Field Associate

Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)

H (no hardship)FamilyCONTR Local Entry and Mid-Level Support2025-01-01December 31, 2024ToR Field Associate

Context
Like other countries neighboring Ukraine, Slovakia continues to receive across its borders people fleeing hostilities. The authorities continue to process new arrivals. Temporary protection status remains generally accessible to refugees arriving from Ukraine and their families. Refugees from Ukraine thus gain access to basic rights, including socioeconomic rights, such as the right to health care, education, accommodation, and work. With the effect from July 2024, beneficiaries of temporary protection have the right to be self-employed.

Local communities continue to play a key role with their welcoming stance, with humanitarian actors, civil society organizations, and community volunteers providing significant support across Slovakia, including advice on housing, transportation, and access to local services.

Through the Refugee Coordination Forum for Slovakia, UNHCR and partners are supporting the government response tailored to the needs of refugees arriving from Ukraine and facilitating their self-sustainability in Slovakia through socio-economic inclusion.

UNHCR in Slovakia aims to support community structures and use community-based protection approaches and tools to ensure that refugees have full access to their rights, become self-reliant and integrated in Slovakia. UNHCR works with regional and local authorities to promote socio-economic inclusion throughout Slovakia and supports civil society and community-based initiatives to promote local inclusion. UNHCR also strives to identify refugees with vulnerabilities and specific needs in remote areas across Slovakia and facilitate their access to adequate assistance and services. The response also aims at reinforcing accountability to affected people through two-way communication with communities, increasing access to information and awareness-raising for refugees on their rights and access to assistance and services through their preferred and trusted channels. It encompasses establishing feedback and response mechanisms that are able to handle sensitive complaints and inform programming and interventions. It furthermore involves engaging with refugees through participatory assessments and establishing refugee advisory boards or inclusion of refugees in existing community representative fora.

Purpose and Scope of Assignment:

Objectives:
The Individual Contractor will support the Office in working towards the following objectives:
1. Strengthen the effectiveness and impact of UNHCR and partner field
activities, ensuring alignment with UNHCR standards and strategic
objectives on protection and inclusion.
2. Foster support networks among refugees, and between refugees and the
host community.
3. Mainstream refugees' voices and needs into advocacy, programming, and
local and national decision-making processes to ensure meaningful
participation and representation.
4. Optimize and enhance systems for feedback, complaints, responses, and
their effective resolution.

Tasks and responsibilities

• Support UNHCR and partner activities in the field, providing guidance and
capacity-building to strengthen alignment with UNHCR standards and
strategic objectives on protection and inclusion.
• Identify refugee-led and community-based organizations in Slovakia and, in
collaboration with relevant units, ensure the provision of UNHCR support,
including through grant agreements, capacity-building initiatives, and
guidance on engaging with key local actors.
• Collaborate closely with UNHCR partners, civil society, refugees, and the
host community to establish and strengthen volunteer networks supporting
refugees in Slovakia, including through technical guidance and capacity-
building initiatives.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify relevant local and national
representative structures, ensuring meaningful refugee participation in
these frameworks.
• Plan, coordinate, and lead focus group discussions with refugees and host
community, applying Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) approach. Regularly
provide advice and support to management and relevant units to
incorporate findings into UNHCR’s assessments, advocacy and
programming.
• Strengthen feedback, complaint, and response mechanisms for UNHCR
and its partners by establishing mechanisms where needed, developing
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and ensuring proper
implementation.
• Undertake field missions to different parts of Slovakia as part of the duties.

Required level, qualifications, and work experience

Education:
Social Work, International Relations, Political Sciences, or other field relevant to the tasks and responsibilities.

Work Experience:
At least 2 years of relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher degree.
Work experience with refugees, migrants or other disadvantaged groups.

Key Competencies:
• Integrity and professionalism: demonstrated expertise in area of specialty
and ability to apply good judgment; high degree of autonomy, personal
initiative and ability to take ownership; willingness to accept wide
responsibilities and ability to work independently under established
procedures in a politically sensitive environment, while exercising
discretion, impartiality and neutrality; ability to manage information
objectively, accurately and confidentially; responsive and client-oriented.
• Accountability: mature and responsible; ability to operate in compliance
with organizational rules and regulations.
• Commitment to continuous learning: initiative and willingness to learn new
skills and stay abreast of new developments in area of expertise; ability to
adapt to changes in work environment.
• Planning and organizing: effective organizational and problem-solving skills
and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely
manner; ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor
(own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and
to handle multiple concurrent projects/activities.
• Teamwork and respect for diversity: ability to operate effectively across
organizational boundaries; ability to establish and maintain effective
partnerships and harmonious working relations in a multi-cultural, multi-
ethnic environment with sensitivity and respect for diversity and gender.
• Communication: proven interpersonal skills; good spoken and written
communication skills, including ability to prepare clear and concise reports;
ability to conduct presentations, articulate options and positions concisely;
ability to make and defend recommendations; ability to communicate and
empathize with staff, volunteers, counterparts and local interlocutors
coming from diverse backgrounds; ability to maintain composure and
remain helpful towards the staff, but objective, without showing personal
interest; capacity to transfer information and knowledge to a wide range of
different target groups.

Standard Job Description

Required Languages
Knowledge of English as the UN working language of the duty station is required.

Desired Languages
Working knowledge of Slovak is desirable.
Working knowledge of Ukrainian or Russian is desirable.

Skills:
• Solid communication and interpersonal skills; culturally and socially
sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of
partners, including refugee-led and community-based organizations,
grassroots community members, religious and youth organizations, elderly
clubs, and authorities at different levels; familiarity with tools and
approaches of communications with communities.
• Experience with implementation of community-based protection principles
and approaches in practice and understanding of the importance of
communities as rights holders and agents of change.
• Good drafting and reporting skills in English.
• Experience with inclusion of refugees or migrants into local services and
national systems as an asset.

Home-Based
No

Additional information:

Candidates must be legally present in the Slovak Republic at the time of application, recruitment and hire.

Recruitment as a UNHCR staff member and engagement under a UNHCR affiliate scheme or as an intern is subject to proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

Remuneration: GROSS EUR 2,500

Benefits:
Annual leave: A contractor with a full-time contract of at least one month accrues credits for paid annual leave at the rate of two and a half working days per month.

Taxation and Social Security Contributions:
The Individual Contract Holder shall be responsible for paying any tax levied by his/her Government or other entities on his/her UNHCR earnings. UNHCR undertakes no liability for taxes and social security contributions, duties, or other contributions payable by the Individual Contract Holder on payments made under the individual contract.

Shortlisted candidates may be required to sit for a test. No late applications will be accepted. UNHCR is committed to diversity and welcomes applications from qualified candidates regardless of disability, gender identity, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour or ethnic and national origins, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. UNHCR does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, training or any other fees).

 

Standard Job Description

Required Languages

,

,

Desired Languages

,

,

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Education

Certifications

Other information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance

Home-Based

No