Government Liaison Officer

Candidates must meet the essential minimum requirements of the position and candidates must be nationals of the country. Government Liaison Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Government Liaison Officer is usually located in country operations. S/he plays a crucial role in ensuring UNHCR's approach to the Government is consistent, strategic and coherent. The main aim is to ensure that UNHCR can fulfil its role to support the Government to lead the refugee response ensuring the protection of refugees and - in line with the GCR - promote the inclusion of refugees into national systems by coordinating with other actors - including development actors at the early stages of a refugee response and in mixed situations supporting the Government to prevent, respond to and resolve internal displacement while complementing and reinforcing national response efforts. This should be done in line with UNHCRs Mandate, the Global Compact for Refugees, the IDP policy, and agreed inter-agency commitments. More specifically, the incumbent advises the senior management on issues and processes concerning the relationship with the Government and related positioning, coordination, advocacy, information, resource allocation, fundraising, reporting, and communication with other UN agencies, NGOs, civil society actors, private sector, media and other relevant actors through strong engagement in humanitarian inter-agency processes, but also with a focus on development processes as they impact on UNHCR. This requires strong engagement in Government processes, and knowledge and interaction with national entities and processes. The Government Liaison Officer assists senior management with ensuring the Government is aware of the humanitarian architecture and can act in line with ongoing development processes related to the UNDS reform and the 2030 agenda as they impact on UNHCR. The overall goal of the position is to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of UNHCR¿s leadership roles and responses to situations affecting people of concern to UNHCR (refugees, asylum-seekers, IDPs, stateless persons, returnees, host communities) through an open and transparent partnership approach with the Government.


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
- Advise and assist senior managers to formulate and communicate UNHCR positions on Government-related matters on protection, assistance and inclusion of refugees, providing briefing notes, talking points and issue papers for relevant discussions with the Government.
- Promote UNHCR's policies and liaise with Government authorities on issues related to latest humanitarian and development processes.
- Establish and coordinate country-specific coordination mechanisms for situations co-led by UNHCR and the Government. Where applicable, support the development of country-specific refugee response plans (or refugee and migration response plan and refugee and resilience plan) and comprehensive responses.
- Contribute to ensuring the coherence of the work of the Multi-sector group (MSG) in accordance with the Government.
- Provide protection for persons of concern to UNHCR by ensuring the observance by the local authorities of the recognized principles of refugee law.
- Promote accession to refugee law convention in a way that reinforce the asylum institution in the country.
- Articulate UNHCR¿s priorities towards the Government, including the commitment to humanitarian principles.
- With support from senior management, promote the deeper understanding within UNHCR on agreements with the Government and inform other staff on developments with the Government. This includes promoting and stimulating UNHCR's implementation of key reforms with the Government;
- Where there is lack of clarity as to UNHCR's positions and priorities, identify the issues and bring this to senior management attention.
- Assist the Government to ensure timely preparedness activities, including through participation and where necessary coordination of inter-agency contingency planning processes.
- Liaise with the Government, inter-government agencies, UN agencies, local and international NGOs and other partners at the country level to find areas of cooperation, joint initiatives and where applicable negotiate joint agreements or work programmes to further protection and assistance for persons of concern.
- Organise and implement capacity-building seminars or training programmes for target groups (government officials, etc.).
- Maintain close relations with the press and develop public information activities to ensure greater knowledge in public opinion of refugee and asylum issues and promote UNHCR objectives.
- Maintain close contact with HQ on emerging issues.
- Maintain frequent formal and informal contacts with counterparts in other organisations.
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P3/NOC - 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Political/Social Science;
Economics;
Law/International Law;
Business Administration;
or other relevant field.
(Field(s) of Education marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified.

Relevant Job Experience
Essential:
Experience of working with partners at field or Headquarters level. Experience of liaising with governments and/or the donor community. Thorough understanding of UNHCR's protection mandate and core mission. Thorough understanding of humanitarian coordination processes and/or development coordination.
Desirable:
Inter-agency coordination role. Drafting joint appeal/ refugee response plan/HRP. Experience with another UN agency or partner.

Functional Skills
MS-Drafting, Documentation, Data Presentation;
MG-Negotiation;
CL-Multi-stakeholder Communications with Partners, Government & Community;
MS-Networking;
TR-Training and Capacity Building of Governments/Implementing Partners/Refugees;
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements

For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.


This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates. 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:
Empowering and Building Trust
Judgement and Decision Making
Managing Performance
Managing Resources

Cross-Functional Competencies:
Stakeholder Management
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
Political Awareness CONSENT
The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.
According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term "sexual exploitation" means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term "sexual abuse" means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term "sexual harassment" means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator's working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.
========================================================================================================
See below for this postion's Operational Context
======================================================================================================== As a member of the Executive office and serving as principal advisor to the Representative, the incumbent will provide a critical `hinge function¿ to communicate messages and considerations between UNHCR and Government interlocutors.  Personal integrity and discretion are therefore key attributes for this function, in addition to tact and diplomacy.
The incumbent must be able to communicate clearly and concisely and is expected to possess superior drafting skills in both English and Arabic.  
He/She is required to maintain and cultivate an extensive network of contacts. Key attributes are a keen awareness of political developments in the country coupled with strong analytical skills.  While prior experience in the humanitarian field is not considered essential, the incumbent will be expected to quickly immerse him/herself with the mandate of UNHCR and its operational priorities in Jordan.
Prior service with the Government of Jordan is highly desirable, ideally in a function that included regular contacts with line ministries and other Government entities. 
He/She should possess flexibility, be able to work under pressure and possess the maturity and interpersonal skills to work effectively with Government counterparts at senior levels as well as other stakeholders, including embassies and non-governmental organizations. The closing date for the above Job opening is 8 March 2021