Cash-Based Interventions Associate (Maternity Replacement) – G6 – BEY144 – UNOPS Contract - Beirut, Lebanon

General Background

There are currently over one million Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR in Lebanon, which makes Lebanon the highest refugee-hosting country per capita in the world. There are no approved camps in the country, and refugees are spread over 1,750 localities. The refugee response is led by the Government and local actors, supported by the international community. As the designated lead agency in the refugee response, UNHCR has established a sector-based structure in Beirut and in the field to support the Government. The structure brings together 13 UN agencies,60 national and international NGO partners in identifying and agreeing on the strategic priorities to address the needs of Syrian refugees and other affected populations. The Lebanon national response falls under the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), whereby UNHCR guides the refugee response and UNDP facilitates the resilience and stabilization component.

The UNHCR operational response in Lebanon is the largest for the organization. Media attention and the frequency of influential high-profile visitors is high. The Office has grown substantially in the past years and now has around 640 staff. Aside from the Branch Office in the capital city of Beirut, UNHCR has two sub-offices in Zahle and Tripoli and two fíeld offices in Mt Lebanon, Tyre, and one field unit in Qobayat under the Tripoli Sub-Office.

More specifically, the incumbent will work in UNHCR's operation in Lebanon, in the Basic Assistance Unit (BA), under the supervision of the Programme Officer (Cash). Basic Assistance Unit implements and oversees the cash and in-kind assistance to almost 1.5 million refugees known to be in the country. The Lebanon Multipurpose Cash (MCAP) and winter assistance programmes (WINCAP) are in monetary terms and volume of beneficiaries the largest of all UNHCR operations. These programmes are also considered UNHCR flagship programmes globally and other operations look to Lebanon for learning and best practices, especially on the sophisticated targeting system to select families to benefit from assistance.

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

The post of Programme Associate (Cash) is located ín the Basic Assistance Unit and its incumbent will be supervised by the Programme Officer (Cash). The Unit falls under the overall supervision of the Assistant Representative (Programme). UNHCR Manual, programme objectives, Operations Plans, UN and UNHCR financial/budgetary rules and regulations will guide the work of the Programme Officer. ln addition and in light of the specificity of the position, she/he is expected to be very familiar with financial and delivery of service awareness on cash transfers in humanitarian and development contexts. S/he is also expected to stay abreast of the developments in terms of bilateral and multi-agency approaches related to cash transfers and cash-based interventions in humanitarian and development context.

The incumbent will assist in refining and ensuring proper implementation and delivery of a multi-sectorial programme for cash-based interventions to meet basic and survival needs for UNHCR's persons of concern. The Multipurpose Cash (MCAP) and Winter Assistance (WINCAP) programmes are based on the UNHCR Basic Needs approach and the Agency's core business; the basic needs approach facilitates the delivery of an immediate minimum safety net, to be complemented by specific protection and sector interventions through in-kind or cash or ensuring access to services. The incumbent, along with the technical team in the Basic Assistance Unit will assist and provide support to the development of a coherent operational plan and the implementation of both MCAP and WINCAP Cash Based Interventions.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

Ensure timely implementation of CBI regular business processes:

• Processing Uploads and their subsequent tasks in a timely manner
• Coordinate with relevant units of programme, finance, ICT, and with field offices in adherence with the SOPs and UNHCR financial rules pertaining
• Coordinate sending of loading SMS and contribute to relevant Q&As
• Coordinate, monitor and ensure implementation of validation and distribution exercises according to SOPs
• Ensure the opening the card management cycle within the regular time frame agreed upon
• Support in processing balance refunds, bank fees payments and dormant account offloading
• Prepare verification reports and follow up reconciliation process
• Process and follow up card management enquiries
• Assist in conducting the photo verification and violations exercise
• Update and share regularly the BA loading plan.

CBI activities:

• Liaise between ICT and different programs (shelter, education, protection) on timely follow up for assistance purposes
• Link with CWC for counseling of refugees and reporting of inbound/outbound calls and claims received.
• Coordinate closely with WFP on card related issues, upload issues and timelines.
• Liaise closely with the FSP on various issues related to card management processes, payments of card fees and card maintenance, uploads, reporting, and on trouble shooting in order to resolve any rising issue throughout the various stages of the CBls assistance process.
• Follow up directly with CBI focal points in the field on validation, card issuance, card distribution, and regular processing of uploads.

Contribute to enhance monitoring. documentation and reporting of CBI through the development and update of tracking/monitoring tools and internal reports:

• Developing reporting tools for UNHCR CBI activities: drafting no show reports, winter report, Card management follow-up reports and upload tracking reports
• Update on a regular basis the BA planning schedule to ensure adequate communication and follow up between different units
• Develop and update the BA dashboard and tracking sheet initiate the documentation of BA guidelines and operational tracking tools for better documentation of CBI activities
• Report CBI activities in the country, challenges and achievements/deliverables in terms of families assisted, type of cash assistance provided and duration as well as other related to the financial and card management of CBl
• Coordinate reporting and tracking of CRI dispatch and distributions