Summary
Date Posted: Thursday, February 02, 2023 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Hardship Level
B

Family Type
Family

Family Type
Family

Residential location (if applicable)

Grade
PR4

Staff Member / Affiliate Type
Professional

Reason
Regular > Regular Assignment

Remote work accepted
No

Target Start Date
2023-01-27-08:00

Job Posting End Date
February 16, 2023

Standard Job Description
Senior Protection Officer Organizational Setting and Work Relationships In the Bureaux, the Senior Protection Officer works under the direct supervision of the Bureau Deputy Director or Head of Bureau Protection Service or Senior Protection Coordinator. In the Field, the incumbent normally reports to the Representative, Deputy or Assistant Representative (Protection) or Head of Sub Office as appropriate. The incumbent has direct supervisory responsibility for protection staff whose work may include RSD, community-based protection, registration, resettlement, internal displacement, complementary pathways, and education, among other areas. In HQ, the incumbent may report to a Chief of Section or Deputy Director and may lead a Unit and/or supervise other protection staff. The incumbent acts as a key advisor to senior management and leads the development of a comprehensive protection strategy under the area of responsibility (AoR). S/he represents the Organization to authorities, UN sister agencies, partners and other stakeholders on protection policy and doctrine. The Senior Protection Officer plans, leads and coordinates quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern under the AoR. This includes ensuring that operational responses in all sectors are shaped in a protection optic, are consistent with and promote respect for relevant international law and UNHCR’s doctrine, mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. Another important element of the incumbent¿s functions is to ensure that persons of concern of all age, gender and diversity groups are involved with the Office in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying and implementing appropriate solutions to their problems. To undertake this role effectively, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with other relevant teams within the operation or the Bureau (including programme; PI and external relations; IM) and with DIP, communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection and achieving solutions. 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 – Provide technical guidance and support to UNHCR and partners on all protection related issues. – Stay abreast of legal, political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment. – Manage a consultative process with government counterparts, partners and persons of concern to develop and implement a comprehensive protection and solutions strategy addressing the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, persons with disabilities, persons of diverse sexual orientation and/or gender identities (LGBTI persons), persons living with HIV/AIDS; gender equality and Gender Based Violence (GBV) priorities with regard to these persons. – In operations applying the Cluster Approach, ensure the response of the Protection Cluster is grounded in a strategy which covers all assessed and prioritized protection needs of the affected populations. – Ensure that the protection strategy is fully integrated into the Country Operations Plan, the UN Development and Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and the Humanitarian Country Team¿s common humanitarian response plan as well as with the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees and the Three Year Strategy on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways. – Promote relevant International, Regional and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct and ensure that all sectors and /or in clusters in applicable operations fulfil their responsibilities in mainstreaming protection. – Promote the implementation of the AGD policy, including UNHCR¿s updated commitments to women and girls, and design, deliver and monitor programmes on an AGD basis to address identified protection needs. – Develop, implement and monitor community-based protection strategies and ensure systematic application and integration of participatory and community-based approaches in protection and solutions planning, programming and strategies. – Support the establishment of feedback and response systems and the incorporation of feedback received from persons of concern into programme design and adaptation. – Guide the operation in the development and implementation of robust prevention, identification, and responses to fraud within protection processes and procedures, including registration, RSD, and resettlement, ensuring the integrity of interventions across all protection activities. – Oversee the management of individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection. – Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to internal and external interlocutors; ensure legal assistance is accessible to persons of concern; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documents to persons of concern (including women and others in need of civil documentation in particular birth certificates). – As designated Data Protection Focal Point, assist the data controller in carrying out his or her responsibilities regarding the Data Protection Policy (7.2 DPP). – Oversee eligibility and status determination in the Operation(s) under the AoR, ensuring compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles. – Promote and implement strategies and measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness. – Develop and implement an education plan as part of the protection strategy within the AoR as relevant. – Develop and implement a child protection plan as part of the protection strategy within the AoR, ensuring programmes use a child protection systems approach. – Monitor and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners. – Work to safeguard the rights of persons of concerns in the context of mixed movements as relevant. – Coordinate the preparation of, implement and oversee Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities. – Ensure that durable solutions through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement and complementary pathways are sought and provided to the largest possible number of persons of concern including undertaking, supporting, and/or overseeing resettlement and complementary pathways activities, including implementation of the GCR Three Year Strategy. – Coordinate the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related programming with implementing and operational partners. – Develop and implement a programme of results-based advocacy through a consultative process with sectorial and/or cluster partners. – Ensure that the Protection Sector or Cluster has an effective information management component which provides disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems. – Research, collect and disseminate relevant protection information and good practices to enhance protection delivery. – Develop the protection capacity of national and local authorities, partners and civil society to assume their responsibilities vis-à-vis all persons of concern through protection training, mainstreaming and related activities. – Coordinate capacity-development initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights. – Advise and capacitate national authorities, relevant institutions and civil society to strengthen legislation and status determination procedures and mechanisms. – Perform other related duties as required. For positions in Bureaux – Support the Regional Bureau and Country Operations to reflect the protection and solution angle in support of persons of concern with regional processes. – Support Country Operations in the development of strategies to build and further develop national asylum/RSD systems with a view to ensuring their fairness, efficiency, adaptability and integrity, favourable protection environment and solutions. – Assist UNHCR management at country level to comply with policies and commitment on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse measures. – Support Country Operations and ensure they meet their complementary pathways objectives and resettlement quotas. – In close collaboration with DIP, (a) contribute to the development of background and general normative, policy, and legal positions, in compliance with UNHCR¿s global protection policies and standards; (b) contribute to the development of strategies at the regional and country level on the usage of law and policy approaches, including legislative and judicial engagement and UN human rights mechanisms ¿and/or regional ones ¿ and other protection frameworks, and integrated human rights standards in protection strategies and advocacy; and (c) coordinate and review UNHCR¿s country reports to the UN human rights mechanisms. – Engage in relevant international and regional fora and forge regional partnerships to advocate for key protection and mandate issues, and engage in cross-cutting protection-related matters, including mixed movement, internal displacement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses, as well as Statelessness in cooperation with DIP and where relevant RSD. Minimum Qualifications Years of Experience / Degree Level For P4/NOD – 9 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 8 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 7 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree Field(s) of Education Law, International Law, International refugee Law, International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, Refugee and Forced Migration, Political Sciences or other relevant field. (Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential) Certificates and/or Licenses Protection Learning Programme RSD-Resettlement Learning Programme Management Learning Programme (Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential) Relevant Job Experience Essential Minimum 7 years of relevant professional experience in the area of refugee protection, internal displacement, human rights or international humanitarian law, including experience in working directly with Field Offices. Very good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles, and of UNHCR¿s protection strategies and policies. Excellent legal research, analytical skills and drafting. Desirable Diverse field experience. Good IT skills including database management skills. Functional Skills *PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators *PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) PR-Refugee Coordination Model PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards PR-International Humanitarian Law PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation PR-Comprehensive Solutions Framework LE-Judicial Engagement PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement PR-Accountability to Affected People – Principles and Framework 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.

Desired Candidate Profile
• The candidate should have seasoned and principled, doctrinal protection management and coordination experience plus a strong written and oral communication skills.
• The candidate should be able to domesticate legal instruments to support protection and solutions for persons we serve using the AGD principles and focusing on priorities such as GBV-PSEA, child protection, statelessness eradication, minority groups such as LGBTQ+, PSN & vulnerable groups, volrep, socio-economic integration, resettlement & complementary pathways etc.
• The candidate should be familiar with UN reforms and equipped to work collaboratively with UN sister agencies in charge of protection themes (UNFPA-GBV), (UNICEF-Childe protection) etc.
• The candidate should be prepared to develop and monitor and joint programs involving multilateral donors, international financial institutions, the private sector and development partners.

Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):
Desired languages
Operational context
Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:
To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link:
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel
Nature of Position:
As of November, Zambia hosts 93,493 persons of concern requiring UNHCR’s continuous attention including 66,257 Refugees, 3,348 Asylum seekers and 3,888 former Angolan and Rwandan refugees The caseload is a combination of a protracted refugee situation compounded by periodic arrivals from neighbouring DRC. UNHCR operates in four Zambian provinces where refugees are hosted including Lusaka, Mayuakwayukwa (Western province), Maheba (Western province) and a recently established integrated settlement in Mantampala (Luapula province) where Congolese refugees and their hosts live side by side through a CRRF approach. In 2022, the operation has mainstreamed five (5) PPAs under one single umbrella of its main government counterpart, the Office of the Commissioner for Refugees which has been empowered to fulfil its mandated responsibilities for the recognition of refugees and ensuring the provision of adequate facilities and services for the reception and care for refugees within Zambia. In addition to the comprehensive PPA signed with COR, three PPAs were concluded with I-NGOs including DAFI and one with UNDP.

The Senior Protection Officer has a crucial role to proactively plan and coordinate critical protection priorities including but not limited to GBV, child protection, PSN matters, individual case management, RSD, community-based protection, LGBTIQ+, durable solutions (resettlement and complementary pathways, VolRep, local integration) statelessness, deportation, detention monitoring as well as development of legislative and policy reforms and livelihood initiatives. The workload and growing demands reflect the rising Protection challenges faced by the operation. A Senior Protection Officer, ideally with a legal background, who has solid knowledge in various Protection areas, acts as a key legal advisor to the Senior Management as well as the main governmental counterparts, effectively leads and coordinates the country-wide protection responses, while providing quality guidance to and building capacity of national colleagues.

Living and Working Conditions:
Lusaka is the capital city of the Republic of Zambia, a country heading towards middle-income country status. Zambia is an English-speaking country while majority of POCs (DRC & Rwanda) are French speakers. Shops are well stocked, and all basic commodities can be found, Lusaka has various supermarkets and malls around town. Imported goods tend to be available but more expensive. Health facilities, international schools, banking services are available in Lusaka. Finding accommodation meeting UN SRM standard is possible, either in stand- alone house, apartment, or town house in housing complexes. Domestic flights are costly but available. The local airline, Pro-flight and Mahogany operates flights to larger towns in the country. Zambia is a vast country and road travel can take days, given the distances and at times the road conditions. Zambia is peaceful with minimal security threats. There have been no restrictions on travel within Zambia. There have been no curfews or restricted movements within Lusaka or elsewhere. There have been no reported cases of serious incidents involving UNHCR staff members in the past. No incidents affecting UN staff members have been reported so far. Like in other duty stations, staff members are advised not to be complacent and be vigilant. International staff members are expected to have security guards from a recognized / recommended security company at their residences. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, entry screening will be conducted at all airports and all travelers entering the airport are subjected to temperature and symptom screening. All travelers coming into the country through the international airports are required to provide a negative SARS CoV-2 PCR test result. The test should have been conducted within the previous 14 days. Travelers not meeting this requirement are not allowed entry into the country. All UNHCR staff are expected to be fully vaccinated.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education
BA: International Law (Required), BA: Law (Required), BA: Political Science (Required)

Certifications
HCR Management Learning Program – UNHCR, HCR Protection Learning Program – UNHCR, HCR Resettlement Learning Program – UNHCR

Work Experience
Competencies
Accountability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Leadership, Managing performance, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Political awareness, Strategic planning & visions, Teamwork & collaboration
UNHCR Salary Calculator
https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales 
Compendium
Add.2 to Bi-annual Compendium 2022 – Part B

Functional clearance
This position doesn’t require a functional clearance



Job Experience: No Requirements

Work Hours: 8

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

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