Careers opportunities - UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - Maroua, Cameroun : Assistant Community-Based Protection Officer

Hardship Level

E (most hardship)
Family Type

Non Family with Residential Location
Family Type

Non Family with Residential Location
Residential location (if applicable)

Yaounde, Cameroon
Grade

NOA
Staff Member / Affiliate Type

National Professional Officer
Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment
Remote work accepted
Non
Target Start Date

2024-04-01
Job Posting End Date

December 31, 2023
Standard Job Description

Assistant Community-Based Protection Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Assistant Community-Based Protection Officer is a member of the Protection Unit in a Country Operation and may report to the Protection Officer, Community-Based 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 Assistant Community-Based Protection Officer 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 may have direct supervisory responsibility for part of the protection and/or support staff and 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 Assistant Community-Based Protection Officer 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 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
- Be fully informed about community structures and the protection and security situation of the PoC and develop strong links with a cross-section of members of refugee/IDP/stateless communities, using an AGD approach.
- Through relationships with PoC and network of partners stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment and provide advice to senior management.
- Ensure that the perspectives, capacities, needs and resources of the PoC are reflected in the protection strategy, planning processes and operations plan addressing the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, persons with disabilities, and marginalized groups.
- Support a consultative process with government counterparts at local levels, partners and PoC to develop and implement integrated strategies that address the key protection priorities, including, for example, child protection, education and GBV, and solutions approaches.
- Provide technical guidance and support to UNHCR and partners and implement and oversee Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on all community-based protection related issues.
- Support the design, implementation and evaluation of protection centred and solutions oriented programming with implementing and operational partners guaranteeing that community-owned activities are integrated.
- Support communities in establishing representation and coordination structures
- Promote confidence building and conflict resolution among PoC, authorities and host communities.
- Maintain protection presence through regular field missions and reports, making direct contact with PoC, host communities, local authorities and partners. In operations applying the humanitarian cluster system, contribute the development of an AGD-compliant strategy on which the response of the Protection Cluster is grounded and covers all assessed and prioritized protection needs of the affected populations.
- Support the Operation's work to fully integrate the protection strategy into the Country Operations Plan, the UN Development and Assistance Framework (UNDAF), the Humanitarian Country Team's common humanitarian action plan where applicable.
- Contribute to the Protection team's information management component which: provides disaggregated data on PoC and their problems; researches, collects and disseminates relevant protection information and good practices to enhance protection delivery and provide technical advice if necessary.
- Support the inclusion of participatory, community-based protection and AGD approaches in strategies and plans in the Country Operation.
- Support community understanding of UNHCR's commitment to deliver on accountability and quality assurance in its response.
- Support PoC to develop structures that enhance their participation and protection.
- Contribute to the design of project submissions and the budget for endorsement by the supervisor.
- Intervene with authorities on community-based protection issues.
- Negotiate with local counterparts, partners and PoC.

- Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P1/NOA - 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
International Development, Cultural Studies, Human Rights,
International Social Work, Social Science, Political Science,
Anthropology, International Law

or other relevant field.


Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Some professional working experience.in the areas of community services, social work (e.g., gender, GBV programs, women's empowerment and protection, work with refugees) or/and human rights or related tasks in government, NGO or international organisation.

Desirable
Proven communication skills, both oral and written. Demonstrated knowledge of community communication and engagement approaches. Understanding of and demonstrated competencies in forced displacement and protection, particularly GBV prevention and response, child protection, education, gender equality, and the application of the Age, Gender and Diversity Policy.

Functional Skills
PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework
IT-Computer Literacy
DM-Database Management
PR-Coordination in Forced Displacement situations
PR-Child Protection Prevention and Response Programming
PR-Gender Equality
PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)
PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) prevention programming
PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) response programming
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.


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.



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.

Desired Candidate Profile

The Assistant Community-Based Protection Officer must be fully knowledgeable in the diversity of protection responsibilities in the office, and implementation of protection responses and prevention activities for refugees, IDPs and returnees. The incumbent must have demonstrated capacity to develop and implementation of protection strategies within communities, and to develop approach and systems for remote protection work. Knowledge and demonstrated experience with gender-base violence responses, child protection progammes and social cohesion are also important. As the incumbent will be responsible for ensuring a solid protection response within communities, they need to be good communicators, good facilitators and be able to establish and maintain a robust working rapport with local officials, traditional leaders and the affected communities alike.  Knowledge of PSEA and AAP is also required for the position
Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):

French
,

,

Desired languages

English
,

,

Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:
The security situation in the Far North of Cameroon remains worrying and volatile since 2014 when Boko Haram terrorist groups began carrying out attacks on Cameroonian territory. The security level is high, at SLS 4. Attacks by non-state armed groups (NSAG) continue, either against military positions or against innocent civilians, particularly in on the border areas with Chad and Nigeria. The use of improvised explosive devices has become a preferred operational method by the BH.

This situation seriously influences the activities of humanitarians, making access difficult.

The particularly increasing criminogenic nature is the result of the extreme poverty in which the majority of the population lives, the underemployment which affects young people with little education, the arid soils which do not allow mass agriculture and the search for easy means of survival as well as rising of food prices. Non-state armed groups continue to terrorize residents of villages bordering Nigeria and those located around Lake Chad. Kidnapping for ransom has become a form of crime adopted by said different criminal and terrorist groups to obtain a means of subsistence.

A minor indirect impact is observed on United Nations staff and humanitarian partners because our movements in red zones are dependent on armed escorts as well as respect for the 9 p.m. curfew that all UN staff must observe.

Nature of Position:
The Far North Region of Cameroon hosts more than 500,000 people of concern to UNHCR, including 130,000 refugees from Nigeria and 370,000 internally displaced persons. Most were displaced due to the Boko Haram crisis, which started in 2013 and affected all Lake Chad Basin countries, including Cameroon. This instability continues to provoke population movements within Cameroon, including the secondary displacement of out-of-camp refugees in Cameroon and the outflows of Cameroonians to Nigeria.

The protection situation became more complex following two other significant events in the region. Firstly, clashes over water resources broke out between herders, farmers, and fishermen in the Logon Birni region in December 2021. This led to a wave of violence that displaced thousands, including 40,000 people to Chad. And secondly, more than 150,000 people were affected by flooding in October and November 2022, including an estimated 60,000 persons forced from their homes due to rising water.

The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in the Far North continues to rise while funding for humanitarian assistance decreases. In partnership with other humanitarian actors, UNHCR continues to work closely with the Government of Cameroon to safeguard forcibly displaced people’s rights and ensure durable solutions for people through returns to communities in Cameroon, voluntary repatriation to Nigeria, and third-country resettlement. UNHCR’s overall objectives, in addition to ensuring the protection of refugees and IDPs, are to promote the independence of refugees and IDPs through access to livelihood opportunities and their integration into national development and assistance programmes while continuing to promote and pursue durable solutions.

The Assistant Community-Based Protection Officer is a member of the Protection Unit and may report to the Protection Officer, Community-Based 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 Assistant Community-Based Protection Officer 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 may have direct supervisory responsibility for part of the protection and/or support staff and 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 Assistant Community-Based Protection Officer 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.

Living and Working Conditions:
Based on the hardship living and Security conditions, Maroua were classified as Category E, No family duty station for international staff.

Medical facilities: basic medical facilities exist in Maroua to manage/stabilize urgent cases (for 24h) before evacuation to Yaoundé and then to outside of country as needed.  Capacity, infrastructure, and equipment to treat and take in-patient in appropriate medical and sanitation conditions is not sufficient.

Physical isolation and Change of Scene. Maroua is located about 1500 Kilometer from the capital city Yaoundé. Maroua has an airport for local flights. There are 3 humanitarian and 3 commercial flights per week departing and to Maroua. Maroua to Yaoundé is 1hours 30mn by flight without stop over.

The local staff in Maroua benefit, the Special 10 in 9 arrangements of Compressed Work Schedule are special.

mitigation measures. The special 10 in 9 Compressed Work Schedule of 10 working weeks compressed into 9 weeks

does not create additional entitlements, but rather provides offices with greater flexibility in allowing locally recruited staff, time-off.


 

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education

Bachelor of Arts (BA) : Anthropology, Bachelor of Arts (BA) : Cultural Studies, Bachelor of Arts (BA) : Human Rights, Bachelor of Arts (BA) : International Development, Bachelor of Arts (BA) : International Law, Bachelor of Arts (BA) : International Social Work, Bachelor of Arts (BA) : Political Science, Bachelor of Arts (BA) : Social Science
Certifications

Work Experience

Competencies

Accountability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Judgement & decision making, Managing resource, Organizational awareness, Stakeholder management, Teamwork & collaboration
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Additional Information

All applications must be submitted ONLINE at : https://unhcr.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/fr-FR/External?locationCountry=b579d21545a140c49418f0a3451a3160