Senior Protection Assistant
Organizational Context
UNHCR is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights, and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people. This role supports UNHCR's mission by providing essential protection services and contributing to comprehensive protection strategies within its operations.
Job Purpose
The Senior Protection Assistant plays a crucial role in delivering protection services to persons of concern (PoC) by monitoring protection standards, operational procedures, and practices in line with international standards. The incumbent provides functional protection support to information management and programme staff, ensuring quality and timely assistance. A key aspect of this role is to identify opportunities for mainstreaming protection methodologies and safeguards into operational responses. The Senior Protection Assistant contributes to the development of a comprehensive protection strategy and may engage with local authorities and partners on protection matters under the guidance of a supervisor. Ensuring PoC participation in decisions affecting them, whether in accessing rights or finding solutions to their problems, is paramount. This involves building and maintaining effective relationships with communities of concern, local authorities, and protection partners.
Responsibilities
The Senior Protection Assistant is responsible for consistently applying International and National Law, as well as applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards, and codes of conduct. This includes providing direct counselling on protection issues to PoC and liaising with competent authorities to facilitate the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation. The role supports protection-related activities based on Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) programming with implementing and operational partners. This involves conducting preliminary information gathering and interviews to support eligibility assessments, status determination, durable solutions, and social needs assessments. The incumbent contributes to initiatives aimed at identifying, preventing, and reducing statelessness, and participates in developing country-level child protection and education plans for PoC as part of the broader protection strategy. Monitoring Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection and solutions activities is essential, as is participating in individual case management, including cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and child protection. The role involves monitoring and reporting on protection incidents such as refoulement and expulsion, and assisting in identifying durable solutions like voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement. Drafting reports, routine correspondence, updating databases, and compiling statistics within the Area of Responsibility (AoR) are also key duties. Furthermore, the Senior Protection Assistant contributes to enhancing national and local protection capacities, selects PoC for preliminary interviews, and enforces integrity in protection service delivery by local implementing partners. Risk management and opportunity identification within the area of responsibility are also expected.
Work Experience
2 years of relevant experience with a High School Diploma, or 1 year of relevant experience with a Bachelor's degree or equivalent or higher.
Skills
IT-Computer Literacy PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework International Law Political Science Case Management Child Protection Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Statelessness Prevention Durable Solutions Risk Management Capacity Building