCR is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.
Closing Date
The closing date for submission of applications is 11 January 2022 (midnight Geneva time).
How to apply:
Para aplicar debe seguir las siguientes instrucciones:
- Ingresar a través de Google Chrome a la dirección https://www.unhcr.org/careers.html seleccionar “Vacancies”
- Iniciar sesión para acceder a su cuenta. Si no tiene usuario creado, seleccionar el enlace “New User” para crear una cuenta.
- Al ingresar a la página encontrará las vacantes seleccionando en “Country/País – Honduras”
- Revise la descripción de puesto de su interés y seleccione “Apply/Aplicar” para comenzar su aplicación en línea.