Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)

B

Family

UNOPS LICA6

2025-01-02

November 3, 2024

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
• This position is advertised to internal and external applicants. Candidates must be legally present in Honduras at the time of application, recruitment and hire. Only Honduran citizens or candidates legally present in Honduras will be considered eligible.

• Only short-listed candidates will be notified. The recruitment process might include written test and/or oral interview for this job opening. No late applications will be accepted.

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

• Remuneration: A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered depending on relevant experience as per the requirements of the job advertisement.

• The evaluation of applicants will be conducted based on the information submitted during the application. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

• UNHCR is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, sexual orientation, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. UNHCR seeks to ensure that male and female employees are given equal career opportunities. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.

• All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.

• As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

• UNHCR has a zero-tolerance policy against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA). SEA is unacceptable behavior and prohibited conduct for UNHCR personnel. It constitutes acts of serious misconduct and is therefore grounds for disciplinary measures, including dismissal.

1. General Background

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has an international mandate on protection of refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs, statelessness and returnees. The Country Office in Tegucigalpa is located in the region of Francisco Morazán and requires support in the International Protection and Borders Unit to analyze the protection needs and risks of the displaced population (with a focus on people in mixed movements; asylum-seekers and refugees) and strategies for their protection. The Protection Associate will support the work of the unit to strengthen response capacities of governmental institutions and resilience capacities of communities, through the 3 priority strategies: 1) Enhancement of national protection systems, 2) developing comprehensive measures to improve durable solutions, and 3) strengthen strategies with partners and coordination with other humanitarian and Human Rights agencies working in the area.

2. Purpose and Scope of Assignment

All UNHCR affiliates are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their terms of reference. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions on Managing Affiliate Workforce as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, affiliates are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional and cross-functional competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

The Protection Associate reports to the Associate Protection Officer. The incumbent monitors protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards and provides functional protection support to information management and programme staff.

The Protection Associate is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (PoC) and identify opportunities to mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards in operational responses in all sectors. S/he contributes to designing a comprehensive protection strategy and liaises externally with authorities and partners on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor.

The Protection Associate also ensures that PoC are involved in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying appropriate solutions to their problems. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, local authorities and protection and assistance partners.

Duties and responsibilities:

– Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
– Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
– Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to PoC.
– Provide advice on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
– Provide support to the Honduran National Migration Institute to conduct eligibility and status determination for PoC.
– Contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
– Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy, in coordination with the Child Protection Unit.
– Contribute to a country-level education plan for asylum-seekers and refugees as part of the protection strategy.
– Monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
– Manage individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents. Strengthen the identification of refoulement cases of Honduran deportees and coordinate readmission to the country of asylum.
– Assist in identifying durable solutions for the largest possible number of PoC through local integration and where appropriate, resettlement or other complementary pathways including family reunification.
– Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
– Facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on PoC and their problems.
– Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
– Assist the supervisor in prioritizing PoC for interview, counselling and propose protection support for individual cases.
– Assist the supervisor with enforcing compliance of local implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
– Assist the supervisor with enforcing compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.
– Submit individual payments request for PoC for approval.
– Perform other related duties as required.

3. Monitoring and Progress Controls
(Clear description of measurable outputs, milestones, key performance indicators and/or reporting requirements which will enable performance monitoring)

The UNOPS Contractor will be required to:

1. Establishing a work plan jointly with supervisor, with set objectives, deadlines, and deliverables:
a. A work plan per semester.
b. Bimonthly progress reports.

2. Carry out case management and support implementing partners and the protection unit in relation to case management:
a. Carry out interviews and follow up on the references and assistance with appropriate implementing partner or government counterpart.
b. Generate weekly reports on activities carried out.
c. Coordinate with field offices and units regarding cases.
d. Develop and oversee implementation of guidelines or standard operating procedures.

3. Provide support in the implementation of the international protection and border strategy in coordination with FOs and FUs:
a. Carry out border monitoring missions.
b. Support the development of identification and reference mechanisms in border zones.
c. Support the implementation of the regional mixed movement monitoring initiative, including with the elaboration and publication of regular protection monitoring reports.
d. Coordinate with field offices and units the design and follow up of work plans of implementing partners.
e. Support capacity building initiatives in border zones.

4. Qualifications and Experience
(List the required education, work experience, expertise, and competencies of the individual contractor. The listed education and experience should correspond with the level at which the contract is offered.)

a. Education (Level and area of required and/or preferred education)

International Law, Political Science or other related field.

b. Work Experience
(List number of years and area of required work experience. Clearly distinguish between required experience and experience which could be an asset.)

3 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher

Field(s) of Education:

Not applicable
(Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience:

Essential:
Not specified.

Desirable candidate profile:
• Very good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law.
• Good knowledge of the functioning of the Honduran asylum system as well as the migration policies in place to address mixed movements.
• Prior experience in providing counselling to refugees, asylum seekers and people in mixed movements on their rights and referral to the required protection services.
• Experience providing capacity building to State and civil society actors on international protection and rights of people in mixed movements.
• Experience working in the field identifying protection gaps affecting people in mixed movements and designing responses jointly with State and civil society actors.
• Experience elaborating protection monitoring reports.
• Experience working closely with authorities, partners, local and international organizations and maintaining effective working relationships.
• Good understanding of the national and international context (including migration policies) that impact mixed and onward movements in the region.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Experience in public administration related to mixed movements, asylum-seekers and refugees is desirable.

Language Requirements:
Native level in Spanish is essential. Working knowledge in English is desirable.

Functional Skills:

IT-Computer Literacy
PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework
PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators

c. Key Competencies
(Technical knowledge, skills, managerial competencies or other personal competencies relevant to the performance of the assignment. Clearly distinguish between required and desired competencies)

Core Competencies:
Accountability
Communication
Organizational Awareness
Teamwork & Collaboration
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Client & Result Orientation

Cross-Functional Competencies:
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
Political Awareness
Stakeholder Management

Standard Job Description

Required Languages

Spanish

,

,

Desired Languages

English

,

,

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education

Certifications

Other information

This position doesn’t require a functional clearance

Home-Based

No