Senior Durable Solution Assistant

This position is advertised open to internal and external applicants. Candidates must be Congoleese Nationals.

Interested staff members should consult the Administrative Instruction on Recruitment and Assignment of Locally Recruited Staff (RALS, UNHCR/AI/2020/1/Rev.1). If you have questions regarding your eligibility, you may also contact the HR Unit.

In line with the RALS, the below category of candidates are eligible to apply for internally/externally advertised vacancies.

Group 1 candidates: Group 1 comprises current GS staff members holding an indefinite or fixed-term appointment who, at the date of the deadline for application, are serving in the country of the vacancy at the grade of the position or one grade below or above.

Group 2 candidates: Group 2 comprises candidates from the below categories after completion of one cumulative or continuous year of service in the country of the vacancy.

I. Currently employed locally recruited UNHCR staff members holding a Temporary Appointment;
II. Former locally recruited UNHCR staff members who held an indefinite or fixed-term appointment (within 2 years of separation for males and 5 years for females);
III. National United Nations Volunteers currently working for UNHCR;
IV. National UNOPS and individual contractors currently working for UNHCR;
V. Current GS staff members holding an indefinite or fixed-term appointment applying to a position in the same category two grades above the staff member¿s personal grade;
VI. Current UNHCR staff members in the International Professional category holding an indefinite or fixed-term appointment applying to a GS post;
VII. Current UNHCR staff members in the NPO category holding an indefinite or fixed-term appointment applying to a GS post;
VIII. Current locally recruited female staff members from other UN system Organizations holding the equivalent of an indefinite or fixed-term appointment.

External candidates: External candidates are candidates who are not in Group 1 or Group 2. They must meet the essential minimum requirements of the position and candidates not citizens of the country must comply with all eligibility requirements for employment in line with the prevailing legislative prerequisites in the country. Senior Durable Solutions Assistant

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Senior Durable Solutions Assistant reports to a Durable Solutions Associate or Officer.

The incumbent is relied upon to contribute to the implementation of a durable solutions strategy. Contributing to fostering an environment to enhance partnerships is a critical element of the work, as are activities designed to strength the involvement of refugee communities and their hosts in the design and implementation of solutions strategies.


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
- Provide counselling to refugees and other persons of concern (POC) about their durable solutions needs.
- Interview candidates for voluntary repatriation and prepare documentation for their return, in line with Voluntary Repatriation SOPs.
- Interview candidates for local integration and prepare the appropriate documentation for onward submission to local authorities or partners, in line with Local Integration SOPs.
- Participate in identifying resettlement needs of refugees, in line with Resettlement SOPs.
- Assist in updating the electronic database for resettlement, voluntary repatriation and local integration, in line with Standard Operating Procedures.
- Process documentation to ensure that POC receive the documents required for their durable solutions in a timely manner.
- Prepare statistical and ad-hoc reports to ensure accurate information is available and shared with relevant offices and partners.
- Interview and advise on the appropriate durable solution to be provided to POC.
- Prepare documents relating to durable solutions.
- Enter information into available database, in line with SOPs.
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For G5 - 2 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 1 year relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher

Field(s) of Education
Not applicable.

Certificates and/or Licenses
HCR Protection Learning Prg;
HCR Resettlement Lrng Prg;
HCR Protection Induction Prog;
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience
Essential:
Not specified.
Desirable:
Diverse field experience. Experience in interviewing.

Functional Skills
IT-Microsoft Office Productivity Software;
DM-Database Management;
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential) All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.

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

Managerial Competencies
Not specified

Cross-Functional Competencies
Political Awareness
Technological Awareness
Stakeholder Management Knowledge of French is essential and English is an advantage ¿ Interested internal candidates (Group 1 and Group 2) need apply through MSRP ¿ Self-Service ¿ Recruiting Activities ¿ Careers (please search by JO number or by Location). Please update your personal profiles with all required information in order to be able to apply. Please consult the attached documents for further guidance on how to update the personal profile.

¿ Interested external applicants need to apply online and complete the mandatory motivation letter.  For technical issues with logging in to the MSRP External Portal, or with online applications, please contact the HR Unit well before the deadline to allow sufficient time for any technical problem to be resolved. External vacancies are posted on the external UNHCR website and applicants who do not have internal status must apply through the external UNHCR website.  https://www.unhcr.org/careers.html ¿ Careers ¿ Career opportunities ¿ Other Opportunities ¿ Vacancies ¿ sort by Location or search by Job Opening number. 

¿ Applications will be accepted only via the online portals. Please do not send application via email.  

¿ Not signed, incomplete and late applications will not be accepted. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Shortlisted candidates will be required to sit for a written test and/or oral interview. UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing or any other fees).

¿ The evaluation of applicants will be conducted based on the information submitted during the application. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

¿ UNHCR strongly encourages qualified female applicants to apply. UNHCR seeks to ensure that male and female employees are given equal career opportunities. UNHCR is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms gender, disability, marital or civil partnership status, race, color or ethnic and national origins, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.

¿ UNHCR has a zero-tolerance policy against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA). SEA is unacceptable behavior and prohibited conduct for UNHCR personnel. It constitutes acts of serious misconduct and is therefore grounds for disciplinary measures, including dismissal. Any concerns or suspicions about a possible case of SEA should be reported immediately to the Inspector General¿s Office (IGO) at inspector@unhcr.org or through the online complain form at https://www.unhcr.org/php/complaints.php or by confidential fax: +41 22 739 73 80.

¿ For any technical problems encountered during the online application, please send an email to the below email address titled ¿Online VA Query-your name and surname¿. Human Resources Kinshasa Codkivac@unhcr.org
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See below for this postion's Operational Context
======================================================================================================== The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the biggest operation of the Regional Bureau for Southern, and one of the oldest on the continent. It hosts over 500,000 refugees countrywide (including 216,451 Rwandan refugees, and 45,336 Burundian refugees in North and South Kivu).  DRC also continues to host over 5 million IDPs mainly located in the Kasai provinces, and Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces, including nearly 3 million in North and South Kivu.

In line with the 2020-2025 UNHCR DRC Protection Strategy, UNHCR¿s operations focus on working with communities towards environments that are conducive for durable solutions; providing multi-sectoral assistance to refugees and IDPs both in camps/sites and in host communities, in accordance with the ¿alternatives to camps¿ policy; building self-reliance by supporting livelihood opportunities for refugees and host communities; protection monitoring; prevention of and response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV); capacity-building of communities and local authorities, while ensuring an emergency response capacity.

UNHCR works in 5 sub offices and the Branch Office in Kinshasa; the Goma Sub Office covers activities in North and South Kivu. 

Overall, public safety in the northern side of South-Kivu is put in jeopardy by unofficial military groups. Their activities are on the rise in six areas: Kalehe, Idjwi, Kabare, Walungu, Mwenga, Shabunda and Bukavu city. They pretend working to protect communities, having leadership on mining sites and food supply. These claims legitimize acts of violence upon civilians.
Countless violations of human rights have been observed after raids, infightings, or attacks against the FARDC (Armed forces of the DRC). As a result, Shabunda, Kalehe, Walungu and Mwenga were the most affected, which led to displaced populations from those places.
In the provincial capital city of Bukavu, urban criminality features increasing numbers of daily armed robbery, burglary, murder, and extorsion.
Beside urban criminal activities, different kinds of conflicts are trending. They are legitimacy or power driven (Shabunda/Kabare), real estate or property related, or between communities (Mwenga/Shabunda).
From time to time, uprisings are conducted by civilians to protest the rise of criminality and the disastrous, appalling socio-political environment they live in.
Communities are waging war against one another near Fizi (Minembwe), Uvira (Bijombo) and Mwenga (Itombwe), all located in the southern part of South-Kivu.
Ambushes, armed robberies of livestock, murders, and abductions targeting people involved in humanitarian work have recently been reported. Military groups in Ruzizi Plains (Uvira) are more active. In addition to conflicts in South Kivu, the FARDC are at war with both domestic and foreign military groups; so are other different military groups against one another in Uvira, Fizi, Mwenga¿s high plateaus.

The Senior Durable Solutions Assistant reports to a Durable Solutions Associate or Officer.

The incumbent is relied upon to contribute to the implementation of a durable solutions strategy. Contributing to fostering an environment to enhance partnerships is a critical element of the work, as are activities designed to strength the involvement of refugee communities and their hosts in the design and implementation of solutions strategies. Acknowledgements will only be sent to short-listed applicants under serious consideration. March, 2, 2021 ( midnight geneva time)