Organization: UNV – United Nations Volunteers
Location: Shire
Grade: Level not specified – Level not specified
Occupational Groups:
Protection Officer (Refugee)
Closing Date: 2024-08-23
Details
Mission and objectives
The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safe-guard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to re-turn home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org).te
Context
The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org). The conflict in Tigray which broke out in November 2020 between Tigray People’s Liberal Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian National Defense Force (EDNF) has had widespread ramifications on the lives of the people in the region and in Shire in particular. The conflict forced the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people to various Woredas in North-western and Central Zones of Tigray. Following the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that was signed in Pretoria in November 2022, 144,000 individuals returned voluntarily facilitated by humanitarian agencies, and 1.5 million individuals spontaneously returned. As per DTM (November – December 2023), there still are about 840,815 IDPs in Tigray. Also, there are 3,100 refugees and asylum seekers in urban setting within Shire area of responsibility in need of different protection interventions. Field Office Shire, under the management of Sub Office Mekelle in Tigray region, northern Ethiopia, is responsible for 35 IDP sites and urban refugees and asylum seeker in Shire, Sheraro, Axum and Adwa. The refugees and asylum seekers in the urban settings are mainly from Eritrea. The operation is mainly IDP response in cluster approach with few refugees and asylum seekers in Urban settings following closure of refugee camps and relocation of refugees to Alemwach camp in Amhara region. Registration of asylum seekers was suspended in 2020 following the Tigray conflict. It is however anticipated to resume in the near future. Shire area of responsibility hosts around 500,000 IDPs and more than 3,000. The incumbent is expected to provide functional protection guidance to UNHCR and partner staff on all protection/legal matters and accountabilities. S/he 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 position requires the incumbent to have a demonstrated ability to work in and out of camp setting. Given that the incumbent is expected to be the most senior protection staff on ground in the coming month, S/he is expected to have a strong inter-agency competency. Prior demonstrated experience in community engagement in line with the Field Office strategy to strengthen IDP community self-management is an added advantage. The Associate Protection Officer should have a track record of developing a strong two-way communication with staff, partners, and forced displaced persons.
Task description
Under the direct supervision of the Protection Officer, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: *Through relationships with persons of concern, authorities and network of partners stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment and provide advice to senior management. *Ensure that the perspectives, capacities, needs and resources of the persons of concerns are reflected in the protection strategy, planning processes and operations plan addressing the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, persons with disabilities, minority groups such as sexual minorities and persons living with HIV/AIDS; *Ensure that the perspectives, capacities, needs and resources of the persons of concerns are reflected in the protection strategy, planning processes and operations plan addressing the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, persons with disabilities, minority groups such as sexual minorities and other persons with specific needs. •Coordinate the promotion of international refugee law principles and standards and also IDP legislation or policies ensuring that all sectors and clusters fulfill their responsibilities mainstreaming protection; *Coordinate the implementation and monitoring of programmes ensuring that identified protection needs, including an Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) approach, are adequately addressed; *Provide policy guidance and operational support to UNHCR and partners on all protection related issues; *Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to internal and external interlocutors; ensure legal assistance is accessible to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documents to persons of concern (civil documentation, in particular birth certificates); *Monitor, and assist with the intervention in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners; *Assist in the coordinated implementation and oversight of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities; *Ensure that durable solutions through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement are sought and provided to the largest possible number of persons of concern; *Ensure through direct action and advocacy with more senior protection staff that the necessary resources are allocated to enable protection activities to identify and address protection and assistance gaps; *Support a consultative process with government counterparts at local levels, partners and persons of concern to develop and implement integrated strategies that address the key protection priorities, including, for example, child protection, education and SGBV, and solutions approaches; *Promote confidence building and conflict resolution among populations of concern, authorities and host communities; *Maintain protection presence through regular field missions and reports, making direct contact with persons of concern, host communities, local authorities and partners. In operations applying the humanitarian cluster system, contribute to ensuring that the response of the Protection Cluster is grounded in an AGD-compliant strategy which covers all assessed and prioritized protection needs of the affected populations; *Contribute to the Protection team’s information management component which: provide disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems; researches, collects and disseminates relevant protection information and good practices to enhance protection delivery and provide technical advice if necessary; *Ensure participatory, community-based protection and AGD approaches are included in, strategies and plans in the country operation; *Support persons of concern to develop structures that enhance their participation and protection.