Organization Mission

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has a core mission to protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to find solutions to their displacement. Its primary objective is to safeguard the rights and well-being of these individuals by ensuring they can exercise the right to seek asylum, find safe refuge, and ultimately, return home voluntarily, integrate locally, or resettle elsewhere.

Key Objectives of UNHCR:
Protection:
UNHCR works to protect the fundamental human rights of refugees and forcibly displaced persons, ensuring they are not returned to situations where their lives or freedom would be threatened.

Humanitarian Assistance:
UNHCR provides life-saving aid and assistance in emergencies, including multi-purpose cash assistance, shelter, food, water, and medical care, to those forced to flee their homes.

Sustainable protection based durable Solutions:
UNHCR strives to find long-term solutions to displacement (livelihoods, employment, skills development, etc), both in country and in other countries.

Preventing Displacement:
UNHCR also works to prevent displacement by encouraging states and other institutions to create conditions that are conducive to the protection of human rights and the peaceful resolution of disputes.

Addressing Statelessness:
UNHCR works to prevent and reduce statelessness, ensuring that stateless individuals have access to nationality and basic rights.

Inclusivity:
UNHCR pays particular attention to the needs of women, children, and other vulnerable groups, and promotes the equal rights of women and girls.

Partnerships:
UNHCR collaborates with governments, regional organizations, international and non-governmental organizations, and actively involves refugees and forcibly displaced persons in decisions that affect their lives.

Advocacy:
UNHCR advocates for improved laws and systems, promoting access to rights and protection for displaced populations.

Context

Benue promotes itself as the nation’s food basket, while in practice its agricultural economy has been challenged over the last decade due to violence – from clashes between farmer and headers, to banditry and armed gangs – and that is resulting in forced displacement and inability of communities to cultivate their lands.

Most of the Tiv community that have been forcibly displaced over the past decade, have been residing in some of the most overcrowded and underserved settlements in the world — established out of necessity rather than design. Basic services are strained, with access to shelter, clean water, food, and healthcare limited. Communicable diseases such as malaria and cholera are often widespread especially during the rainy season. Risks of gender-based violence persist, especially for women and girls, with inadequate support systems for survivors. Flooding further disrupts the already fragile living conditions, underscoring the multidimensional nature of the crisis.

Displaced Fulani communities are also forced to pick up roots and relocate elsewhere on their migratory routes, thereby disrupting families and hindering economic opportunities. They are more invisible compared to displaced farming communities.
The farmer-herder conflict represents a flashpoint over land, livelihoods, and identity and the urgent need for a coordinated, forward-looking response is clear. Without targeted, protection and solutions-driven interventions anchored in local realities and linked to a broader peace and development framework, the cycle of displacement and instability will continue.

Spanning the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, and anchored in UNHCR’s mandate to protect and find solutions for displaced communities, over the next 12 months UNHCR will focus on 15 of the 50 most recently affected wards in 11 Local Government Areas (LGAs), where we will:

 Provide emergency life-saving assistance in the form of core relief items or cash to forcibly displaced and affected communities in support of their immediate needs. A particular focus would be placed on persons with specific needs such as the elderly, disabled, single parents, women at risk, and unaccompanied and separated children.

 Support communities in returning home safely or find a viable alternative to returning home where access to livelihoods would be available. This would include supporting communities with small area-based projects to improve their homes, ensuring clean water, access to health and educational facilities etc.

 Promote alternative dispute resolution mechanisms at the grassroot level, especially the work of existing and functioning peace committees, traditional dispute resolution mechanisms and offering training on innovative approaches tailormade for specific communities and situations. It will also support community-led organizations in sup-port of this. UNHCR will also commission a conflict and peace analysis supported by the Federal and Benue governments to allow us to better understand the crisis and opportunities in the long run.

These activities will be undertaking in close collaboration with the federal and state governments, traditional leaders including the Tor Tiv in Benue, religious organizations, civil society members from all communities, and the military and security organizations most engaged in Benue.

Key Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Head of Ogoja Sub Office covering Makurdi, Benue the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

(i.) Working with partner protection monitoring staff to appraise the protection environment of the location and draft related reports.

(ii.) Undertake community engagement and empowering related activities.

(iii.) Support the functions tied to the UNHCR protection desks and advocate for targeted protection responses and access to services for the displaced community.

(iv.) Participate in peace initiatives to be carried out in the state along with other key stakeholders (UN/Govt/NGOs/etc) and this would from time to time also include training on alternative dispute resolution.

(v.) Support with humanitarian assistance related activities as applicable.

(vi.) Participate in IDP Coordination meetings, joint assessments, and field monitoring engagements.

(vii.) Support any emergency response actions that may be required at moments of impromptu displacement incidents.

(viii.) Emergency and protection reporting related tasks.

Required Skills and Experience

Peace building mechanisms, protection or legal sturdies. Work with communities and development initiatives in a field context would be ideal.

Core Competencies

☒ Accountability
☒ Adaptability and Flexibility
☒ Building Trust
☒ Client Orientation
☒ Commitment and Motivation
☒ Commitment to Continuous Learning
☒ Communication
☒ Empowering Others
☒ Ethics and Values
☒ Integrity
☒ Judgement and Decision-making
☒ Planning and Organizing
☒ Professionalism
☒ Respect for Diversity
☒ Self-Management
☒ Technological Awareness
☒ Working in Teams

Living Conditions

Makurdi is a medium sized city along a main national highway route connecting the southern and the northern states of the country. It is 4 hours away from Abuja and shares the same security level of (3). One would need to have guards at their premises and comply with minimum residential area security measures. There are a host of basic services available and different food varieties. There are also a range of restaurants and hotels in the city, as well as reasonable accommodation. There is an army base and training college in the location. The climate is usually mildly hot and temperate. There are both international and national UN colleagues based in the location. The key agencies present on ground are: UNHCR, IOM, UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO and FAO. The state is run by the Governor and his team. The State Commissioner is the main interlocutor for UNHCR, and the office also works closely with the local government officials. Although not physically stationed at the city, OHCHR is undertaking a range of peace building initiatives in the states, some of which UNHCR is collaborating on.