JOB DESCRIPTION

E (most hardship)

Non Family with Residential Location

Non Family with Residential LocationDanger Pay

Addis Ababa,Eth Fed Dem Rep

NOA

National Professional Officer

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

2025-10-01

August 6, 2025

Assistant Protection Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Assistant Protection Officer reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer. Depending on the size and structure of the Office, the incumbent may have supervisory responsibility for protection staff including community-based protection, registration, resettlement and education. S/he provides functional protection guidance to information management and programme staff on all protection/legal matters and accountabilities. These include: statelessness (in line with the campaign to End Statelessness by 2024), Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) commitments, age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP) through community-based protection, Child protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, gender equality, disability inclusion, youth empowerment, psycho-social support and PSEA, registration, asylum/refugee status determination, resettlement, local integration, voluntary repatriation, human rights standards integration, national legislation, judicial engagement, predictable and decisive engagement in situations of internal displacement and engagement in wider mixed movement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses. S/he supervises protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards.

The Assistant Protection Officer is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (PoC), ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. The incumbent contributes to the design of a comprehensive protection strategy and represents the Organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. S/he also ensures that PoC are meaningfully engaged in the decisions that affect them and support programme design and adaptations that are influenced by the concerns, priorities and capacities of them. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
– 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 legal advice and guidance on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
– Conduct eligibility and status determination for PoC in compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles.
– Promote and contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
– Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy.
– Contribute to a country-level education plan as part of the protection strategy.
– Provide inputs for the development of protection policies and standards within the AoR.
– Implement and 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.
– Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of PoC through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
– Assess resettlement needs and apply priorities for the resettlement of individuals and groups of refugees and other PoC.
– Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
– Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
– Contribute to and facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems.
– Assist capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
– Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
– Intervene with authorities on protection issues.
– Assist the supervisor in deciding priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
– Assist the supervisor in enforcing compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
– Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.

– Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
– Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P1/NOA – 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Law,

International Law,

Political Sciences
or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified;

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles

Desirable
Not specified.

Functional Skills
*PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
*PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)
MG-Project Management
PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards
PR-International Humanitarian Law
PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation
PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement
CO-Drafting and Documentation
PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

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.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

•DCP pour l’Assistant Protection Officer (NA) :
Work Experience:
• The candidate should have expertise in coordination and working in the management of mixed situations.
• They should be familiar with IDPs and refugees context in general, UNHCR’s solutions strategy, and the Nexus approach.
• Strong reporting skills and analysis of the operational context are required, as well as the ability to work effectively with local authorities and partners.
• Capacity to cover general protection, CBP as well as protection cluster related activities and provide training for protection of local authorities as well as local partners.
Language Skills:
• Knowledge of French and UN working language nor a local language

Technical Skills:
• Good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law
• Ability to develop and deliver training programs on protection issues.

French

,

,

English

,

,

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel.

Nature of Position:

The Lake Province is facing a prolonged humanitarian crisis fueled by armed conflict, intercommunal tensions, and the effects of climate change. The operational context of the Lake region continues to be dominated by protection incidents due to attacks by Non-State Armed Groups (NSAGs), criminal acts/banditry, and sporadic inter/intra-community conflicts, particularly involving the Boudouma and Kanembou communities. These conflicts often stem from disputes over access to arable land (polders), grazing areas, and fishing zones. The effects of climate change are increasingly visible, with river and/or rain-induced flooding and rainfall deficits. The region also suffers from a precarious socio-economic situation, inadequate basic social services, unemployment, and a food crisis, among other challenges.
Despite several military operations, armed group elements remain active in the province and across the Lake Chad Basin countries. In this complex humanitarian context, UNHCR has developed a strategy aimed at durable solutions for forcibly displaced populations in the province. This strategy aligns with the Lake Province’s development program and the 2024 Nexus coordination framework. After identifying convergence zones, UNHCR is working to mobilize development and peace actors to carry out stabilization and development activities aimed at empowering the population.
Located in western Chad, the UNHCR Baga Sola area of responsibility shares a long land and lake border to the west with northern Cameroon, northeastern Nigeria (Borno State), and eastern Niger (Diffa region). It is also adjacent to Kanem Province to the north and Hadjer-Lamis Province to the east.
As of December 31, 2024, the Lake Province hosts 21,566 refugees from Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, and other smaller nationalities, living in the Dar Es Salam site and surrounding areas, including the town of Bol. There are also 220,610 forcibly displaced persons (DTM/IOM). The UNHCR Sub-Office in Baga Sola covers activities in 3 of the 5 departments in the province: Kaya, Mamdi, and Fouli. Forcibly displaced persons are spread across more than 200 sites identified by the authorities (source: IOM). To better target interventions, UNHCR, in collaboration with provincial authorities, has identified high-density areas and participates in multisectoral assessments to identify primary needs and develop projects aimed at achieving durable solutions.
To better address the various protection issues faced by forcibly displaced persons, several coordination and consultation frameworks have been established. UNHCR leads the sectors under its responsibility (CCCM, Protection, and Shelter) and ensures the refugee response, for which it holds the mandate.

Living and Working Conditions:

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Bachelor of Arts: International Law, Bachelor of Arts: Law, Bachelor of Arts: Political Science

Certifications

Competencies

Accountability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Judgement & decision making, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Stakeholder management, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Additional Information

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Shortlisted candidates may be invited to undertake written and or oral test.

This position doesn”t require a functional clearance