Hardship LevelD
Family TypeFamily
Family TypeFamily
Residential location (if applicable)
GradeNOB
Staff Member / Affiliate TypeNational Professional Officer
ReasonRegular > Regular Assignment
Remote work acceptedNo
Target Start Date2024-01-01
Job Posting End DateJanuary 4, 2024
Standard Job Description
Associate Protection Officer
Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Associate Protection Officer reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer. Depending on the size and structure of the Office, the incumbent may have supervisory responsibility for protection staff including community-based protection registration, resettlement and education. S/he provides functional protection guidance to information management and programme 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.
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.
- 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.
- 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
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P2/NOB - 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
Certificates and/or Licenses
Protection Learning Programme
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Relevant Job Experience
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.
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
*PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)
PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination
MG-Project Management
PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards
PR-International Humanitarian Law
PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation
PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement
CO-Drafting and Documentation
(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 The candidate should have experience in managing an office, including supervising and coaching staff, ensuring compliance with UNHCR rules and regulations, and maintaining effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders; strong protection skills, including knowledge of UNHCR policy, strategic priorities and programming tools, and the ability to conduct protection assessments, monitor protection standards and indicators, and provide legal advice and guidance to persons of concern and partners; be familiar with programming tools, including knowledge of UNHCR budget and financial management systems, and the ability and experience to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate the UNHCR activities in the field, in collaboration with Government, UN RCO, UNCT, and collaborating partners, civil society, media and other relevant actors in the field, and representing UNHCR in various fora and meetings. The candidate furthermore should have excellent communication, interpersonal, negotiation and decision-making skills, and good drafting skills. The position requires excellent overall English language knowledge.
Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):
,
,
Desired languages
,
,
Operational context
Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:
To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel
Nature of Position:
UNHCRโs South Africa Multi-Country Office (SAMCO) serves nine countries: Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, and South Africa. Together they host approximately 260,521 people of concern to UNHCR, 250,250 of whom are hosted in South Africa. Countries of origin of refugees and asylum-seekers include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia, and Zimbabwe.
In Botswana, 760 refugees and asylum-seekers live in the Dukwi Refugee camp located some 580 km from the capital Gaborone, managed by Botswanaโs Ministry of Defense, Justice and Security and supported by three UNHCR protection staff.
A small number of the caseload is resident in the urban areas of Gaborone and Botswanaโs second-largest city, Francistown. Although many Zimbabweans returned voluntarily from Botswana last year, there has been a gradual increase in the population since April 2021 due to new arrivals โ including onward movers - from the African Great Lakes region.
In Namibia and Botswana, UNHCR worked with government counterparts on verification exercises for the 5,669 and 1,055 refugees and asylum-seekers in the respective countries to streamline population figures and ensure that refugees and asylum-seekers are correctly documented.
Interest in voluntary repatriation is growing, and UNHCR has supported 394 people to return safely to their countries of origin from Botswana and South Africa since the start of the year. Ending statelessness, enhancing the protection environment, and strengthening partnerships are also priorities in the region.
The Associate Protection Officer (NOB) is a protection and managerial position that reports to the SAMCO Representative or Deputy Representative, collaborating and reporting to other senior staff in the South Africa Multi-Country Office in Pretoria. The candidate will be responsible for providing direct and timely support to the government officials and partners on the ground, who are involved in various International Protection functions and duties. The candidate will work at a technical level, with a certain degree of delegated decision-making authority. The candidate will also participate in the UN Country Team discussions as needed and will represent UNHCR interests at the country level. This will entail, among other things, supporting the Dukwi Refugee Settlement processes, ensuring the integration of protection imperatives and durable solutions in all relevant objectives and the promptness of refugee responses, engaging with the government and fulfilling the global refugee compact pledges and commitments; supporting statelessness initiatives under UNHCR mandate; collaborating with partners on the ground (UN and others) in addressing refugee needs and pursuing solutions.
Living and Working Conditions:
The official, language in Botswana is actually English. However, the local language, Setswana, is also widely spoken, and is the only spoken language in some of the countryโs most rural areas. People moving to Botswana settle in the towns or cities of Maun, Francistown and Gaborone. Being a developing country, the cost of living in Botswana is very affordable, however the price of imported products, including food, can be quite high. The local currency in Botswana is Pula, abbreviated to BWP. There has been a sharp increase in urban growth in Botswana. Around 60% of the population lives in the cities. As a result of this high percentage of urbanization, there is a difficulty in providing substantial access to quality housing in urban areas.
There are some good further education institutions, including the University of Botswana and the Botswana International University of Science and Technology. There is a good selection of international schools offering both primary and high school education, some with boarding options. The majority of international schools are in the capital, Gaborone.
There are over 6,000 kms of paved roads; most of which were built between 1966 and 1996. Most people get around by car, as there is a fully paved โinner circleโ road that connects all of the district capitals. The Trans-Kalahari Highway also connects Botswana with Walvis in Namibia and is an all-weather road. It is good to note that roads outside of major towns can have fewer fuel stations. A more unusual potential hazard is the wildlife of Botswana.
There is a low crime rate in comparison to other African and even some Western countries. There is some theft and petty crime, however, and people should exercise a normal amount of caution when going about their daily lives.
Healthcare in Gaborone and other major cities is of a reasonable standard, and above standard compared to other African nations. There are also a number of private clinics offering a higher standard of medical care. Private healthcare gives access to the best standard of medical care. Medical facilities and resources are of a far lower standard outside the major cities.
Additional Qualifications
SkillsCO-Drafting and Documentation, MG-Project Management, PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD), PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation, PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement, PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination, PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards, PR-International Humanitarian Law, PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
EducationBachelor of Arts (BA): International Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA): Political Science
CertificationsHCR Protection Learning Program - UNHCR
Work Experience
CompetenciesAccountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Teamwork & collaboration
UNHCR Salary Calculator
https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales
Compendium
Additional Information
Functional clearanceThis position doesn't require a functional clearance