Associate Protection Officer

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a an IICA full time position El Geneina FO Office Sudan.

The Darfur region of Sudan has suffered from protracted conflict since 2003, resulting in the internal displacement of approximately 2.1 million people. Within this context, West Darfur state has proven to be particularly volatile, with recent violence contributing to large-scale displacement in the state capital, El Geneina. As of April 2022, there were approximately 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in El Geneina town, the majority of whom were originally displaced from surrounding areas in 2003. The vast majority of the displaced are seeking shelter in schools and public buildings in the town, referred to as temporary gathering sites – over 100 sites characterized by extensive overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, lacking basic WASH services and privacy. The situation in the gathering points poses serious challenges in terms of the protection of IDPs, and the effectiveness of multi-sectoral humanitarian response in the congested sites. There are thousands of individuals are reported to have additional vulnerabilities in need of assistance and support. The temporary gathering sites, in schools and public facilities, suffer from congestion and unsanitary conditions and consequently serious health and protection risks. The limbo in which IDPs in El Geneina have been living since 2003 has become untenable, and recent violence has caused many of these individuals to become secondarily displaced from their places of habitual residence in IDP camps/sites. Thus, the need to find a long-term solution, both for the IDPs and non-displaced communities, is now critical.

The security situation in Darfur, Sudan in general continues to be complex with multiple threats that warrant direct or indirect risks to UNHCRUN staff and programs. West Darfur state is commonly the scene for higher rates of crime, civil unrest and inter-communal violence in comparison to the other states of Darfur. The state, bordering Chad, is inhabited by Arabs and non-Arabs (e.g. Masalit). West Darfur is in security level 3 and the highest level of projected risk, according to the area SRM, is ‘Medium’. The threats of crime and civil unrest are also major concerns for the UN and INGOs communities in West Darfur. The persistent economic hardship, country wide, and other factors contribute to the severity of these threats.

UNHCR maintains a permanent footprint in the capital city of West Darfur, El Geneina city at the level of Field Office. Currently, UNHCR in El Geneina city has 7 international staff and 21 national staff. Both UNHCR office and guest house (for international staff) are well established in terms of SRM and RSM compliance. UNHCR staff in El Geneina city adhere to the security rules and procedures as per the SRM provisions.

Title: Associate Protection Officer

Duty Station: El Geneina, Sudan

Duration: through 31/12/2022

Contract Type: UNOPS International Individual Contractor – IICA 1

Closing date: 2^nd May 2022

Posting Date: 18^th April 2022

Start date: ASAP

Operational context

The Associate Protection Officer will be a member of the Protection team in the UNHCR Field Office (FO) in El Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan, and will report to the Protection Officer and/or Community-Based Protection Officer. The incumbent will primarily serve in the CBP team but will be expected to support general protection and peacebuilding activities including implementation of the PBF-funded projects. Community-based activities to strengthen the involvement of internally displaced persons (IDPs), host communities, and non-displaced communities in the design and implementation of protection, peacebuilding and durable solutions strategies will be a critical element of the work.

The incumbent is expected to provide functional protection guidance to UNHCR and partner staff on all protection/legal matters and accountabilities. These include: statelessness (in line with the campaign to End Statelessness by 2024), Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) commitments, age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP) through community-based protection, Child protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, gender equality, disability inclusion, youth empowerment, psycho-social support and PSEA, registration, asylum/refugee status determination, resettlement, local integration, voluntary repatriation, human rights standards integration, national legislation, judicial engagement, predictable and decisive engagement in situations of internal displacement and engagement in wider mixed movement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses. S/he supervises protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards.

The Associate Protection Officer is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern, ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. The incumbent contributes to the design of a comprehensive protection strategy and represents the organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. S/he also ensures that persons of concern are meaningfully engaged in the decisions that affect them and support programme design and adaptations that are influenced by the concerns, priorities and capacities of persons of concern. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection.

Duties and responsibilities

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.

• Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.

• Promote International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.

• Foster their consistent and coherent interpretation and application through mainstreaming in all sectors and /or in clusters in applicable operations.

• Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to persons of concern.

• Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.

• Conduct eligibility and status determination for persons of concern in compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles.

• Promote and contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.

• Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy to ensure programmes use a child protection systems approach.

• Contribute to a country-level education plan.

• Implement and oversee Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities which integrate AGD sensitive procedures.

• Oversee and manage individual protection cases, including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners.

• Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of persons of concern through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.

• Assess resettlement needs and apply priorities for the resettlement of individuals and groups of refugees and other persons of concern.

• Participate in the organisation and implementation of participatory assessments and methodologies throughout the operations management cycle and promote AGD sensitive programming with implementing and operational partners.

• Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy through a consultative process with sectorial and/or cluster partners.

• Facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems.

• Promote and integrate community-based approaches to protection and contribute to capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.

• Support activities in the area of risk management related to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, fraud, case-processing, data protection, and human rights due diligence at country level.

• Participate in initiatives to capacitate national authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.

• Intervene with authorities on protection issues.

• Negotiate locally on behalf of UNHCR.

• Decide priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.

• Enforce compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.

• Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.

• Perform other related duties as required.

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required

3 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 2 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 1-year relevant experience with Doctorate degree.

Field(s) of Education

Law, International Law, Political Sciences or other relevant field

Essential

Professional experience in the area of refugee protection, internal displacement, human rights or international humanitarian law. Good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles.

Certificates and/or Licenses

Protection Learning Programme.

Desirable

Field experience, including in working directly with communities. Good IT skills including database management skills

Functional Skills

· ***PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators

· *LE-International Refugee Law

· *PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)

· PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination

· MG-Projects management

· PR-PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards

· PR-International Humanitarian Law

· PR-Protection and mixed-movements

· PR-Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Operations & IDPs Status/Rights/Obligation

· PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement

· PR-Community-based Protection

· MS-Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation

Language Requirements

Knowledge of English.

Location

The IICA will be based in El Geneina, Sudan with Travel to other states within Sudan.

Remuneration

Monthly fees range between USD $ 7,076.16 to $ 8,054.53, depending on the level of expertise of the candidate. Daily subsistence allowance for travel with Sudan will be payable as applicable.