Community-Based Protection Associate – G6 – BEY149 – UNOPS Contract - Beirut, Lebanon

General Background

The Government of Lebanon (GoL) estimates the total number of Syrian refugees at 1.5 million, of which close to one million are registered as refugees by UNHCR.  Lebanon is also host to around 16,000 refugees of other nationalities, in addition to the Palestinian refugees. This 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 over 2,000 localities. The presence of such a large refugee population, in a small country that is struggling to maintain its own delicate balance and regain its pre-crisis economic growth, is seen as affecting the social stability in many municipalities. Pressure on infrastructure and services, competition over jobs and other factors are trying the patience and hospitality of the host community. At the same time, refugees are facing a multitude of protection problems in their daily lives due to factors such as restricted access to legal stay and documentation, and limited opportunities to work and become self-reliant coupled with insufficient assistance to meet all of their essential needs, which increases risks of exploitation and other harm. Moreover, COVID-19 further compounded the situation for most people living in Lebanon. 

To prevent and combat the spread of COVID-19, the GOL, since February 2020, put in place several interventions such as lockdowns, curfews, mandatory masks in public and mass communication campaigns. This is being done by GOL through the Ministry of Public Health, in coordination with UNICEF, WHO, UNHCR, IOM, relevant government ministries, DRM, municipalities, NGOs, CSOs and academic institutions, among others, under the Risk Communication and Community Engagement Taskforce (RCCE) for COVID-19. UNHCR Lebanon has been supporting national efforts through several mass information, public information, community engagement and public health activities. This includes equipping ICU units at hospitals, training refugees and Lebanese to produce facemasks and soaps and mobilizing refugees with health backgrounds to visit informal settlements and collective shelters. In early 2021, Lebanon began receiving batches of the COVID-19 vaccine and put in place platforms and systems for persons to register and receive the vaccine. In March 2021, UNHCR Lebanon initiated a plan to increase refugee access to information on the vaccine and remove barriers to their registration (lack access to internet, computer literacy, disability, etc.). This entailed sharing information through community structures and social media platforms on where to register and mobilizing volunteers and UNHCR/partner staff to support older persons and others to register on the online vaccination platform. 

UNHCR’s operation in Lebanon is managed at the country-level by a Representation Office in Beirut, and at field-level by four offices, located in Mount Lebanon, Tripoli, Tyre and the Bekaa. The Community-Based Protection Associate is a member of the Protection Unit in Beirut and will report to the Community-Based Protection Officer. Under the overall direction of the Protection Unit, and in coordination with other UNHCR staff, government, NGO partners and other stakeholders, the incumbent works directly with UNHCR sub/field offices to support communities of concern to identify the risks they face and to leverage their capacities to protect themselves, their families and communities with specific focus on COVID-19. S/he supports the application of community-based protection standards, operational procedures and practices in community-based protection delivery at the field level. To fulfil this role, the Community-Based Protection Assistant may be required to spend a substantial percentage of the workday outside the office, building and maintaining networks within communities of persons of concern (PoC), in coordination with UNHCR sub/field offices and in support of their community mobilization, outreach and empowerment activities. 

The Community-Based Protection Associate will support UNHCR interventions that aim to build the capacity of refugees and host communities to prevent and respond to COVID-19. S/he will also contribute to the development of action plans, interventions and programmes that aim to increase knowledge of COVID-19 and the vaccine, as well as increase refugee uptake of it. S/he will support interventions that identify behavioral practices around vaccine registration and uptake. S/he will also analyze and present information being collected from the community engagement structures engaged in the COVID-19 activities, as well as support the set-up of assessments for greater data collection and understanding of community knowledge, attitudes and practices around COVID-19. 

S/he will carry out all tasks in close coordination with Public Health, Communication with Communities and Public Health Units, as well as UNHCR field/sub offices and relevant partners. S/he will also need to coordinate at the national level with MOPH, UNICEF, NGOs, CSOs, academic institutions and other UN agencies within the RCCE coordinating mechanism. 

Purpose and Scope of Assignment

• Through relationships with persons of concerns (POCs) and network of partners, stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment, including around the COVID-19 situation, and provide advice to the protection/community-based protection (CBP) team. 
• Understand and analyze the perspectives, capacities, needs and resources of PoCs especially in the context of COVID-19 and advise the team accordingly, highlighting the specific protection needs and barriers to access facing refugees with focus on women and men, older persons, persons with disabilities and marginalized groups.
• Advise and track specific behavioral change indicators in collaboration with UNHCR units such as Communication with Communities/Mass info, Public Health and Public Information, UNHCR sub/field offices and other relevant actors.
• Design and update the short and long-term monitoring and evaluation activities to measure the impact of the communication and community engagement campaign around the COVID-19 vaccine. 
• Keep abreast of all COVID-19 interventions within UNHCR. 
• Represent UNHCR in RCCE meetings and other relevant COVID-19/vaccine meetings, as requested.
• Keep updated on information from the community and community structures, as well as compile and analyse community level observations on hesitancy, barriers and misinformation from reports received from UNHCR sub/field offices and volunteers. 
• Put together data, information and analysis for plans, meetings and reports related to COVID-19 for internal and external purposes.
• Compile daily, weekly and monthly sitrep on the RCCE activities from CBP, CWC, PI and PHU.  
• Produce a comprehensive report, as needed and requested, that analyzes the development, implementation and findings of the community engagement (CBP) activities around COVID-19 and the vaccine. Contribute to the development of best practices and recommendations for how to effectively and efficiently direct and scale the campaign. 
• Compile and/or update the UNHCR Lebanon RCCE strategy based on inputs from different units.
• Coordinate closely with PI, CwC and PHU units, as needed. Contribute to their specific activities such as mass info communication material, PI content, this also includes coordination meetings with field office colleagues, as relevant. 
• Prepare minutes of meetings
• Perform other related duties as required.

Monitoring and Progress Controls

• Objective setting at the start of the contract
• Workplans with clear tasks and timelines 
• Mid-year review and evaluation of objectives on a yearly basis 
• Issuing monthly reports related the assigned tasks