Senior Protection Assistant – G5 – Mtl004 - Mount Lebanon

   The Senior Protection Assistant will report to the Associate Protection Officer (Community-Based) of Mount Lebanon Field Office.  He/she 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 Senior Protection Assistant works directly with communities of concern to identify the risks they face and to leverage their capacities to protect themselves, their families and communities.  The Senior Protection Assistant provides quality, timely and effective protection support to persons of concern and identifies opportunities to mainstream protection methodologies and safeguards in operational responses. He/she contributes to designing a comprehensive protection strategy and may liaise externally with local authorities and partners on child protection issues as guided by the supervisor.  The Senior Protection Assistant also ensures that persons of concern are informed about their rights and obligations in Lebanon and about the services provided to them. She/He will identify persons with specific protection needs, including children at risk, will conduct interviews with persons of concern, and will ensure timely referrals and follow up to case management partners and service providers. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, local authorities, protection partners and child protection partners.    The incumbent will support the application of community-based protection standards, operational procedures and practices in community-based protection delivery at the field level. To fulfill this role the Senior Protection Assistant is required to spend a substantial percentage of her/his time working outside the office, building and maintaining networks with communities of persons of concern. The development and maintenance of constructive relationships with persons of concern that measurably impact and enhance protection planning, programming and results forms the core of the work of the Senior Protection Assistant. The incumbent also supports the designing of a community-based protection strategy for child protection by ensuring that it is based on consultations with persons of concern.    Accountability (key results that will be achieved)  UNHCR’s protection policies, standards and doctrine are consistently and coherently applied. The specific needs and protection issues facing persons of concern, including children, are identified in an accurate and timely manner. Persons of concern to UNHCR are assisted, treated with dignity, kept informed and encouraged to participate actively in matters relating to their protection. Provide sound counseling to refugees. Act in the best interest of Persons of Concern. Provide information to refugees on rights and available services. Guide and refer timely children at risk and/or refugees with protection needs to the appropriate solutions. Keep good records on cases with protection concerns through recording their events on ProGress. The participation of persons of concern is assured through continuous assessment and evaluation using participatory, rights and community based approaches, which inform protection and assistance programming and ensure that UNHCR meets its commitments to accountability to persons of concern.  Responsibility (process and functions undertaken to achieve results)  Conduct interviews and provide counseling to refugee children and their families and other persons of concern at the reception center and beyond and ensure follow up actions on cases with protection needs. Guide the protection staff on identifying child protection cases with specific protection needs. Keep track of child protection records by regularly updating the database and maintaining case files. Work closely with case management partners on the referral and follow up of individual child protection cases, including BIA and BID reports. Provide guidance, training, and project oversight to partners as necessary in the implementation of their child protection activities. Ensure a thorough understanding of the national child protection framework. Develop professional relationships with national child protection bodies to ensure effective coordination and consultation on child protection issues. Stay abreast of child protection legal procedures and new policies Assist functional units, the Multi-Functional Team (MFT) and senior management to integrate participatory and community-based approaches in the overall protection delivery strategy. Support implementing and operational partners as well as displaced and local communities to develop community-owned activities to address, where applicable, the social, educational, psycho-social, cultural, health, organizational and livelihood concerns as well as child protection and prevention and response to SGBV. Closely monitor projects related to the protection of children. Support participatory assessments by multifunctional teams and ongoing consultation with refugee children and persons of concern. Act as interpreter in exchange of routine information, contribute to related liaison activities and respond directly to routine queries. Report and document any violation of refugees’ rights and ensure proper follow-up in coordination with the Associate Protection Officer (Community-Based). Interact with refugee communities and provide response to protection concerns (torture, trauma, SGBV, etc.) Obtain and assess information from partner reports regarding child protection – including statistics and analysis.  Provide input to UNHCR weekly and monthly protection reports and other reporting as required. Participate in training sessions as resource person. Performs other duties as required.   Authority (decisions made in executing responsibilities and to achieve results)  Decide on prioritization and identify the most appropriate course of action in view of particular vulnerabilities of persons of concern; Submit individual requests from persons of concern for approval by the Associate Protection Officer following established procedures. When counseling persons of concern, decide on the content of information and advice to be shared; Submit recommendations on child protection cases to be provided for approval by the Associate protection officer.