Child Protection Associate

E (most hardship)Non Family with Residential LocationNon Family with Residential LocationDanger PayNairobi (CO), KenyaGS6General Service

Reason

Regular > Regular AssignmentNo2025-02-01December 30, 2024

Child Protection Associate

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

UNHCR is committed to the effective protection to children of concern, with children representing more than half of the persons falling under its mandate. UNHCR adopts a rights and community-based approach to address the protection needs of children, with a strong emphasis on inclusion within national child protection, child friendly procedures and working with other sectors to protect children including education. Child protection is recognized as global organizational priority for UNHCR. Dedicated child protection positions are needed to provide technical support to improve UNHCR's operational capacity to deliver effective protection to children, adolescents and youth of concern.

The Child Protection Associate is a member of the protection team in an Office. S/he may report to a (Child) Protection Officer, or the Head of Field-Office/Unit and/or Head of Sub-Office. The incumbent monitors child protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards and provides functional protection support to information management and programme staff. The Child Protection Associate is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of populations of concern (children, women, marginalized groups) and is responsible for implementation of Best Interests Procedures for children at risk in their area of responsibility, under the guidance of the supervisor. S/he may also supervise staff undertaking Best Interests Procedures. S/he identifies opportunities to mainstream Child Protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards in operational responses in all sectors and liaises externally with authorities and partners on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. The incumbent works directly with communities and children of concern to identify the risks they face and to leverage their capacities to protect themselves, their families and communities. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, local authorities and protection and assistance partners.


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

Needs identification, Strategy and Advocacy
- Contribute to assessing child protection issues through multi-sectoral and protection specific assessments.
- Facilitate consultation with children, youth and communities to inform child protection strategy and programme activities.
- Contribute to the formulation of child protection strategy and planning.
- Ensure compliance with UNHCR's child protection policy, priorities and commitments, as well as other aligned policies on age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP), GBV, gender equality, disability and youth empowerment.
- Support the analysis of the national systems and ensure that child protection programmes complement national child protection systems and work towards the inclusion of children of concern into national child protection laws, policies and services.
- Undertake consultation with children, youth and communities and provide information on appropriate and meaningful approaches for their effective participation and programmatic responses on child protection issues.
- Provide input to Protection Unit to inform advocacy to address key child protection concerns.

Programme planning and implementation
- Engage children, youth and communities in the implementation of child protection activities, provide information to children, youth and communities about child protection services and monitor and report on needs and issues to inform the Operations Response.
- Conduct Best Interest Procedures for individual children at heightened risks and prepare Best Interests Determination report, when required.
- Participate in the Best Interests Procedure Case Conferences and BID panels and draft associated documentation as required.
- Implement child protection SOPs and ensure up to date and effective referral to key services.
- Store and update child's case file in UNHCR data bases in accordance with UNHCR standards.
- Engage with children, youth and community members in identifying community-based child protection activities.
- Monitor and support appropriate care arrangements for unaccompanied and separated children and referral of children to ICRC or other relevant partners for establishment of family linkages.
- Regularly report on emerging protection issues and concerns voiced by children, youth and communities and assist in drafting reports, compiling and preparing data for the protection unit/section.
- Provide functional guidance to UNHCR and partner staff involved in child protection activities.

Partnership, coordination and capacity building
- Assist the Child Protection interagency coordination and information management activities as needed.
- Provide technical support and monitoring to child protection partners.
- Assist in carrying out learning needs assessment and analysis of findings.
- Support in implementing learning activities for UNHCR and partners staff and communities.

- 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 G6 - 3 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher

Field(s) of Education
Not applicable.

Certificates and/or Licenses
Law;
Social Sciences;
Community Dvpt/Social Work;
Human Rights;
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
3 years of previous work experience relevant to the function of child protection in a local context and having experience in the field of child protection prevention and response, broader protection or social work involving empowerment of women and girls, gender, child protection, mental health, counselling and working with survivors, humanitarian and development issues. Skills and experience in interviewing and working with children and families including supervision of child protection case management.

Desirable
Knowledge of UNHCR child protection policies and tools including the UNHCR Best Interests Procedures Guidelines, and interagency child protection Minimum Standards, Guiding Principles and GBV case management standards. Knowledge of local child protection laws, policies and services. Knowledge and experience of participatory approaches to engage with and mobilize communities. Understanding of displacement and protection issues including GBV, education and the application of the Age, Gender and Diversity Policy. Completed Protection Learning Programme. Experience working with marginalized groups. Knowledge of protection information management tools, including but not limited to proGres and/or CPIMS.

Functional Skills
IT-Computer Literacy
PR-Child Protection Case Management and Best Interests Procedures
PR-Child Protection Information Management System
PR-Child Protection Prevention and 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.

Nature of the Position:

The incumbent of this position reports to the Protection Officer based in Gedaref and part of the protection unit team, and will be working on UNHCR child protection programs targeting both refugee and IDP populations.

As of the end of August 2024, Gedaref State hosted over 64,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, of which close to 59,000 were in four refugee camps (Tunaydbah, Um Rakuba, Babikri and Um Gargour) with majority (74%) being Ethiopian displaced due to the 2020-2022 Tigray war in northern Ethiopia.

Gedaref state also received the over 1 million of IDPs from neighboring states, Khartum and Madani, with some 90% of them generously hosted by local communities with the public services being nearly collapsing due the increased vulnerabilities among IDP and host communities. Some 10% of population are within the gathering sites, including schools, unfinished buildings and make-shift settlements in open areas.

Due to the Sudan crisis that led to limited access to the essential supplies and services, limited capacity of the humanitarian actors versus tremendous needs on the ground, the living conditions of forcibly displaced persons and host communities has significantly degraded. Women, children and persons with specific needs remain disproportionally affected by the shortage of access to the protection services.

UNHCR works in close collaboration with the Commission of Refugees (COR) to respond the needs of the refugees population both in camps and out-of-camps. HAC remains the essential government counterpart for coordination and prioritization of the protection interventions targeting vulnerable IDPs.


Desired Candidate Profile:

The incumbent should have extensive experience in child protection, humanitarian affairs or related fields with a proven track record of managing the child protection programs design, implementation and monitoring in humanitarian context. The incumbent should possess thorough child protection PSS, case management and coordination experience, along with the solid understanding of UNHCR roles and responsibilities in refugees and IDPs response. S/he will be expected to have demonstrated leadership with experience in managing child protection partners and fostering a collaborative work environment.

The incumbent should possess excellent interpersonal skill with the ability to engage with wide range of stake holders including Government officials, humanitarian partners, donors and local communities. Strong communication skills including written and verbal proficiency in English.

The Incumbent should exhibit proven ability to analyze complex situations, identify key issues and develop innovative solutions. He/she should have the ability to represent UNHCR effectively at the field level, advocating for rights and needs of forcibly displaced people and ensuring compliance with international protection standards.

Additional Assets:
- Experience working in internally displaced contexts or in conflict affected areas.
- Familiarity with relevant legal frameworks, including international refugee law and human rights law.
- Experience in managing implementing partners in the field.
- Experience in working at inter-agency response setting.

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

Nature of Position:

Living and Working Conditions:

 

Additional Qualifications

Skills

IT-Computer Literacy, PR-Child Protection Case Management and Best Interests Procedures, PR-Child Protection Information Management System, PR-Child Protection Prevention and Response Programming

Certifications

Community Development/Social Work - Other, Human Rights - Other, Law - Other, Social Sciences - Other

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Stakeholder management, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Additional Information

This is local position, General serviceThis position doesn't require a functional clearance