Protection Associate at United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was created in 1950, during the aftermath of the Second World War, to help millions of Europeans who had fled or lost their homes. We had three years to complete our work and then disband. Today, over 65 years later, our organization is still hard at work, protecting and assisting refugees around the world.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Protection Associate

Job ID: 37471
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Salary Grade: G6
Hardship Level: E
Family Location Type: Non-Family

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

• The Protection Associate normally reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection 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.
• 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. 
• 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 GBV 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.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications
Education & Professional Work Experience:

• For G6 - 3 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher.
• Field(s) of Education: Not applicable.

Certificates and/or Licenses:

• International Law, Political Science or other related field.

Relevant Job Experience:
Essential:

• Not specified

Desirable:

• Protection Learning Programme.

Functional Skills:

• IT-Computer Literacy
• PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework
• PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators.

Language Requirements:

• For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
• For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
• For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

Position Competencies
Core Competencies:

• Accountability
• Teamwork & Collaboration
• Commitment to Continuous Learning
• Client & Result Orientation
• Communication
• Organizational Awareness

Managerial Competencies:

• Judgement and Decision Making.

Cross-Functional Competencies:

• Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Political Awareness
• Stakeholder Management

Language Requirements:

• English is essential for this Job Opening.
• Knowledge of Hausa Language is desirable.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply

Additional Information

• Please note that UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, travelling, processing, training or any other fees).
• A written test may be conducted for this position which will be followed by a competency-based interview.
• Proof of vaccination against COVID-19 is mandatory for employment with UNHCR

Application Deadline  11:59 PM: 22nd June, 2022.