Application Deadline: May 16, 2022

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships 

UNHCR is committed to the effective protection to children of concern, with children representing more than half of the persons falling under its mandate. UNHCR adopts a rights and community-based approach to address the protection needs of children, with a strong emphasis on inclusion within national child protection, child friendly procedures and working with other sectors to protect children including education. Child protection is recognized as global organizational priority for UNHCR. Dedicated child protection positions are needed to provide technical support to improve UNHCR's operational capacity to deliver effective protection to children, adolescents and youth of concern.

The Child Protection Associate is a member of the protection team in an Office. S/he may report to a (Child) Protection Officer, or the Head of Field-Office/Unit and/or Head of Sub-Office. The incumbent monitors child 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 Child Protection Associate is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (children, women, marginalized groups) and is responsible for implementation of Best Interests Procedures for children at risk in their area of responsibility, under the guidance of the supervisor. S/he may also supervise staff undertaking Best Interests Procedures. S/he identifies opportunities to mainstream Child Protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards in operational responses in all sectors and liaises externally with authorities and partners on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. The incumbent works directly with communities and children of concern to identify the risks they face and to leverage their capacities to protect themselves, their families and communities. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, local authorities and protection and assistance partners.

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

Needs identification, Strategy and Advocacy

• Contribute to assessing child protection issues through multi-sectoral and protection specific assessments.
• Facilitate consultation with children, youth and communities to inform child protection strategy and programme activities.
• Contribute to the formulation of child protection strategy and planning.
• Ensure compliance with UNHCR's child protection policy, priorities and commitments, as well as other aligned policies on age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP), GBV, gender equality, disability and youth empowerment.
• Support the analysis of the national systems and ensure that child protection programmes complement national child protection systems and work towards the inclusion of children of concern into national child protection laws, policies and services.
• Undertake consultation with children, youth and communities and provide information on appropriate and meaningful approaches for their effective participation and programmatic responses on child protection issues.
• Provide input to Protection Unit to inform advocacy to address key child protection concerns.

Programme planning and implementation

• Engage children, youth and communities in the implementation of child protection activities, provide information to children, youth and communities about child protection services and monitor and report on needs and issues to inform the Operations Response.
• Conduct Best Interest Procedures for individual children at heightened risks and prepare Best Interests Determination report, when required.
• Participate in the Best Interests Procedure Case Conferences and BID panels and draft associated documentation as required.
• Implement child protection SOPs and ensure up to date and effective referral to key services.
• Store and update child's case file in UNHCR data bases in accordance with UNHCR standards.
• Engage with children, youth and community members in identifying community-based child protection activities.
• Monitor and support appropriate care arrangements for unaccompanied and separated children and referral of children to ICRC or other relevant partners for establishment of family linkages.
• Regularly report on emerging protection issues and concerns voiced by children, youth and communities and assist in drafting reports, compiling and preparing data for the protection unit/section.
• Provide functional guidance to UNHCR and partner staff involved in child protection activities.

Partnership, coordination and capacity building

• Assist the Child Protection interagency coordination and information management activities as needed.
• Provide technical support and monitoring to child protection partners.
• Assist in carrying out learning needs assessment and analysis of findings.
• Support in implementing learning activities for UNHCR and partners staff and communities.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Nature of the Position: 

• The Child Protection Associate is a member of the Protection Unit and reports to the Child Protection Officer. The incumbent will be based in Gambella and will support the protection delivery to over 358,000 South Sudanese refugees settled in Okugo, Jewi, Kule, Nguenyyiel, Tierkidi and Pinyudo camps. Under the overall direction of the Protection Unit, and in coordination with other UNHCR staff, the Child Protection Associate will work directly with communities of concern and will be responsible to provide the necessary capacity support for UNHCR and child protection partners in child protection information management and other related areas. The responsibilities include drafting Best Interest Determination (BID) Assessments for resettlement cases using established SOPs and guidelines; participate in the Best Interests Procedure Case Conferences and BID panels and draft associated documentation as required; conduct Best Interest Procedures for individual children at heightened risks and prepare Best Interests Determination report, when required; assist the Child Protection interagency coordination and information management activities as needed; provide technical support and monitoring to child protection partners; assist in carrying out learning needs assessment and analysis of findings; provision of capacity development activities on child protection to protection colleagues
• In addition, the incumbent will also assist in updating all progress entries in the child protection module. The incumbent will also assist in disseminating informational materials on child protection with members of the refugee community to discuss the same.
• The incumbent will have a tracking and file management system and ensure that strict adherence to the filing SOPs, in efforts to mitigate potential fraud.
• The Child Protection Associate will neither take part in RRF Interviews and/or drafting.

Living and Working Conditions:

Gambella is a non-family duty station. Adequately furnished guesthouses for staff are provided. The incumbent can live in the provided guest house but can also opt to live in commercially rented apartments within the town. There are limited banking facilities and limited medical facilities. There are daily commercial flights between Addis Ababa and Gambella.

The diversity of topography in Ethiopia has resulted in a wide variety of climate in the country. The climate in Gambella is classified as tropical. The hottest season of the region is March/April and temperatures may rise up to 45 °C, followed by a long rainy season. Road network within the region is often affected by the heavy rainfall during the rainy season. The average annual temperature in Gambella is 27.6 °C. The average annual rainfall is 1148 mm. Remoteness, isolation and limited entertainment in social life are the factors to be also considered prior to applying.

Family Location Type: Non-Family

Job Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience

Years of Experience / Degree Level

• For G6 - 3 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher

Certificates and/or Licenses: Law; Social Sciences; Community Dvpt/Social Work; Human Rights;

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

3 years of previous work experience relevant to the function of child protection in a local context and having experience in the field of child protection prevention and response, broader protection or social work involving empowerment of women and girls, gender, child protection, mental health, counselling and working with survivors, humanitarian and development issues. Skills and experience in interviewing and working with children and families including supervision of child protection case management.

Desirable

Knowledge of UNHCR child protection policies and tools including the UNHCR Best Interests Procedures Guidelines, and interagency child protection Minimum Standards, Guiding Principles and GBV case management standards. Knowledge of local child protection laws, policies and services. Knowledge and experience of participatory approaches to engage with and mobilize communities. Understanding of displacement and protection issues including GBV, education and the application of the Age, Gender and Diversity Policy. Completed Protection Learning Programme. Experience working with marginalized groups. Knowledge of protection information management tools, including but not limited to proGres and/or CPIMS.

Functional Skills

• IT-Computer Literacy
• PR-Child Protection Case Management and Best Interests Procedures
• PR-Child Protection Information Management System
• PR-Child Protection Prevention and Response Programming
• (Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Core Competencies

• Accountability
• Communication
• Organizational Awareness
• Teamwork & Collaboration
• Commitment to Continuous Learning
• Client & Result Orientation

Cross-Functional Competencies

• Analytical Thinking
• Political Awareness
• Stakeholder Management

Language Requirements

• For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.
• Knowledge of Local Language in Nuer is desirable.

 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.

Position Competencies

• Competencies as defined in Job Profile.

Additional relevant skills are desirable in Computer Literacy, Drafting Skills, and proGres software

How to Apply

Interested and qualified applicants can apply using THIS LINK

Note: UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, meeting, travelling, processing, training or any other fees). An eliminatory or complementary written test for shortlisted candidates may be concluded which will be followed by competency-based interview. Female candidates are encouraged to apply. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted