Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant

Organizational Context

The Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant, a member of the Protection Unit, reports to a senior staff member within the unit. Working under the Protection Unit's direction and in coordination with UNHCR staff, government, and NGO partners, the role involves direct engagement with communities of concern. The assistant identifies risks and leverages community capacities for self-protection.

Job Purpose

The Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant's primary purpose is to support the application of community-based protection standards, operational procedures, and practices in protection delivery at the field level. This role necessitates spending a substantial percentage of the workday outside the office, actively building and maintaining networks within communities of persons of concern (PoC). A core function is the development and maintenance of constructive relationships with PoC, which are essential for measurably impacting and enhancing protection planning, programming, and results. The incumbent also plays a vital role in supporting the design of community-based protection strategies, ensuring these are firmly rooted in direct consultation with PoC. This position is instrumental in helping communities identify the risks they face and empowering them to leverage their own capacities for protecting themselves, their families, and their communities, thereby strengthening overall protection outcomes.

Responsibilities

The Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant is responsible for integrating participatory and community-based approaches into the overall protection strategy. This involves monitoring political, social, economic, and cultural developments affecting the protection environment and advising the protection team on the perspectives, capacities, needs, and resources of persons of concern (PoC), highlighting specific vulnerabilities across diverse groups. The incumbent supports initiatives involving host communities and national civil society in PoC protection, and assists implementing partners and communities in developing self-owned activities addressing social, educational, psycho-social, cultural, health, organizational, and livelihood concerns, including child protection and gender-based violence prevention and response. Key duties also include assisting in analyzing community capacities and risks, supporting participatory assessments, and fostering ongoing consultation with PoC. The role involves building the office's capacity for community-based protection, supporting communities in establishing representation structures, and ensuring their understanding of UNHCR's accountability. Furthermore, the assistant collects data for programme monitoring from an Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) perspective, drafts routine correspondence and reports, maintains filing systems, and acts as an interpreter for routine information exchange. They initiate AGD-sensitive interventions on community-based protection issues, respond to protection concerns, identify individuals for counselling, and ensure implementing partners comply with global protection policies and integrity standards. The assistant also supports risk identification and management within their area of responsibility.

Work Experience

A minimum of 2 years of relevant experience with a High School Diploma, or 1 year of relevant work experience with a Bachelor's degree or equivalent, is required. Desirable experience includes participation in UNHCR learning programmes (PLP) and knowledge of MSRP.

Skills

UN/UNHCR Administrative Rules, Regulations and Procedures Computer Literacy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Community-based Protection - Principles and methodologies Multi-stakeholder Communications with Partners, Government & Community

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