Protection Associate

Description

and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Desired Candidate Profile

The Protection Associate reports to the 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 refugees in Bidibidi settlement 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 forcibly displaced persons 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.

Specifically, the incumbent will focus on social cohesion and Accountability to Affected Population (AAP), including communication with community and community feedback mechanisms.

The incumbent will provide technical guidance and support to partners and will lead the sectorsâ coordination with inter-agency partners, government authorities and people we serve by ensuring quality multisectoral responses and activities are in line with UNHCR standards.

Experience in these areas will be considered as an asset.

Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):

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Desired languages

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:

Nature of Position:

UNHCR Yumbe covers Bidibidi settlement which hosts the largest refugee population from South Sudan in Uganda and as of 31st October 2023, the active population of concern, mainly from South Sudan, registered is 197,296 individuals (93,778M, 103,518F). Out of the total population, 84% are women, and children while 25% of the population are youth aged between 15 and 24 years.

The settlement is 240 sqkm and population is scattered in five zones that geographically are separated with the farthest being 45 kilometers out of Yumbe. Refugees have settled within the Ugandan communities and sharing scarce resources, make peaceful coexistence as an important element of coordination. With the lack of resources within UNHCR and in general within humanitarian organizations, there should be a great emphasis on the refugee resilience as well as the need for innovative and creative ideas to manage the great need vis-à-vis the limited resources.

Living and Working Conditions:

Yumbe is the Headquarters of the District. It is a Family Duty Station located at approximatively 600km away from Kampala Capital City all connected by road (no air flights). Power supply is irregular in the town hence a generator, solar system and/or backup inverter might be necessary.
Due to lack of houses in the town, UNHCR have constructed a Guest House in the Office compound where 10 internationally and 22 locally recruited staff are accommodated. UNHCR Guest house have a cafeteria for meals (managed by an external service provider), Wifi internet, water flow and electricity running. 24/7.
Food and house supplies are almost not available in local market (no supermarkets). The nearest town where staff can do shopping is Arua located at 94Km. The office provides a vehicle to staff every weekend to facilitate shopping and other needs such as banking transactions.
Although Yumbe is considered under a moderate security levels (Security level III), many UN agencies and funds are headquartered in Kampala including UNHCR branch office to provide support on the mandate to protect and assist refugees including coordination of South Sudanese Refugees Response in the settlements, like Bidibidi in West Nile Region. Yumbe is considered a family duty station with almost no social amenities- schools, recreation and health services. The major threat to staff includes and is not limited to prospects of terrorism, high road traffic accidents, common law crimes and spontaneous outbreaks of water born disease like Typhoid, cholera, Malaria and Hepatitis B; plus occasional social /civil unrest of refuges and host communities over services delivery contained by Government. The security management systems have put in place mitigations measures to avert the impact of the threats therein and is a collective responsibility of all staff members.

Additional Qualifications

IT-Computer Literacy, PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators, PR-Refugee Protection Principles and FrameworkInternational Law - Other, Political Science - Other

Competencies

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

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Compendium

Additional Information

Shortlisted candidates may be required to sit for a written test and/or oral interview. UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process. Recruitment as a UNHCR staff member is subject to proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

Functional clearance

This position doesn't require a functional clearance