JO# 38414 – Assistant Protection Officer – NOA – PN 10032076 – UNHCR Fixed-Term Appointment – Mount Lebanon

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Assistant Protection Officer reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer. Depending on the size and structure of the Office, the incumbent may have supervisory responsibility for protection staff including community-based protection, registration, resettlement and education. S/he provides functional protection guidance to information management and programme staff on all protection/legal matters and accountabilities. These include: statelessness (in line with the campaign to End Statelessness by 2024),  Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) commitments, age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP) through community-based protection, Child protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, gender equality, disability inclusion, youth empowerment, psycho-social support  and PSEA, registration, asylum/refugee status determination, resettlement, local integration, voluntary repatriation, human rights standards integration, national legislation, judicial engagement, predictable and decisive engagement in situations of internal displacement and engagement in wider mixed movement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses. S/he supervises protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards.

The Assistant Protection Officer is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (PoC), ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. The incumbent contributes to the design of a comprehensive protection strategy and represents the Organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. S/he also ensures that PoC are meaningfully engaged in the decisions that affect them and support programme design and adaptations that are influenced by the concerns, priorities and capacities of them. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection.

The Assistant Protection Officer in Mount Lebanon Sub Office reports to the Protection Officer and coordinates all Child Protection and Gender-Based Violence activities for UNHCR in Beirut and Mount Lebanon, supervising three G5 staff who respond to Child Protection and GBV referrals - that are increasing in number and complexity.

The Assistant Protection Officer will need to have a high level of expertise in Child Protection and Gender-Based Violence, with a solid understanding of the national social protection system. S/he will need strong inter-personal skills, with a high level of competency in leadership and teamwork given the level of engagement with partners and other stakeholders.

The Assistant Protection Officer will work closely with UNHCR child protection and gender-based violence (GBV) partners and other key stakeholders (including other UN agencies, NGOs, relevant ministries and government mandated organizations) to coordinate, design and implement quality and comprehensive child protection and GBV responses that are adapted to the current operational context and varying needs of girls, boys, women and men, as well as older persons, persons with disabilities and members of the LGBTI community. S/he will work with key stakeholders to ensure services and interventions consider the needs of the host community and aim to empower and build the resilience of those being served. The NOA Assistant Protection Officer will maintain regular coordination with relevant UNHCR country office child protection and GBV counterparts to ensure alignment of activities with national and international guidelines and standards, UNHCR specific policies and guidelines, and protection and sector specific strategic priorities. S/he will also support UNHCR partners in the implementation of CP and GBV activities through regular monitoring, and capacity building as well as supervise implementation of UNHCR¿s Best Interest Procedures and ensure complementarity with national child protection system. As GBV sector coordinator at the field level for Beirut and Mount Lebanon, s/he will maintain effective coordination between key stakeholders in GBV prevention, risk mitigation and response work at the sector level. The NOA Assistant Protection Officer is one of the Sub-office¿s PSEA focal points, supporting the office in its commitment to preventing, mitigating, and supporting partners to develop and implement PSEA capacity.

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
- Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
- Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
- Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to PoC.  
- Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
- Conduct eligibility and status determination for PoC in compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles. 
- Promote and contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
- Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy.
- Contribute to a country-level education plan as part of the protection strategy.
- Provide inputs for the development of protection policies and standards within the AoR.
- Implement and monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
- Manage individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.
- Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of PoC through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
- Assess resettlement needs and apply priorities for the resettlement of individuals and groups of refugees and other PoC.
- Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
- Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
- Contribute to and facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems. 
- Assist capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
- Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
- Intervene with authorities on protection issues.
- Assist the supervisor in deciding priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
- Assist the supervisor in enforcing compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
- Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.
- Perform other related duties as required.