UN Youth Volunteer in Protection

UNHCR works to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge, having fled violence, persecution, war or disaster at home. 

Since 1950, UNHCR has provided support in the face of multiple crises globally, and provided vital assistance to refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced and stateless people, many of whom have nobody left to turn to. 

UNHCR helps save lives and build better futures for millions forced from their homes. 

Colombia is the country most impacted by the outflow of over 7.2 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants, hosting over 2.8 million Venezuelans. In addition, and despite the 2016 Peace Agreement, conflict and armed violence continue to uproot

Colombians (an estimated 955,000 people newly displaced by the internal conflict since November 2016) and, in a growing and worrying trend, also Venezuelans and other nationalities. Afro-Colombians and indigenous people continue to be disproportionally affected by large group displacement events and confinements, particularly in the Pacific Coast. UNHCR and partners work to strengthen preventive actions as well as to respond to emergencies, providing protection and solutions for the people with and for whom UNHCR works.

Over 2.4 million Venezuelans who live in Colombia have registered to benefit from the Tem-porary Protection Status (TPS). The TPS provides a 10-year protection status and access to a full range of rights including healthcare, education, formal employment, and financial inclu-sion. However, challenges remain in terms of access to rights and services. Xenophobia against Venezuelans persists, as misinformation and the perceptions that Venezuelans will take away job opportunities from Colombians, fuel general discontent. UNHCR supports the TPS roll out, currently open to children and adolescents registered in school, and believes it is a promising pathway for addressing the vulnerable situation of Venezuelan refugees and mi-grants and continues to work towards durable solutions.

Mixed movements of refugees and migrants continue to increase in the region, including people moving north through the Darien. UNHCR seeks to support the local integration of those who have settled in Colombia through a wide range of solutions-oriented actions and continues to advocate for the expansion of lawful pathways, including resettlement, that avoid the risk of irregular, dangerous journeys, while, at the same time, preserving the fundamental human right to seek asylum.

The Caribbean region Sub-Office covers five departments in the north eastern region of Colombia (Atlantico, Bolivar, Cesar, La Guajira, Magdalena). 22 per cent of the Venezuelan ref-ugees and migrants in the country are located in the region. Additionally, in recent times the region has seen an increase of displacement and confinement linked to confrontations between armed groups. In this context, the Caribbean Region Sub-Office seeks to strengthen actions aimed at empowering communities and community based organizations whilst sup-porting the State to widen access to services and livelihoods for people forced to flee, return-ees, and their host communities.

In order to carry out this work, the UN Volunteer will be properly trained both formally, through available workshops, seminars, e-Learning platforms; and informally through on the job training, intensive coaching/mentoring, shadowing other colleagues to familiarize his/herself with the relevant global and local policy and procedures related protection activities.

The UN Volunteer will be closely supervised by both senior and middle level management within the unit and it is expected that within a few months s/he will have the necessary skills to carry out many of the daily tasks with limited guidance.

Under the direct supervision of the Protection Officer or his/her designated delegate, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

- Monitor legal, political, social, economic, and cultural developments that have an im-pact on the protection environment within the Caribbean region.

- Learn how to support the consolidation and implementation of the regional accountability strategy, including by supporting the establishment of feedback and response systems and the incorporation of feedback received from communities into programme design.

- Learn how to assist with the drafting of regional strategies, documents, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for protection/solutions activities.

- Support the systematization and consolidation of best practices and lessons learned to enhance programme planning and delivery.

- As part of the regional protection team, promote relevant International, Regional and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policies and standards.

- As part of the regional protection team, promote the implementation of the age, gender, and diversity policy.