Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)
H (no hardship)
Family Type (not applicable for home-based)
Family
Staff Member / Affiliate Type
UNOPS IICA1
Target Start Date
2025-03-01
Deadline for Applications
February 9, 2025
Terms of Reference
Title: Associate Protection Officer
Duty station: Home-Based
Section/Unit: Emergency/Protection in armed conflict Unit- Field Protection service-
Division of International Protection (DIP)
ICA Level: ICA-1
Corresponding level: P2
Duration: from 01/03/2025 to 31/12/2025
Supervisor: Snr Legal Officer, Houda Chalchoul
1. General Background
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated by the United Nations to protect and uphold the rights of refugees. In addition, UNHCR provides support to former refugees who have returned to their home countries, internally displaced persons, and individuals who are stateless or whose nationality is disputed. A critical aspect of UNHCR’s mandate is ensuring protection during armed conflicts. This requires strong advocacy, technical guidance to field operations, and collaboration with key stakeholders across the UN system, governments, and non-governmental organizations and actors.
UNHCR’s approach to protection in armed conflict is grounded in thorough conflict and protection analyses. UNHCR’s approach aims to promote respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) and international refugee law in situations of conflict, to build the capacity of staff and partners including to support communities’ agency to undertake protective actions. To support these objectives, UNHCR has developed inter alia a “Protection in Armed Conflict Toolkit” (PIAC), a dynamic resource that serves as a cornerstone for operational and policy engagement in conflict settings.
The Associate Protection Officer (IHL) will report to the Senior Legal Officer (Protection in Armed Conflict) within the Emergency/Protection in armed conflict Unit of the Division of International Protection. In this role, the incumbent will contribute to the activities of the team including the roll out of the PIAC toolkit, advocacy initiatives, fostering inter-agency collaboration, facilitating capacity-building activities, and providing technical assistance to field operations.
2. Purpose and Scope of Assignment
The Associate Protection Officer ’s assignment will focus on the following objectives and tasks:
• Assist with the roll out the updated version of the PIAC toolkit and the implementation of its the associated training package through regional and country-specific workshops and webinars.
• Support the team in designing and organizing capacity-building workshops, peer exchanges, and webinars on protection in armed conflict, IHL and related approaches, including negotiations for protection outcomes.
• Assist in organizing meetings and webinars during the development, drafting, and dissemination of case studies focused on negotiations for protection.
• Contribute to project monitoring, impact evaluation and reporting efforts by assisting with the design and analysis of participants’ surveys, follow up group discussions, and other evaluation methods. These efforts aim to demonstrate the impact of interventions and how various tools and knowledge are being utilized by the targeted protection practitioners.
• Promote the use of the Protection in Armed Conflict (PIAC) Workstream page and strengthen the community of practice.
3. Monitoring and Progress Controls
(Clear description of measurable outputs, milestones, key performance indicators and/or reporting requirements which will enable performance monitoring)
The progress towards achieving these objectives and completing the required tasks will be assessed through UNHCR’s performance management process, which includes objective setting, regular check-ins, and feedback based on the following measurable performance outputs:
1. Toolkit Rollout and Training Package Implementation
o Support the Unit in organizing 3 regional workshops and a minimum of 5 meetings and webinars to facilitate the roll-out of the updated PIAC toolkit.
o Assist the unit with the design of the training package and related materials.
o Contribute to the final report summarizing each workshop outcomes, including participants feedback.
o Support with the design and distribution of 3 participant surveys
2. Case Studies on humanitarian Negotiations for Protection outcomes
o Support UNHCR, the Global Protection Cluster (GPC) and the CCHN in the production of 3 case studies, including the organization of related meetings and webinars for discussion and dissemination of findings.
o Organize and deliver meetings minutes and summaries of key insights from webinars.
3. Protection in Armed Conflict (PIAC) Workstream and intranet pages: this will be measured through the:
o Increase in PIAC Workstream and intranet page visits
o Number of resources downloaded or shared
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)
Advanced university degree, or equivalent thereof, in international law, political sciences or social studies.
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.)
• Equivalent of BA/BS + 3 years of relevant work experience, or
• Equivalent of a master’s + 2 years of relevant work experience, or
• Doctorate + 1 year of relevant work experience.
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)
• Demonstrated expertise in areas related to international protection, protection of civilians, and International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
• In-depth understanding of UNHCR’s mandate
• Excellent legal research, analytical, and drafting skills in English
• Strong competencies in information management
• Field experience with UNHCR or other protection actors would be an asset,
• Proficiency in a second official language is desirable.
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Skills
Education
Certifications
Work Experience
Other information
This position doesn’t require a functional clearance
Home-Based
Yes
Level of Education: Bachelor Degree
Work Hours: 8
Experience in Months: No requirements
Notifications