Lebanon: Protection Officer

UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY

FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST

UNRWA

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions. For its international team, UNRWA is seeking to employ a qualified:

Protection Officer

Vacancy Announcement Number

16-FO-LB-36

Grade

P-3

Deadline for Applications

12 August 2016

(27 July 2016 for internal applicants)

Duty Station

Beirut

UNRWA encourages applications from qualified women and welcomes applications from qualified candidates with disabilities.

Under the supervision of the Field Protection Officer and Team Leader Operations Support Officer, Lebanon Field Office, the Protection Officer is responsible for ensuring that all activities related to protection as an identified by the UNRWA Protection Policy are effectively mainstreamed into the Agency’s programmes in an effective, efficient, ethical and politically sensitive manner, and that institutional capacity development takes place to embed protection into service delivery at all levels of operations. In the implementation of this function, the incumbent will also be responsible to ensure that relevant other cross-cutting issues, including gender, disability and child protection are included in mainstreaming initiatives and activities. In accordance with the established Agency policy and procedures, the incumbent will:

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

· Provide support to the integration and mainstreaming of UNRWA protection policy and standards in programmes including but not limited to Education, Health, and Relief and Social Services and to other protection-related initiatives in UNRWA programmes; develop, support and coordinate the implementation of a programme cycle management strategy to mainstream protection, gender, disability and child protection standards throughout UNRWA programming and services including undertaking annual protection audits, needs assessment, work plans, implementation and monitoring and evaluation;

· Oversee the transfer of responsibility and resources for activities/projects/ initiatives related to protection and other relevant cross-cutting (gender, disability and child protection) themes so that they become embedded in core service delivery;

· Identify, coach and train Programme Focal Points to develop adequate knowledge, leadership and capacity to mainstream protection and other cross-cutting issues within their programmes and services, including the development of relevant coordination mechanisms such as working groups and task forces;

· Provide technical support and policy advice in respect of agreed themes and activities; support the relevant coordination mechanisms on protection and other cross-cutting issues to develop an annual work plan with clear deliverables and indicators of success;

· Support fundraising, formulation and implementation of field protection programme initiatives responding to protection needs;

· Support the revision and completion of relevant planning documents to ensure protection is effectively mainstreamed along with beneficiary participation and outreach;

· Support the development and delivery protection-related training and knowledge building including the development of a training strategy based on clearly defined standards and competencies;

· Develops and maintains effective external relations, including with UNRWA partners, other agencies, donors, and beneficiary stakeholders related to protection mainstreaming, humanitarian coordination, and institutional capacity development on cross cutting issues; coordinate with the Gender Task Force and Persons with Disability Steering Committee.

Professional Knowledge and Experience

· A university degree from an accredited educational institution in public or business administration, social sciences, international law, international relations or related discipline;

· A minimum of six years of professional experience, of which at least two should be with an international humanitarian organization in the area of protection, humanitarian affairs or project management, including two years of relevant international experience outside one’s home country;

· Experience in the design, development, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of protection-tailored projects;

· Previous work experience in refugee settings, preferably with international organizations, such as UNHCR, UNRWA or ICRC, or other relevant international non-governmental organizations;

· Fluency in written and spoken English.

Competencies

· Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity;

· Ability to develop clear goals, independently plan and prioritize own work, work well under tight deadlines and handle multiple concurrent projects/activities;

· Positive attitude and strong analytical, interpersonal and communication skills;

· Proven ability to exercise initiative and resourcefulness necessary for prioritizing multiple clusters/components;

· Excellent interpersonal skills, leadership, mature, independent, disciplined and self-confident.

Desirable Qualifications

· Knowledge of activities of UNRWA operations and services;

· Working knowledge of Arabic;

· In-depth knowledge of Middle Eastern geo-political realities and their socio-cultural implications.

Equivalency

When the minimum requirements are not fully met, the Human Resources Department may substitute part of the unmet requirements under UNRWA’s equivalency determination guidelines with a combination of relevant academic qualification, additional professional training and/or progressive relevant work experience. Note: Work experience alone or formal qualifications with no relevant work experience are not considered sufficient for an equivalency determination.

Conditions of Service

UNRWA offers an attractive compensation package including annual salary starting at $61,470 net tax free with dependents or $57,379 single, plus post adjustment of 52%** (subject to change without notice). Other benefits, subject to eligibility, include education grant, dependency allowance, home leave, pension fund, health insurance and 6 weeks of annual leave. All UNRWA duty stations (with the exception of Gaza and Syria) are family duty stations. Initial contract is for one year, with the possibility of further extensions subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory performance and the continuing need for the post.

Please note that conditions of service may be subject to change as of 1 July 2016 in accordance with standards set by the International Civil Service Commission or determined by the General Assembly, subject to detailed regulations, rules and administrative issuances as may be promulgated by UNRWA and any amendments made thereto from time to time.

How to Apply

To start the application process, applicants are required to register at http://jobs.unrwa.org by creating a personal profile and completing UNRWAPersonal History Form. Please note that UNRWA only accepts degrees from accredited educational institutions. Only applications received throughhttp://jobs.unrwa.orgwill be considered. Due to the large number of applications received for UNRWA vacancies, only applicants short-listed for interview will be contacted.

The United Nations does not charge fees at any stage of the recruitment process (application, testing, interviewing, etc). The United Nations does not concern itself with information related to bank accounts.

General Information

UNRWA is a United Nations organization whose staff are expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity, neutrality and impartiality. This includes respect for and commitment to human rights, diversity, and non-violent means of dealing with all kinds of conflict. UNRWA staff are expected to uphold these values at all times, both at work and outside. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for UNRWA jobs. UNRWA is a non-smoking work environment.

The statutory retirement age for staff entering or re-entering service in the UN Common System after 1 January 1990 is 62 and 65 after 1 January 2014. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete a term of appointment will normally be considered.

The Agency reserves the right not to make an appointment, to make an appointment at a lower grade, or to make an appointment with a modified job description.

On appointment, all individuals will be asked to sign a self-attestation, confirming that they have not committed, been convicted of, or prosecuted for, any criminal offence and that they have not been involved, by act or omission, in the commission of any violation of international human rights law or international humanitarian law.

Date of issue: 14 July 2016 / CF

To start the application process, applicants are required to register at http://jobs.unrwa.org by creating a personal profile and completing UNRWAPersonal History Form. Please note that UNRWA only accepts degrees from accredited educational institutions. Only applications received throughhttp://jobs.unrwa.orgwill be considered. Due to the large number of applications received for UNRWA vacancies, only applicants short-listed for interview will be contacted.

The United Nations does not charge fees at any stage of the recruitment process (application, testing, interviewing, etc). The United Nations does not concern itself with information related to bank accounts.