Associate Protection Officer (Protection Monitoring), UNOPS, ICA 1

Terms of Reference Associate Protection Officer (Protection Monitoring)

International UNOPS ICA 1

UNHCR Representation, Bangui

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering a full-time position for an Associate Protection Officer (Protection Monitoring), a position within the Protection Unit in Bangui, Central African Republic. UNHCR’s mandate is two-pronged: Protection and Solutions. UNHCR is a global organisation dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, internally displaced persons, returnees and stateless people. A special focus is given to the protection of children, women, elderly and people with disabilities.

In CAR, UNHCR works with all the populations of concern: refugees and asylum-seekers, statless persons, refugee returnees, IDPs and IDP returnees. We are in over 125 countries, using our expertise to protect and care for millions. In CAR, UNHCR has 9 offices: 1 Country Office (Bangui), 1 Sub-Office (Bouar), 4 Field Offices (Bambari, KagaBandoro, Paoua, and Obo) and 3 Field Units (Berberati, Mongoumba and Bangassou). UNHCR has also established presence in Batangafo to respond to the current crisis. The Associate Protection Officer (Protection Monitoring) will work under the direct supervision of the Senior Protection Officer in Bangui to support the UNHCR Protection Unit with its flagship project on Protection Monitoring in 14 prefectures of the country and several partners with implementation agreements with UNHCR.

• Title: Associate Protection Officer (Protection Monitoring) under UNOPS
• Number of Positions: ONE position (01)
• Duty Station: Bangui, Branch Office, Central African Republic (CAR)
• Contract Type: Individual Contractor – International UNOPS ICA 1
• Closing date: 18 March 2021
• Start date: 1 April 2021

Organisational context

The Central African Republic has experienced an acute crisis since 2013 that has caused over 1.5 million people into forced displacement including over 700,000 refugees who fled to neighboring countries and close to 750,000 internally displaced persons. Just during the most recent crisis in the context of the presidential and legislative elections, 133,000 newly displaced persons are still in forced displacement in very precarious situations with limited humanitarian access. While humanitarian needs across the country are steadily rising, the situation in CAR has, for years, been one of the most consistently overlooked and underfunded emergencies in the world, forcing 2 UNHCR and its humanitarian partners to reduce critical activities.

This year, and this emergency, is unfortunately no different. In this IDP context, UNHCR is the Lead of the Protection Cluster. The national cluster is based in Bangui while regional clusters are established in prefectures where UNHCR has a presence. UNHCR’s protection activities in CAR also include the monitoring of the protection situation of IDPs, IDPs and refugees returning to their areas of origin, as well as their host communities. The protection activities also include protection response to identified protection risks and a strong community-based approach in support among others of social cohesion. The UNHCR CAR operation seeks synergies between its protection interventions and interventions under the Camp Management/Camp Coordination (CCCM) as well as non-food item and shelter interventions. Regarding return and durable solutions, UNHCR CAR facilitates the return of refugees as well as their reintegration. UNHCR co-leads with UNDP the Working Group on Durable Solutions. At the community level, UNHCR and its partners work with the government to support social cohesion and the search for solution to Housing, land and Property issues. In this context, the protection monitoring project is an essential element of UNHCR’s strategy in CAR as it provides the necessary evidence to support response, programming and advocacy.

The position

UNHCR is looking for a dynamic protection staff with experience in project management to lead the protection monitoring project that provides evidence basis for the protection response and priorities and recommendations on areas prioritized by UNHCR’s strategy in CAR. As a key member of the Protection team in Bangui and CAR, the Associate Protection Officer (Protection Monitoring) will work closely with UNHCR Protection staff in field locations, the Information Management Unit, the Programme Unit, as well as all protection partners with implementation agreements with UNHCR and other partners.

The Associate Protection Officer (Protection Monitoring) will work under the direct supervision of the Senior Protection Officer in CAR in the implementation of the protection monitoring project.

Duties and responsibilities

To this effect, the Associate Protection Officer (Protection Monitoring) will

• Ensure the management of the project in Bangui and in the field is to the highest standards of quality and integrity

• Working closely with the protection staff in Bangui and in the field, and with protection partner staff to ensure timely and quality data is collected and compiled

• Ensure protection trends and risks are identified in a timely manner and reported to management

• Prepare internal and external analyses and high-quality ad-hoc and regular reports in a timely manner

• Review all reports and IM products to ensure the accuracy of data and high quality analysis is produced

• Liaise closely with the Information management Unit to ensure that IM tools, procedures and products support the smooth operationalization of the project

• Liaise closely with the Programme Unit to address programmatic needs in a timely manners 3

• Work with management to ensure evidence is made available, analysed and supports the response in the field by UNHCR and partners, programming for protection as well as advocacy for protection

• Follow up on protection risks and incidents to support the field operations and partners are adequately addressed through direct intervention, referral or advocacy

− Keep abreast of all protection related developments to prepare appropriate briefings and reports

− Participate in all relevant coordination fora as required.

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required

The ideal candidate will have

• Education: University Degree (BA) in Law/International Law, Political Science, Social Science, Economics, International Relations or related field

• Work experience:

Minimum of 3 years (2 years with Advanced University degree) relevant professional experience

• Experience working with data, data management and data reporting

• Excellent analytical skills

• Excellent writing skills in both French and English

• Excellent communication skills with strong interpersonal and negotiation skills

• Field experience desirable, experience in CAR or a similar operational context is a plus

• Work experience with Gender-Based Violence, child protection and disability inclusion is a plus

• Good IT skills using the Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) as well as database management skills The ideal candidate will be

• Highly organized and have good attention to detail

• Able to multi-task and to prioritize competing priorities

• A flexible team-player

• Able to demonstrate a genuine desire to learn and develop.

Location

The successful candidate will be based with the Protection Unit in the Representation of UNHCR in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Conditions

The contract is for an initial period of 12 months.

The functions of the Associate Protection Officer (Monitoring) is a full-time role with working hours starting from 8.00am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday (40hrs/week).

Security considerations:

The entire country is classified security level IV. The security situation in Bangui is stable with heavy presence of MINUSCA and RCA forces in town. A large green zone has been defined by MINUSCA allowing UN Staff to circulate. Following the declaration of state of emergency by the Government and the L1 Emergency declaration by the UN Hight Commissioner, a curfew is in place from 08:00PM to 05:AM during this period state of Emergency, which is temporary and may change to better in at any time. There are five (5) commercial airlines operating from/to Bangui (Air France, Asky, Royal Air Maroc, Kenya Airways and RwandAir.

Important consideration during COVID-19 pandemic:

As we continue to deliver services to the beneficiaries amidst COVID-19 pandemic, the later can present a heightened risk to people over the age of 65 and to those with pre-existing medical conditions, some of which are listed below, and candidates are strongly encouraged to consider them before applying to this assignment in Central African Republic, where medical facilities are very poor in general, and the need for physical presence at the duty station for this assignment:

• Poorly controlled diabetes (Hb1AC above 7%).

• A history of cardiac failure.

• Unstable angina or a myocardial infarction in the past 6 months.

• Chronic obstructive lung disorder or asthma requiring daily use of inhaler.

• Ongoing chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or immunotherapy for cancer treatment.

• Long-term treatment with immunosuppressive drugs.

• Dialysis patients.

• Any type of organ transplant.

• HIV with detectable viral load and CD4 count under 500.

• Pregnancies.

• Any other conditions that weaken the immune system.