Senior Community-based Protection Assistant

Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)

U (unclassified)No designationUNOPS LICA52025-01-01November 22, 20241. General Background

The UNHCR Representation in Venezuela is comprised of the Country Office in Caracas, two Field Offices located on the border with Colombia (San Cristobal and Maracaibo), as well as three Field Units, one in Caracas, the capital district; Carupano (Sucre) in the border with Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana; and Santa Elena de Uairen in the border with Brazil.

The operational context in Venezuela remains challenging, affecting both refugees and asylum seekers and the Venezuelan population in humanitarian crisis, including displaced persons, returnees, and people on-the-move. Since the first quarter of 2022, an increase in returns and a high need for protection has been observed.

The Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant is a member of the Protection Unit and may report to the Senior Protection Officer, or another more senior staff member in the Protection Unit. Under the overall direction of the Protection Unit, and in coordination with other UNHCR staff, government, NGO partners and other stakeholders, the Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant works directly with communities of concern to identify the risks they face and to leverage their capacities to protect themselves, their families and communities.

The incumbent supports the application of community-based protection standards, operational procedures and practices in community-based protection delivery at the field level. To fulfil this role, the Senior Community-Based Protection Assistant is required to spend a substantial percentage of the workday outside the office, building and maintaining networks within communities of persons of concern (PoC). The development and maintenance of constructive relationships with PoC that measurably impact and enhance protection planning, programming and results, form the core of the work of the incumbent. S/he also supports the designing of a community-based protection strategy by ensuring that it is based on consultation with PoC.
     
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.

2. Purpose and Scope of Assignment

- Assist functional units, the Multi-Functional Team (MFT) and senior management to integrate participatory and community-based approaches in the overall protection strategy.
- Through relationships with PoCs and the partner network, keep abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that impact the protection environment and provide advice to the protection team. Understand the perspectives, capacities, needs and resources of PoCs and advise the protection team accordingly.
- Support, strengthen and provide technical assistance to implementing and operational partners, Sucre state Institutions, as well as displaced and local communities to ensure a community-based protection approach related to AGD based programming, as well as implementing related to self-sufficiency, economic inclusion and livelihoods.
- Strengthen community networks together implementing and operational partners, and allied institutions to address security threats and promote peaceful conflict resolution mechanisms, and the prevention and emergency response.
- Assist in the analysis that identifies the capacities of communities of concern and the individual and community risks and needs they face.
- Support protection monitoring and participatory assessments by multifunctional teams and ongoing consultation with PoC.
- Support efforts to build the office capacity for community-based protection.
- Collect data for monitoring of programmes and budgets from an AGD perspective.
- Draft and type routine correspondence, documents and reports and maintain up-to-date filing systems.
- Assist in the enforcement of participatory AGD sensitive analysis as an essential basis for all of UNHCR’s work.
- Initiate AGD sensitive interventions at the appropriate level on community-based protection issues and to respond to protection concerns and incidents within the office and with persons and communities of concern based on agreed parameters.
- Enforce compliance of implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
- Perform other related duties as required.

3. Monitoring and Progress Controls

A workplan will be prepared at the beginning of the contract between the incumbent and the supervisor to define key activities and project timelines to ensure an efficient delivery of expected outputs and products. Weekly meetings will be organized between the supervisor and the consultant to discuss advances, track progress, and discuss how to overcome potential challenges.

4. Qualifications and Experience

a. Education (Level and area of required and/or preferred education)
A university degree in Development Studies, Human Rights, Community Development /Social Work, Social Science, Political Science, International Law, or a related field.

b. Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
2 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 1-year relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher.

Essential:
- Relevant Community-based protection experience.
- Field experience.
- Ability to live and work in the difficult and harsh conditions of developing countries.
- Excellent writing skills in Spanish.
- Office Package (excellent knowledge of Word, good knowledge of Excel and Power Point) and Internet browsing.
Desirable:
- Relevant professional experience with emergency response.
- Relevant Self-reliance, economic inclusion, and livelihoods experience.
- Experience working in the UN or other international development organization.
- Professional experience at the national and/or international level, or other relevant programmes with NGOs.

c. Key Competencies      
Core Competencies
Accountability
Communication
Organizational Awareness
Teamwork & Collaboration
Commitment to Continuous Learning
Client & Result Orientation

Cross-Functional Competencies
Stakeholder Management
Planning and Organizing
Political Awareness

d. Language requirements

- Spanish Level: Fluent, Required.
- English Level: Working Knowledge, Desirable.

e. Functional Skills

*IT-MS Office Applications
*IT-Computer Literacy
IT-Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
UN-UN/UNHCR Administrative Rules, Regulations and Procedures
UN-UN/UNHCR Financial Rules and Regulations and Procedures
*PR-Community-based Protection
*PR-Community-based Protection - Principles and methodologies
PR-Child Protection and GVB
PG – Collection of impact / outcome indicator data
CL-Multi-stakeholder Communications with Partners, Government & Community
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

f. Travel requirements

Contractor may be required to travel 20% of the time to locations other than their assigned work location.

 

Standard Job Description

Required Languages

Spanish

,

,

Desired Languages

English

,

,

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education

Certifications

Other information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance

Home-Based

No