Community-Based Protection Assistant at UNHCR. The Community-Based Protection Assistant is a member of the Protection Unit and may report to the Protection Officer, Community-Based Protection Officer, or another more senior staff member in the Protection Unit. Under the overall direction of the Protection Unit, and in coordination with other UNHCR staff, government, NGO partners and other stakeholders, the incumbent works directly with communities of concern to identify the risks they face and to leverage their capacities to protect themselves, their families and communities. S/he supports the application of community-based protection standards, operational procedures and practices in community-based protection delivery at the field level.
To fulfil this role, the Community-Based Protection Assistant is required to spend a substantial percentage of the workday outside the office, building and maintaining networks within communities of persons of concern (PoC). The development and maintenance of constructive relationships with PoC that measurably impact and enhance protection planning, programming and results, form the core of the work of the incumbent. S/he also supports the designing of a community-based protection strategy by ensuring that it is based on consultation with PoC.
Community-Based Protection Assistant at UNHCR
Duties
- Through relationships with PoC and network of partners, stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment and provide advice to the protection team. Understand the perspectives, capacities, needs and resources of the PoC and advise the protection team accordingly, highlighting the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, persons with disabilities, marginalized groups.
- Support implementing and operational partners as well as displaced and local communities to develop community-owned activities to address, where applicable, the social, educational, psycho-social, cultural, health, organisational and livelihood concerns as well as child protection and prevention and response to GBV.
- Assist in working with host communities to involve national civil society groups in improving the protection of PoC.
- Assist in the analysis that identifies the capacities of communities of concern and risks they face.
- Support participatory assessments and ongoing consultation with PoC.
- Support communities in establishing representation and coordination structures.
- Ensure community understanding of UNHCR’s commitment to deliver on accountability and quality assurance in its response. – Collect data for monitoring of programmes and budgets from an AGD perspective.
- Draft and type routine correspondence, documents and reports and maintain up-to-date filing systems.
- Act as an interpreter in exchange of routine information, contribute to related liaison activities and respond directly to routine queries.
- Assist in the enforcement of participatory AGD sensitive analysis as an essential basis for all of UNHCR’s work.
- Identify and recommend which individuals or groups to prioritize for counselling and field visits based on agreed criteria.
- Enforce compliance of implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services. – Perform other related duties as required.
Minimum Qualifications
- Years of Experience / Degree Level For G4 – 1 year relevant experience with High School Diploma; or Bachelor or equivalent or higher
- Field(s) of Education Not applicable.