According to 2022 Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs Overview, following 40 years of war and an already dire situation of increasing hunger, economic decline, price rises in food and other essential needs, and rising poverty over 2021, the people of Afghanistan faced intensified conflict, the withdrawal of international forces and then the takeover of the country by the Taliban in August 2021. The resulting political, social and economic shocks have reverberated across the country with a massive deterioration of the humanitarian and protection situation in the 4th quarter of 2021 and the outlook for 2022 remaining profoundly uncertain.

As per the 2022 HNO and HRP, a record 24.4 million people in Afghanistan are projected to be in humanitarian need, up by over 30 percent since the start of 2021, and amounting to over 59 percent of the entire population. The urbanization poses challenges as more people move to urban centers due to the lack of services in rural areas.

Afghanistan is a host country for some 72,000 Pakistani refugees from North Waziristan Agency (NWA) in Khost and Paktika Provinces, and more than 380 asylum-seekers and refugees of various nationalities in Kabul and other urban centers, individually registered under the UNHCR mandate. Refugees constitute one of the most vulnerable populations in the country. They face significant legal challenges due to the fact that the National Law on Asylum still has not been enacted.

UNHCR provides international protection and finds solutions to the refugee situation in Afghanistan building upon the ongoing consultations within the context of the Support Platform for the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR) and the Global Compact on Refugees.

Full, Explicit And Impactful Inclusion Of Returning Refugees Into National Development Planning And Programming Is Essential To Enable Their Sustainable Reintegration Which Will In Turn Solidify And Fortify The Broader Peacebuilding, Reconciliation And Stabilization Efforts, The Integral Linkages Between Timely, Inclusive And Forward-looking Planning For Return And Reintegration And The Three Overarching Pillars Of Afghanistan¿s National Peace And Development Framework (ANPDF II) For 2021-2025, As Well As Relevant Implementation Mechanisms, Including The National Priority Programs (NPPs)

While ongoing security challenges remain significant, there is also an opportunity at present for Afghanistan¿s gradual progression on the path towards peace and stability, which could pave the way for the long-awaited solution of voluntary repatriation. UNHCR expanded the Priority Areas of Return and Reintegration (PARR) 50 areas in 2022. Of these, four are located within the South East Region that is covered by UNHCR Field Office Gardez.

¿ Peace-building: ensuring that the imperative of voluntary return and reintegration is firmly embedded in relevant peace processes and any subsequent agreement with a view to enabling returning refugees to become part of cohesive and harmonious communities and to participate in peace-building and reconciliation efforts;

¿ Market-building: capitalizing on the human capital, skills and assets acquired by refugees in host countries to support market-building efforts and address human resource gaps, including through return of qualified individuals, private sector investments or opportunities for regional connectivity; and

¿ State-building: advancing inclusion of the displaced in development processes, planning and programmes; with particular focus on enhancing absorption capacity and delivery of quality services and ensuring rights through targeted humanitarian, development, and peace (triple nexus) investments in priority areas of return and reintegration, building resilience of communities as a whole; in full alignment with the strategic long-term approach to peacebuilding outlined by the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

The Protection Associate normally reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer. The incumbent monitors 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 Protection Associate is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (PoC) and identify opportunities to mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards in operational responses in all sectors. S/he contributes to designing a comprehensive protection strategy and liaises externally with authorities and partners on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor.

The Protection Associate also ensures that PoC are involved in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying appropriate solutions to their problems. 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 and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of Associate Protection Officer, the incumbent will undertake the following responsibilities:

Duties/Responsibilities

Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.

Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.

Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to PoC.

Provide advice on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.

Assist in conducting eligibility and status determination for PoC.

Contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.

Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy.

Contribute to a country-level education plan as part of the protection strategy.

Monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.

Manage individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.

Assist in identifying durable solutions for the largest possible number of PoC through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.

Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.

Facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on PoC and their problems.

Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.

Assist the supervisor in prioritizing PoC for interview, counselling and propose protection support for individual cases.

Assist the supervisor with enforcing compliance of local implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.

Assist the supervisor with enforcing compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.

Submit individual payments request for PoC for approval.

Perform other related duties as required.

Education

Essential qualifications, skills and professional experience

¿ Completion of High School Diploma or higher

Certification

¿ International Law, Political Science or other related field

Language

¿ Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English

Work Experience

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

Desirable

Protection Learning Programme

Functional Skills

IT-Computer Literacy

CL-Protection & Solutions Awareness

PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators

PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework

Core Competencies

¿ Accountability

¿ Communication

¿ Organizational Awareness

¿ Teamwork & Collaboration

¿ Commitment to Continuous Learning

¿ Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies

¿ Judgement and Decision Making

Cross-Functional Competencies

¿ Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

¿ Political Awareness

¿ Stakeholder Management

Application

The management of the advertised openings in this announcement is in line with the provisions of the UNHCR Administrative Instruction on Recruitment and Assignment of Locally Recruited Staff (RALS). The vacancy is open to eligible internal (Group 1 and Group 2) applicants.

Internal applicants (Group 1 and Group 2) are requested to submit their applications through MSRP ¿ Self-Service ¿ Recruiting ¿ Careers or CLICK HERE . It is important that applicants update their fact sheets (languages, education and prior working experience) before submitting their applications.

External applicants are requested to submit their applications through the UNHCR website - www.unhcr.org ¿ Career ¿ Career Opportunities ¿ Other Opportunities or CLICK HERE . You will need to create an account as ¿New User¿ and then click on ¿My Account Information¿. Complete the application and submit it.

Important Note

An eliminatory written test for shortlisted candidates will be conducted and those who attain the pass-mark of 50% will be invited for the competency-based interview.

Due to the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be invited for written test.

The recruitment for this position shall be in line with the new Recruitment and Assignment of Locally Recruited Staff (RALS) policy.

Only applications submitted through MSRP will be accepted.

Qualified female candidates are encouraged to apply for consideration