Legal Assistant - Bekaa

INTERSOS is a non-profit humanitarian aid organization that works to bring assistance to people in danger, victims of natural disasters and armed conflicts. Established in 1992 with support from the Italian Federation of Trade Unions, its actions are based on the values of solidarity, justice, human dignity, equal rights and opportunities for all people and respect for diversity and coexistence, paying particular attention to the most vulnerable and the unprotected.

INTERSOS identifies with the core values of CONCORD, the European Confederation of NGOs; it adheres to international codes of conduct for humanitarian organizations and the values and principles expressed within those codes. INTERSOS is recognized by the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the European Commission and the principal UN agencies; it is privileged to hold an advisory status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

INTERSOS is an independent association which, through its own humanitarian operators, intervenes to effectively answer the needs of people in serious crises situations, mainly in the world's poorest regions, who are suffering, deprived of rights, dignity and essentials goods. It maintains a flexible operating structure. The head office in Italy coordinates, supports and monitors the planned activities in the countries of intervention carried out by decentralized offices.  

Job Title      : Legal Assistant

Reports to        :  Protection Officer for Legal Assistance

Duty Station     : Zahle, Bekaa with regular field visits

Position Type    : Full time

Job Purpose:

The Legal Assistant is responsible for supporting the Legal Consultants and the Protection Officer for Legal Assistance in providing legal information, and counseling to vulnerable persons, in accordance with INTERSOS’ mandate, priorities and donor agreements.

Main Duties:

• Family Law
• Labor Law
• Legal Residency
• Legal identity including obtaining civil documentation necessary to access rights and services (birth registration, marriage registration)
• Citizenship and statelessness issues related to displacement

Exceptionally, the team may engage in other thematic areas based on needs and external requests.

Generic Duties:

1. Conduct basic interviews with refugees in order to assess legal and urgent protection needs.
2. Provide legal information to beneficiaries on main legal issues encountered.
3. Provide counselling on birth and marriage registration at UNHCR RC.
4. Conducts interviews and counselling on Legal Residency procedures (issuance and renewal)
5. Provides counselling on Labor Law (topics to be identified)
6. Plan and facilitate awareness sessions for the Refugees community on different legal topics.
7. Be involved in the office organization of awareness sessions or any other topic to be decided according to the need, in close coordination with the Legal Consultant.
8. Attend meetings and workshop/training as requested by the line manager, Project Manager or Protection Manager.
9. Respect deadline for the delivering of weekly and monthly reports and any kind of urgent reporting to the Project Manager or Protection Officer.
10. Any other task not listed here but necessary to the project and activities.
11. Available to work extra hours and available at the weekend for emergency cases.

Specific Duties:

(Can be adapted to the particularities of the job location and the requirement of the project. This section shall be revised whenever a new employee is hired).

Education:

• University degree in law. Advanced university degree, preferably with the specialization in Family Law or Humanitarian Law;

Competencies: (Knowledge, Skills & Abilities)

Professional Competencies:

• Minimum 2 years of relevant working experience.
• Previous experience in humanitarian Work (working on refugee related legal problems).
• Prior experience in working with governmental authorities is added value.
• Familiarity with international protection and human rights legal standards.
• Knowledge on how to communicate with vulnerable population groups, such as women, children, youth, elderly, disable and refugees.
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of local communities and customary rules.
• Excellent analysis and reporting.
• Good understanding of the humanitarian context.
• Computer/IT literacy (OS Windows/Linux, MS Office, Internet etc.).
• Driving License issued since more than 2 years.

Behavioural competencies:

• Teamwork
• High degree of flexibility and adaptability
• Initiative
• Communication Skills
• Planning and Organizing
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Strongly objective and impartial reasoning
• Ethical and transparent decision-making
• Independence, i.e. conducting tasks with minimal supervision, and stress resilience
• Self-motivation, goal/result-orientation.
• Humanitarian motivation and commitment to INTERSOS values
• Respect of Intersos policies and procedures

Languages:

• Fluency in Arabic and Excellent command of (written and spoken) English;