Associate Livelihoods Officer

Update

Brazil hosts over 790.000 refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless persons and other persons needing international protection, most of them coming from Venezuela, Haiti and Cuba.
UNHCR supports authorities in further expanding the progressive refugee public policies in place to ensure refugees’ effective access to rights and services. We work to promote their self-reliance and socio-economic inclusion and integration through their insertion into national programs.

Brazil has always played a pioneering and leading role in the international protection of refugees. It was the first country in the Southern Cone to ratify the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1960. Refugees enjoy the protection of the Brazilian Government and can, therefore, obtain documents, work, study and exercise the same rights as any foreign citizen with regular status in the country.

At the economic and financial level, UNHCR supports existing employment and income-generation programmes and encourages the involvement of the private sector and development actors. The expected result is that income generation will help expand the autonomy and dignity of the forcibly displaced, as well as boost local development and create new business and tax collection opportunities, further contributing to improving the well-being of host communities.

The Associate Livelihoods Officer will be key in operationalizing the strategic vision to align livelihoods and economic inclusion efforts with the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), which underscores the need to mobilize additional actors and to adopt a whole-of-society approach to strengthen refugee self-reliance and help ease pressure on host countries. Promoting economic inclusion of refugees is a key development area that will enable the achievement of these objectives and contribute to the 2030 Agenda's Sustainable Development Goals.

The UN Volunteer will assist in interacting with the government counterparts and other stakeholders with specific mandate in livelihood activities as well as with the refugee communities. Within UNHCR, the Associate Livelihoods Officer will work under the supervision of the Durable Solutions Associate and closely with multi-functional teams on matters including but not limited to protection, education, cash, partnerships, research and analytics, SGBV, solutions, complementary pathways and more. S/he will support the office's involvement with livelihoods and economic inclusion, working with relevant external stakeholders from government line ministries, development actors, private sector, UN agencies, international organizations, NGOs, research institutions and universities.

Under the direct supervision of Durable Solutions Associate, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
• Support the implementation of the Livelihoods Strategy, providing support to field offices when necessary.
• Support the implementation of the “Empowering Refugee Women” and “Strong Women” projects in coordination with other relevant Country Office units.
• Support the follow-up of the contributions on refugees’ inclusion to the Task Force on Eliminating Poverty and Hunger in the framework of the G20
• Assist in administrative tasks as required such as preparation of reports and meetings and organization of events.
• Support the implementation of the Companies with Refugees Forum regional hubs;
• Monitor job openings coming through the Companies with Refugees platform and make the necessary connections with employability organizations.
• Support the mapping of organizations that assist with refugee employability.
• Keep regular contacts with local authorities, NGOs, private sector, implementing partners and other relevant actors as requested by supervisor.
• Elaborate written reports whenever necessary.
• Assist the network of organizations engaged with the access of refugees to employment opportunities in the prioritized areas according to the livelihoods programming.
• Perform other related duties as required.

By undertaking these tasks, the UN Volunteer will play a crucial role in enhancing the engagement and effectiveness of UNHCR's initiatives, particularly in the context of improving the employability of refugees in Brazil.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.