Durable Housing Specialist

The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org).
The UNHCR has been working in Ukraine for almost 25 years, mainly with refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as in the area of statelessness prevention and reduction. Since the beginning of the conflict in 2014, UNHCR has been assisting Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and responding to the humanitarian situation in the east of the country together with other actors.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been present in Ukraine since 1994
and substantially increased its presence and response after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February
2022. The geographical presence within Ukraine has significantly expanded to deliver the emergency
response. The country office is located in the capital, Kyiv,and sub- and field offices are currently located
in Dnipro, Kyiv, L’viv, Odesa, and Kharkiv. .

The massive destruction of civilian infrastructure, with the energy sector being particularly targeted, has
made life extremely challenging for millions of people who have lost their homes and livelihoods, and has
severely disrupted access to electricity, water, heating as well as critical services, including healthcare,
education and social protection services. Humanitarian access continues to be hampered, particularly in
areas in the East under the temporary military control of the Russian Federation. Civilians remain
exposed to serious risks to their physical security and integrity, particularly in eastern and southern
regions of Ukraine. The risk of GBV, including sexual violence, is high, particularly in areas of active
hostilities. The separation of families is one of the problems most reported by protection actors among
IDPs and war-affected people. Populations displaced or affected by the war live in situations of
deprivation, following the loss or damage of their housing, loss of income, and the lack of access to
essential services, such as health care or education.
The Government of Ukraine maintains a strong lead role in responding to the needs of its population and

UNHCR supports the Government and its central and local institutions to provide protection,
shelter/housing, cash and in-kind assistance to people impacted by the war. Currently, UNHCR has
MOUs with four line ministries, 19 regional state administrations and agreements with 20 partners,
including 16 local partners, to deliver assistance and support the localization of the response

Protection is truly at the center of this response, as the highest critical needs of the population caused by
The international armed conflict are in the area of protection, and UNHCR leads this sector through the
Protection Cluster. Since Ukraine is a highly sophisticated country with a strong government leadership
and well-established administrative, social protection and digital systems, it is essential to design and
deliver UNHCR’s protection programs in a way that simultaneously addresses immediate needs and
supports the further development of sustainable and inclusive national protection systems.

As the war continues, new urgent humanitarian needs are created every day, alongside protracted ones
and people’s and communities’ efforts to recover and rebuild their lives in war-torn communities. Among
the IDPs and refugees from Ukraine, the majority express a hope and desire to return to their homes as
soon as the security situation allows. The protection needs of the population thus need to be analyzed
and addressed both from a humanitarian as well as from an early recovery and durable solutions
perspective, with UNHCR playing a leading role in this work.

Technical Guidance

• Assist in preparation, data collection and review of shelter needs assessments while liaising with other relevant sectors such as protection, program, community services, WASH, administration and supply.
• Assist in the shelter beneficiary selection process, prioritizing the needs of the most vulnerable PoC.
• Assist in the daily supervision of all UNHCR construction and infrastructure projects through Direct Implementation and Implementing Partners within the AoR, ensuring that works are carried out in compliance to established UNHCR and national standards and that they are implemented according to plans, completed within designated timelines,
budget and ensure that this information is shared with relevant colleagues.
• Work closely with other relevant sectors such as WASH, education and health so that shelter and infrastructure implementation is synchronized and coordinated.
• Provide support to implementing partners on technical shelter and infrastructure issues.
• Communicate with focal points at UNHCR Country Office (CO) for the purpose of planning, reporting, and coordinating core and additional activities