Protection Associate

Hardship LevelA (least hardship)

Family TypeFamily

Family TypeFamily

Residential location (if applicable)

GradeGS6

Staff Member / Affiliate TypeGeneral Service

ReasonRegular > Regular Assignment

Remote work acceptedNo

Target Start Date2024-02-05

Job Posting End DateDecember 15, 2023

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 - Bachelor's degree in social sciences, law, and other relevant disciplines.
- Familiarity with the Turkish asylum system.
- At least 2 years of former relevant experience.
- Since the incumbent is expected to coordinate with different units and counterparts, the incumbent is expected to have excellent communication skills. In addition, the incumbent is expected to have good teamwork, planning, and collaboration skills to be able to support the unit and team members in relevant tasks.
-The incumbent is expected to be able to fluently communicate in Turkish and English (both spoken and written).
- Ability to extract necessary information from a wide range of sources and to find and demonstrate patterns/trends.
- Advance user of MS Office including creating maps and graphs for comparative analysis.
- Familiarity with data visualization tools such as Power BI.
- Working experience in registration or refugee status determination.

Recruitment as a UNHCR staff member and engagement under a UNHCR affiliate scheme or as an intern is subject to successful reference checks, and integrity clearances

PLEASE DO NOT USE TURKISH CHARACTERS IN YOUR NAME & SURNAME INFORMATION.

Staff members should serve for a minimum of one year following assignment before being considered eligible to apply for another position within the same category. This requirement is waived in respect of staff members whose position is being changed or whose assignment/appointment through the joint staff/management review body is in a replacement capacity.

UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, training, or any other fees).

Only short-listed candidates will be notified. The recruitment process might include a written test and/or oral interview for this job opening. No late applications will be accepted.
External candidates should be legally present in Türkiye at the time of application, recruitment, and hire.
Non-Turkish citizens are required to upload their residence permits or relevant documents under the ‘Certifications’ section, by selecting the type ‘Personnel Administration – Other’, to be considered for this job opening. Applications by non-Turkish citizens will NOT be considered if a valid residence permit is not attached to the application.
For further information on how to apply, please visit the ‘UNHCR - Application and Selection’ page, at https://www.unhcr.org/how-to-apply.html.

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:

The Protection Associate functions as a key member of the Policy Development Unit (PDU) within the Country Office, reporting directly to the Assistant Protection Officer. The primary responsibility entails the monitoring and analysis of the implementation of national registration procedures throughout the country, drawing insights from diverse sources such as field reports, participatory assessments, and individual cases.

In this capacity, the incumbent will play a pivotal role in observing the situation of access to protection and registration and draft reports on the highlights and analysis of the procedures. Support data entry to the Unit’s monitoring tools and prepare graphs, tables, charts, and maps on different registration practices. The incumbent will be compiling valuable insights into best practices, challenges, and identified gaps. These insights will contribute to the Unit's advocacy initiatives and capacity development activities, aimed at enhancing the efficacy of national registration procedures. Working under the guidance of the Assistant Protection Officer, the incumbent will contribute to the Unit's capacity-building activities targeting third parties and will be working in close coordination with PMM, Supply Unit, and Service Providers. Supporting the preparation of training/workshop materials, tests, and tools in close coordination with her supervisor. Supporting the activities as a moderator and/or trainer/facilitator as needed and seen fit. The role will involve field visits, and the incumbent will provide logistical support for activities conducted under UNHCR-PMM cooperation, encompassing field missions, training sessions, recruitment of third-party personnel, and other pertinent tasks or activities.

The incumbent will attend joint field missions to monitor the implementation of registration procedures in the field. The incumbent also expected to communicate with national institutions while following up on the applicants' access to registration as received from different sources. The incumbent may also take part in inclusive and participatory assessments as part of regular monitoring. The incumbent will not have any supervisory function.

Living and Working Conditions:

Ankara is a Category A Duty Station. UNHCR in Turkiye operates through a country office in Ankara with a sub-office in Gaziantep and a field office in Istanbul, as well as field units in Ankara, Izmir, Edirne, Sanliurfa, Hatay and Van. The total number of staff in the operation is 376, around 80-20% local-international staff ratio respectively, as well as around 7% of affiliated staff.

Ankara has a continental climate with cold, snowy winters due to its elevation and inland location, and hot, dry summers. Particularly the central areas of the big cities in Turkiye are not very different from any other Western city. Ankara has several hospitals where well-trained specialists and surgeons in all branches of medicine can easily be found. The general security situation in Ankara remains calm and stable, with the security level assessed as 1 (Minimal) in line with the general threat assessment.

Additional Qualifications

SkillsIT-Computer Literacy, PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators, PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework

Education

CertificationsInternational Law - Other, Political Science - Other

Work Experience

CompetenciesAccountability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Judgement & decision making, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Stakeholder management, Teamwork & collaboration

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Compendium

Additional Information

Functional clearanceThis position doesn't require a functional clearance