Hardship LevelH (no hardship)
Family TypeFamily
Family TypeFamily
Residential location (if applicable)
GradeGS6
Staff Member / Affiliate TypeGeneral Service
ReasonRegular > Regular Assignment
Target Start Date2024-05-01
Job Posting End DateMay 19, 2024
Standard Job Description
Protection Associate
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
- 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
Field(s) of Education
Not applicable
Certificates and/or Licenses
International Law, Political Science
or other related field
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)
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
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)
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.
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.
This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.
Desired Candidate Profile
Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level): English
,Polish
,
Desired languages
,
,
Operational context
https://www.cdc.gov/travel
Poland’s eastern borders with Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine serve as the European Union’s external boundaries. The country currently hosts over 1 million refugees from Ukraine, in addition to a smaller number of asylum seekers and refugees from different countries.
UNHCR has been in Poland for 30 years (since 1992), working with national authorities on refugee-related matters. With the Ukraine emergency, UNHCR has substantially scaled up its presence and operations. It currently has a Country Office and Frontex Liaison Office in Warsaw, three Field Offices in Warsaw, Lublin and Rzeszow, and a Sub-Office in Krakow, with a workforce of nearly 140 national and international staff.
The overarching principles guiding UNHCR’s strategy in Poland include: i) localization and centrality of protection, ii) strengthening national systems, avoiding duplication and rationalizing the Refugee Coordination Model (RCM) so that it serves the purpose efficiently and iii) capitalizing on the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR) paradigms to advance the rights of refugees and stateless persons in Poland.
As the UN-mandated agency to provide international protection to refugees, UNHCR leads the refugee coordination structure in support of the Government-led response, with the aim to complement, support and strengthen the national response to the refugee crisis, along with ensuring no duplication of interventions and complementarity of action.
The Protection Associate, as member of the protection unit of SO Krakow, will work on implementing key objectives of the Protection strategy, including contributing to strengthening the humanitarian response to Gender based violence (GBV), Child Protection (CP), Mental health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) and other areas of priority. The Protection Associate will also be engaged in capacity-building of partners and personnel of public institutions or government officials in topics covered by and related to UNHCR’s mandate. For these tasks and responsibilities, the candidate would be expected to have strong organizational and planning competences, excellent drafting skills in English and Polish, agile interpersonal skills, good communication skills and ability to facilitate training sessions for small to medium groups and demonstrate the flexibility and adaptability to travel regularly in the five voivodships covered by UNHCR Sub-Office Krakow. In a context where majority of Protection actors are still new in working on refugee issues and at integrating GBV, CP and other protection aspects with limited legal capacities, the incumbent must have a legal background to be able to provide guidance on procedural and judicial aspects. The Protection Assistant will also be working closely with the Protection Officer design, implement, monitor, and evaluate “Greening the Blues” Innovations Project that harnesses the benefit of nature to increase mental health and wellbeing, refugee participation and protection dividends.
Additional Qualifications
Skills
Education
CertificationsInternational Law - Other, Political Science - Other
Work ExperienceProtection
CompetenciesAccountability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Judgement & decision making, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Stakeholder management, Teamwork & collaboration
UNHCR Salary Calculator
https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales
Additional Information
Functional clearanceThis position doesn't require a functional clearance