Assistant Protection Officer

The Assistant Protection Officer is responsible for coordinating protection responses for populations of concern in Sweden, providing legal advice, managing protection cases, and representing UNHCR in various forums. The role involves legal analysis, community engagement, advocacy, and capacity building to ensure protection standards and durable solutions for refugees and stateless persons.

Responsibilities

• Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
• Consistently apply International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
• Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to PoC.
• Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to PoC; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
• Conduct eligibility and status determination for PoC in compliance with UNHCR procedural standards and international protection principles.
• Promote and contribute to measures to identify, prevent and reduce statelessness.
• Contribute to a country-level child protection plan as part of the protection strategy.
• Contribute to a country-level education plan as part of the protection strategy.
• Provide inputs for the development of protection policies and standards within the AoR.
• Implement and monitor Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities.
• Manage individual protection cases including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents.
• Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of PoC through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
• Assess resettlement needs and apply priorities for the resettlement of individuals and groups of refugees and other PoC.
• Contribute to the design, implementation and evaluation of protection related AGD based programming with implementing and operational partners.
• Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
• Contribute to and facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems.
• Assist capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
• Participate in initiatives to capacitate authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
• Intervene with authorities on protection issues.
• Assist the supervisor in deciding priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
• Assist the supervisor in enforcing compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
• Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.
• Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
• Perform other related duties as required.

Requirements

• For P1/NOA - 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree
• Field(s) of Education: Law, International Law, Political Sciences or other relevant field.
• Knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles
• Must be fluent in Swedish language at professional level or mother tongue
• Must hold a law degree
• Must have proven work experience in the legal field
• Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language
• Functional skills: PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators, PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD), MG-Project Management, PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards, PR-International Humanitarian Law, PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation, PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement, CO-Drafting and Documentation, PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination

Skills

• International Refugee Law
• Human Rights
• Legal Analysis
• Protection Case Management
• Legal Advice
• Community Engagement
• Advocacy
• Capacity Building
• PR-Protection Guidelines
• PR-Age Gender Diversity
• Project Management
• Human Rights Doctrine
• International Humanitarian Law
• Assessment of IDP Status
• Climate Change Displacement
• Drafting and Documentation
• Gender Based Violence Coordination
• Swedish Language
• English Language

Languages

Swedish, English