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)

H (no hardship)

Family

CONS Local

2024-09-01

August 11, 2024

Organisational Context

The Global Protection Cluster (GPC) is a network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organizations and United Nations (UN) agencies, engaged in protection work in humanitarian crises including armed conflict and climate change-related disasters.

The GPC is mandated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), led by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), governed by a Strategic Advisory Group (SAG), co-chaired by the GPC Coordinator and an operational NGO, and serviced by a multi-partner Operations Cell.

The GPC unites members, partners and communities working on the full gamut of protection activities, including in four specialized Areas of Responsibility (AoRs): Child Protection (CP), Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Housing, Land and Property (HLP) and Mine Action (MA).

At the end of 2023, 68.3 million people remain internally displaced due to conflict and violence, according to UNHCR latest Global Trends Report. The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has doubled over the last 10 years, with women, children and marginalized groups often facing the greatest impacts.

While some return home relatively quickly, tens of millions get trapped in long-term displacement of five to 10 years or longer. The urgency to prevent internal displacement and to find durable solutions to protracted situations is particularly acute in light of ever-lasting conflicts and growing climate-related disasters.

A durable solution is achieved when IDPs no longer have specific assistance and protection needs that are linked to their displacement and can enjoy their human rights without discrimination resulting from their displacement.

According to the IASC Framework on Durable Solutions it can be achieved through three pathways (e.g. return to area of origin, local integration, relocation) and 8 criteria (e.g. long-term safety and security, access to livelihoods and employment, family reunification, personal and other documentation, adequate standard of living, access to remedies and justice, accessible mechanism for restoration of housing, land and property, participation in public affairs).

The Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons, chapter VI, includes considerations for planning and implementing durable solutions and suggested actions to support operationalization of the IASC Framework.

Recognizing this crisis, the Secretary General published in 2022 the Action Agenda on Internal Displacement aimed to break this long-term displacement pattern and create durable solutions, to better prevent new displacement crises from emerging and to ensure those facing displacement receive effective protection and assistance as part of a longer-term response.

Within the UN system, a Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement, with the support of an interagency Steering Group, was appointed to take the lead in facilitating the follow-up to this Action Agenda, including in engaging with Member States, IDPs and host communities, civil society, and other relevant actors.

In addition, the IASC’s 2024 Independent review of the humanitarian response to internal displacement included key findings that the system responds too slowly, is not joined-up and does not put people at the centre of the response.

Priority recommendations highlighted putting protection at the heart of response and solutions; reorienting the approach to participation and empowerment of IDPs; and ensuring a joined-up response by enhancing government capacities and strengthening leadership.

Purpose of the Consultancy

Achieving solutions is the ultimate protection outcome.

The Global Protection Cluster is committed to ensure that field protection clusters, AoRs and protection partners seize opportunities to engage in collective initiatives to facilitate solutions in many internal displacement contexts.

This is further outlined in the GPC Strategic Framework 2020-2024 in which the GPC commits to champion and advance durable solutions that meet protection standards through a nexus of humanitarian, peace and development action.

More specifically, the GPC commits to focus its efforts on:

(1) Promoting quality protection analysis to enable humanitarian, peace and development collaboration and contribute to solutions.

(2) Supporting protection clusters to play a predictable role in the development and implementation of durable solutions initiatives and strategies.

While considerable efforts have been made to strengthen joint protection analysis that achieve effective and appropriate protection outcomes, including in the context of durable solutions, there remains a challenge in understanding the role that protection clusters (and protection actors) can play in contributing to the concrete development and implementation of durable solutions.

The GPC seeks to further develop its positioning and practical guidance to field protection clusters to ensure they are equipped to promote protection as a core element of creating conditions conducive to durable solutions with affected people at the centre of decision-making and priority setting.

The consultancy’s aim is to:

(1) Further define in simple and operational ways the role of protection actors in durable solutions processes and how to support this in practice as part of the cluster core functions.

The goal is to capacitate field protection clusters and partners to better support communities to meet the growing protection challenges they face due to conflict and displacement.

For example, this could include:

a. Practical guidance for field clusters on identifying and ensuring mechanisms are in place for meaningful participation of IDPs / groups at risk of marginalisation, in humanitarian, development and state-decision making solutions’ processes.

b. Considerations and practical steps for feeding protection cluster data and analysis (e.g.

PAUs) into government led and other solutions initiatives and in supporting initiatives of the UN Office of the Special Advisor on Solutions (e.g. in supporting the implementation of a protection risk assessment tool).

See https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/osa-factsheet-2nd-anniversary-action-agenda.pdf). In addition to complimenting or drawing on socio-economic qualitative or quantitative data and analysis (i.e. Joint Data Centre initiatives https://www.jointdatacenter.org. For example: https://www.jointdatacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/CAR-Poverty-Assessment-Report.pdf).

(2) Provide recommendations on the revision of chapter VI of the Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons to ensure it remains fit for purpose and aligned to global solutions initiatives

The methodology of work will be further defined by the GPC and the consultant.

It may include a literature/desk review, online consultations with relevant stakeholders, and one or two field missions to pilot countries.

The consultancy will draw on operational learning from a wide range of protection clusters (e.g. Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Colombia, Iraq etc…) to gather both learning and knowledge, and to ensure the recommendations are relevant and applicable to the 32 protection cluster operations.

This work will also help to inform ongoing consultations and the development of the GPC’s 2025-2029 Strategic Framework.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the Protection Cluster Coordination Officer (Advocacy & External Engagement), and oversight of the GPC Senior Policy Officer.

The consultant will:

• Develop a work plan in line with the scope and objectives of the consultancy.
• Conduct a short desk / literature review on possible areas of engagement for protection clusters (and protection partners) in durable solutions initiatives and strategies, using the UN-SG Action Agenda and IASC IDP review as key guiding documents.
• Conduct online consultations with relevant stakeholders and/or undertake 1-2 field support missions to guide protection clusters’ engagement in durable solutions processes.

• Collect best practices on the topic, including on how the IASC Framework, UN-SG Action Agenda and IASC IDP review have included protection operationally.

• Prepare a practical guidance/tip-sheet (5 pages max) outlining the role of protection cluster operations in durable solutions initiatives and strategies, including a list of steps and concrete activities that can be integrated in the cluster core functions.
• Provide suggested revisions to chapter VI of the Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons
• Organise a webinar to share the key findings of the consultancy, present a couple of best practices in collaboration with 1-2 protection cluster operations and roll out GPC practical guidance on durable solutions.

Monitoring and Progress Controls:

• Develop a work plan in line with the scope and objectives of the consultancy; conduct a short desk and literature review on possible areas of engagement for protection clusters in durable solutions initiatives and strategies by 31September 2024.
• Facilitate online consultations with relevant stakeholders and/or undertake 1-2 field support missions to guide protection clusters’ engagement in durable solutions processes.

Collect best practices on the topics, including on how the IASC Framework, UN-SG Action Agenda and IASC IDP Review have included protection operationally.

• Produce practical guidance/tip-sheet/suggested revisions to the IDP handbook by 30 November 2024.
• Develop and deliver a webinar to share the key findings of the consultancy, present a couple of best practices in collaborations with 1-2 protection cluster operations and roll out GPC practical guidance on durable solutions by 31 December 2024.

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required

• University Degree in social sciences, international law and policy.
• 6 to 9 years’ experience working in an inter-agency environment at field and/or headquarters level.

• Previous working experience in protection, durable solutions and displacement issues.
• Understanding of humanitarian coordination processes and recent inter-agency developments related to the IASC and the broader UN.
• Excellent computer skills, including MS Word, Excel, Access and database software.
• Demonstrated organizational skills, including the ability to work independently and productively with multiple stakeholders in a fast-paced environment.
• Flexible attitude to work productively in a team environment, and to handle requests or issues as they arise.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to successfully and effectively liaise with people in a wide range of functions in a multi-cultural environment.

• Proficiency in written and spoken English.

French, Spanish or Arabic is desirable.
• Excellent drafting skills and ability to write concise, field-oriented and practical guidance.

Location

The successful candidate will work from home and be remotely connected to the Global Protection Cluster team in Geneva.

Standard Job Description

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Other information

Home-based consultancyThis position doesn’t require a functional clearance

Home-Based

Yes

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