Back Community-Based Protection Associate, GL6

Background Information

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a full-time position of Community-Based Protection Associate, GL6 within the Protection Unit in our Multi Country Office (MCO) in Riyadh. UNHCR mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country. It also has a mandate to help internally displaced persons and stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women and children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution. We are in over 125 countries, using our expertise to protect and care for millions.

The UNHCR office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) also covers (Qatar, Oman and Bahrain), where UNHCR has no offices.

UNHCR MCO KSA, manages protection activities in the country as well as Qatar, Oman and Bahrain to protect, assist and to find durable solutions for all persons of concern.

With the main aim of helping in the implementation and expansion plans of the UNHCR MCO Office in Riyadh, it is important to strengthen the local presence, capacity and expertise within UNHCR Saudi Arabia in order to optimize protection activities.

Title: Community-Based Protection Associate**

Duty Station: UNHCR MCO Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Duration: Initially One Year

Position Number: 10033659

Contract Type: Fixed Term Appointment

Closing date**: 23 July 2020**

Start date: 08 July 2020

Organizational context

The Community-Based Protection Associate is a member of the Protection Unit and may report to the Protection Officer, Community-Based Protection Officer, or another more senior staff member in the Protection Unit. Under the overall direction of the Protection Unit, and in coordination with other UNHCR staff, government, NGO partners and other stakeholders, the Community-Based Protection Associate works directly with communities of concern to identify the risks they face and to leverage their capacities to protect themselves, their families and communities. The incumbent may have direct supervisory responsibility for part of the protection and/or support staff and supports the application of community-based protection standards, operational procedures and practices in community-based protection delivery at the field level. To fulfil this role, the Community-Based Protection Associate is required to spend a substantial percentage of the time towards building and maintaining networks within communities of PoC. The development and maintenance of constructive relationships with PoC that measurably impact and enhance protection planning, programming and results, form the core of the work of the incumbent. S/he also supports the designing of a community-based protection strategy by ensuring that it is based on consultation with PoC.

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 and responsibilities

• Assist functional units, the Multi-Functional Team (MFT) and senior management to integrate participatory and community-based approaches in the overall protection strategy and operational procedures.
• Through relationships with PoC 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 the protection team. Understand the perspectives, capacities, needs and resources of the PoC and advise the protection team accordingly, highlighting the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, persons with disabilities, marginalized groups.
• Work with host communities to identify opportunities for national civil society involvement in improving the protection of PoC.
• Work with implementing and operational partners as well as with displaced and local communities to develop community-owned activities to address, where applicable, the social, educational, psycho-social, cultural, health, organisational and livelihood concerns as well as child protection and prevention and response to SGBV.
• Assist in the analysis that identifies the capacities of communities of concern and risks they face.
• Support participatory assessments by multifunctional teams and ongoing consultation with PoC.
• Assist in planning and monitoring of programmes and budgets, with an AGD perspective.
• Build office capacity for community-based protection through training and establishing systems for community mobilization and participation of PoC.
• Support communities in establishing representation and coordination structures.
• Ensure community understanding of UNHCR's commitment to deliver on accountability and quality assurance in its response.
• Act as an interpreter in exchange of routine information, contribute to related liaison activities and respond directly to routine queries.
• Contribute to the enforcement of participatory AGD sensitive analysis as an essential basis for all of UNHCR’s work.
• Initiate AGD sensitive interventions at the appropriate level on community-based protection issues and to respond to protection concerns and incidents within the office, with external interlocutors, groups and individuals based on agreed parameters.
• Identify and select which individuals or groups to prioritize for counselling and field visits based on agreed criteria.
• Intervene with authorities on protection.
• Enforce compliance of implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
• Conduct needs assessment interviews with people of concern and write recommendations accordingly.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Required Competencies:

Core Competencies :

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

Managerial Competencies

• Judgement and Decision Making.
• Managing Performance.

Cross-Functional Competencies

• Stakeholder Management.
• Planning and Organizing.
• Political Awareness

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required

• 6 years relevant experience with High School Diploma.
• English is the working language at UNHCR Saudi Arabia and fluency in English and Arabic is essential

Location :

The successful candidate will be based with the team in the Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Conditions :

It is a full-time role with working hours starting from 8.00am to 03:30 pm Sunday to Thursday

Functional Skills :

• IT-MS Office Applications.
• IT-Computer Literacy

Operational Context:

The UNHCR office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and also covers (Qatar, Oman and Bahrain). None of the gulf countries are signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention. Refugees and asylum seekers are treated like other expats in gulf countries in which their legal status is linked to their residency. Without a residency, refugees and asylum seekers reside in the gulf countries illegally in which they have no access to basic services such as healthcare and education.

Through the position of the Community-Based Protection Associate, the office is planning to work with local institutions and community-based structures to find alternative ways to support refugees and asylum seekers in their basic needs. The incumbent will work in outreach in the 4 gulf countries to identify entities that can fill the gap of those services, particularly healthcare; which was reported by refugees and asylum seekers as a critical need. As the office already has partnership with several health facilities, having experience in the public health sector and working with partners would be an asset. The incumbent will also work with the refugee community to identify other needs such as education and employment, tap into their existing resources, and work together with them to achieve a desirable outcome.

Desirable Qualifications and Competencies

• Experience in Public Health Matters as the UNHCR office has existing medical partners and in urgent need of identifying new ones.
• Have knowledge in managing and navigation of data, specifically within the UNHCR registration system in ProGres, to better understand community profiles and needs.
• UNHCR learning programmes (PLP).
• Knowledge of MSRP.
• Good computer skills.
• Excellent knowledge of English and Arabic.

S/he is expected to be highly flexible and able to cope with multiple requests. s/he must have proven cultural flexibility, professionalism, integrity, confidentiality and respect for diversity.