Protection Assistant (Community-Based) - UNOPS - G4 - Beirut, Lebanon

Seven years into the Syria crisis, Lebanon remains the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita, with over one million Syrian refugees, and around 20,000 refugees of Iraqi, Sudanese, Ethiopian and other origins, in addition to the Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate.  There are no formal camps for Syrian refugees in the country, and refugees are living in hundreds of communities and locations across the country. 

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. The structure brings together over 100 UN agencies, 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 one of the largest for the organization. Media attention and the frequency of influential high-profile visitors is high. Aside from the country office in the capital city of Beirut, UNHCR has offices in Mt Lebanon, Qobayat, Tripoli, Tyre and Zahle.

The Protection Assistant normally reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer.  Depending on the structure of the Office, the position may also report to senior national staff. The incumbent provides functional and administrative support to the protection unit on protection-related liaison, correspondence, monitoring, case management, and reporting activities.   

The Protection Assistant also supports the protection unit in designing a comprehensive protection strategy and in providing quality, timely and effective protection responses to persons of concern. He/she may liaise externally with local authorities and partners on correspondence and/or protection issues as guided by the supervisor.

The Protection Assistant also facilitates the involvement of persons of concern with the Office in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying appropriate solutions to their problems. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, local authorities and protection, and assistance partners. 

Accountability (key results that will be achieved)

• The protection of populations of concern is met through the application of International and National Law, relevant UN/UNHCR protection standards and IASC principles.
• Protection activities are guided by the UNHCR country protection strategy.
• The participation of persons of concern is facilitated through supporting participatory, rights and community-based approaches.

Responsibility (process and functions undertaken to achieve results) 

• Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
• Observe and respect protection related Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Provide functional and administrative support in all protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
• Provide functional and administrative support in implementing participatory approaches, needs assessments, monitoring, reporting and case management.  
• Support assessments on durable solutions through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
• Facilitate liaison with competent authorities for the issuance of personal and other relevant documents. 
• Assist in drafting reports, routine correspondence, updating relevant databases and compiling statistics for the protection unit/section. 

Authority (decisions made in executing responsibilities and to achieve results)

• Select persons of concern for preliminary interviews and decide which relevant information to share.
• Enforce integrity in the delivery of protection services by local implementing partners.