ABOUT THE COMPANY:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, is mandated to protect and assist men, women and children forced to flee their homes due to violence, conflict or persecution. UNHCR is dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced and stateless people. The Agency provides protection, shelter, food, water, medical care and other life-saving assistance to refugees and asylum-seekers around the world.

The dream of most refugees is to return home. If and where possible, UNHCR helps refugees make this dream a reality. When refugees cannot go back home, we work to find solutions for them, to rebuild their lives in another country. Since its formation by the United Nations General Assembly in 1950, UNHCR has helped millions of refugees restart their lives and has received the Nobel Peace Prize twice.

JOB SUMMARY

Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)

A (least hardship)

Family

UNOPS LICA7

2024-09-16

August 12, 2024

Please note that this position is offered under UNOPS LICA contract at LICA-7 level until 31 December 2024.

Please note that this is a 3.5 months contract with possibility of extension for 2025 subject to budget, good performance and operational needs.

Persons interested in applying for this position must be legally present in Panama at the time of recruitment and must comply with all eligibility requirements for employment in line with the prevailing legislative prerequisites in the country and demonstrate a proof of residency and/or work permit for the said country at the time of application.

The United Nations is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect.

The United Nations recruits and employs staff regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds or disabilities.

Reasonable accommodation for applicants with disabilities may be provided to support participation in the recruitment process when requested and indicated in the application.

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

A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. For information on United Nations salaries, allowances and benefits, visit the International Civil Service Commission web portal at: http://icsc.un.org

Levels of language knowledge:
A1-beginner
A2-elementary
B1-lower intermediate
B2-upper intermediate
C1-advanced/proficient
C2-fluent

English and Spanish are required at a B2 level for this position.

Operational context:
For more than a decade, refugees and migrants have entered Panamanian territory through the Darien jungle on their way to the northern part of the American continent.

Over the recent years, the number of people traveling has increased exponentially, as have their profiles, nationalities and needs, which, in most cases, are the result of the risks and dangers of crossing through the jungle, situations that have unleashed a deep and complex humanitarian crisis.

Considering the importance of guaranteeing respect for human rights and peaceful coexistence, as well as providing support to the Panamanian State in the care, treatment of the population in transit, strengthening of transit communities, the response humanitarian and in the implementation of migration and international protection policies, through the coordinated decision of the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) and under the United Nations Cooperation Framework, the United Nations System (UNS) in Panama established a Group of Human Mobility as a UN inter agency working group (GHM SNU).

In 2023 a larger coordination group, comprised of UN and NGOs to support humanitarian response in Darien was established at central level, called the Grupo Mobilidad Humana Panama GMHP.

The GHM Panama is composed of the agencies, funds and programs (AFP) of the UNS that expressed its wish to be part of the GHM (currently UNHCR, IOM, OHCHR, OCHA, PAHO, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNODC, UN Women) and the following international and civil society organizations that maintain a presence in Panama, mainly in the province of Darién and Chiriquí that have field activities to support the humanitarian response to mixed movements, namely: HIAS, NRC, Panamanian Red Cross, RET, PADF, Global Brigades, ICRC, IFRC, Medicos del Mundo and Doctors without Borders, in the role of observer member.

The main objective of the GHMP is to maximize efforts and resources to provide a better and more solid response to the needs of refugees and migrants passing through Panama.

This through consolidation and coordination of the different efforts to support the humanitarian response provided by the AFP of the UNS, as well as the different international and civil society organizations that are part of the GHM and that participate of these actions in Panama, mainly in the provinces of Darién and Chiriquí, location of most of the population of interest.

All of this to support the prioritization of existing resources, avoid duplication of efforts, favor identification and reference of vulnerable cases and, especially, strengthen joint advocacy and advocacy actions with the authorities.

The GHMP has two levels:
a.

Political and strategic: coordination at the highest level, led by the UNS Resident Coordinator (RC) and an NGO Director with the support of IOM and UNHCR and the participation of the respective representatives of the AFP of the UNS that are part of the GHM and the Country Directors of international organizations and society civilian participants.
b.

Technical and operational: in charge of supporting the strategic role and ensuring inter-level operational and technical coordination (at headquarters and in the field), the work subgroups and the preparation of reports and reports co-chaired by IOM and UNHCR in coordination with the Office of the RC and key agencies.

The technical/operational coordination of the SNU Human Mobility Group are also co led by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The strategic coordination and the calls for joint meetings will be coordinated and led by the office of the RC together with the co-leader of one of the international organizations or civil society that are part of the GHM, the last in a rotating manner.

The IOM and UNHCR operational co-leads support the proper functioning of the GHMP as well.

As per the interagency nature of the GHMP and the GHM, it is necessary to maintain close collaboration and clear channels of coordination among the actors, ensuring proper management, transparency, consolidation, and exchange of information and improve coordination specific results.

To support the coordination functions of the GHMP as well as any eventual humanitarian coordination arrangements in Panama and linkages with UN other inter-agency process, and thanks to the support of the donor community, a support team will be established composed of a Human Mobility Inter-Agency Coordination Officer at P4 level, and a Senior Information Management Associate at LICA7 level.

Both positions will be administered by UNHCR and will report to the SNU RC/O as the strategic and political coordinator of the GHMP and to the GMHP co-leads (UNHCR and IOM) as technical coordinators.

Terms of Reference:
The Senior Information Management Associate will support the production and dissemination of information on the population of concern of the GHM.

a) Duties

– Operationalize country-specific common data standards and promote them with partners, including IASC Common Operational Datasets.
– Compile and aggregate information elements required to produce standardized GHM information products and implement data/information collection plans for baseline and context-specific data.

– Collect, collate and process information and perform data quality and consistency control.
– Produce summary statistics.
– Support and leverage geographic data for map production and use in geographic information systems (GIS).
– Participate in Needs Assessment processes, specifically in data collection, processing/collation and data exploration.
– Liaise with partners and other stakeholders in meetings related to the functions.
– Make recommendations and provide advice on the technical information management requirements.
– Perform other related duties as required.

b) Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience

Years of Experience / Degree Level
Two years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher

Field(s) of Education
Information Technology; Statistics; Social Sciences; Economy

Relevant Job Experience

Essential
– Experience with handling confidential data and demonstrated understanding of different data collection methodologies.
– Experience in producing high-quality reports in Adobe Illustrator, Indesign and Powerbi.
– Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel.

Desirable
– Ability to formulate IM-related technical requirements and Operating Procedures.
– Experience designing forms and managing databases in Monitoring and Evaluation software, i.e., ActivityInfo.
– Ability to create maps on ArcGIS PRO.
– Experience in data collection and analysis in field situations, knowledge of GIS and geospatial systems and techniques.

– Demonstrated experience and understanding of refugees and migrant issues.

Standard Job Description

Required Languages

Spanish

,

English

,

Desired Languages

,

,

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education

Certifications

Other information

This position doesn’t require a functional clearance

Home-Based

No

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