Senior Protection Assistant - UNOPS - G5 - TYR044 - Tyr, Lebanon

There are currently more than 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 living in more than 1,700 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 the largest for the organization. Media attention and the frequency of influential high-profile visitors is high. The Office are located in Beirut, Zahle, Tripoli, Tyre, and Qobayat.

The Senior Protection Assistant will report to the Associate Field Officer (Protection) of Tyre Lebanon Field Office. He/she monitors 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 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 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 operate through the UNHCR reception centre and will ensure permanent presence to identify persons with specific protections needs, conducts interviews, provides counselling and ensures timely referrals to services providers and partners. 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)

• UNHCR’s protection policies, standards and doctrine are consistently and coherently applied.
• The specific needs and protection issues facing persons of concern 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 refugees with protection needs to the appropriate solutions. Keep good records on cases with protection concerns through recording their events on ProGress.

Responsibility (process and functions undertaken to achieve results)

• Monitor the situation of asylum seekers and refugees and assess their situation;
• Conduct interviews with persons of concerns at the reception center and ensures people with special needs are identified and assisted
• Guide the reception staff on identifying cases with specific protection needs
• Keep track of refugees and asylum seekers status records by regularly updating the database.
• Report and document any violation of refugees’ rights and ensure proper follow-up in coordination with the Associate Field Officer
• Interact with refugee communities and provide response to protection concerns (torture, trauma, SGBV, domestic violence…)
• Attends to all asylum-seekers and refugees’ queries and takes further action where necessary
• Provide input to protection reports and other as required.
• Participates 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 Field officer.
• When counseling persons of concern, decide on the content of information and advice to be shared;
• Submit recommendations on refugee status or solutions to be provided for approval by the Associate protection officer.