Country: Costa Rica
Closing date: 16 Dec 2018
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
The Senior Durable Solutions Officer is a designated focal point for solutions related issues in a country, and reports to the Assistant or Deputy Representative or, as appropriate, to the Representative. The incumbent has direct supervisory responsibility for durable solutions staff, which may include staff within the functional groups of durable solutions, reintegration, repatriation, and resettlement. She/he works closely with protection and programme staff, and ensures operational standards and practices in solutions delivery at the country level.
The Senior Durable Solutions Officer is normally a member of the Office's senior management team and is relied upon by the Office to assist in the development of a durable solutions strategy. The Senior Durable Solutions Officer should provide planning and foresight to advance progress for Protracted Refugee situations, where applicable, and/or to prevent new situations from becoming protracted. Fostering an environment to enhance partnerships is a critical element of the work, as are activities designed to strengthen the involvement of refugee communities and their hosts in the design and implementation of solutions strategies.
Responsibility
- Design and implement a comprehensive durable solutions strategy for persons of concern with a view to finding durable solutions to the maximum number of PoCs
- Participate in or lead inter-agency programming processes, namely joint needs assessments, CCA/UNDAF, national development plans.
- Participate in the planning of, and advise on, the promotion of peace building and coexistence between PoCs and host communities.
- Participate in consultative processes within UNHCR and with a broad range of external partners to promote voluntary repatriation, local integration and resettlement.
- Develop and maintain strategic partnerships with UN and other development agencies, civil societies and the private sector to bring area-based development programmes to communities hosting PoCs.
- Participate in inter-agency coordination meetings on early recovery/transition projects and represent UNHCR when appropriate.
- Ensure that populations of concern are appropriately engaged through participatory assessments and other forms of community based assessment to identify the most appropriate solutions for refugees with respect to individual or group needs.
- Provide guidance and input to the annual programme planning to identify adequate resources and means to implement the programme country-wide.
- Integrate self-reliance as a key component of a durable solutions strategy and ensure the involvement of PoCs in transition projects, peace-building and development initiatives.
- Prepare reports, statistics, and other documents to ensure that all reporting requirements are fully met.
- Design and conduct training activities aimed at the capacity building of UNHCR and partner staff on durable solutions, peace building/coexistence and partnership.
- Advise populations of concern, Government counterparts, partners and other stakeholders on available durable solutions and alternatives.
- Participate in fundraising and engage in drafting and presenting inter-agency project proposals.
- Monitor the implementation of the programme through managing the human and financial resources and identify gaps to ensure optimum use of available funds.
ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
- Graduate degree (equivalent of a Master's) in Law/International Law, Political Science, Social Science, Economics, International Relations or related field plus 8 years relevant professional experience whereof 3 years in the field and 5 years in an international capacity.
- Undergraduate degree (equivalent of a BA/BS) plus 9 years or Doctorate degree (equivalent of a PhD) plus 7 years of previous relevant work experience may also be accepted.
- Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES
- Diverse field experience desirable.
- Good knowledge of MS Word, Excel, ProGres and MSRP.
- Completion of the RSD- Resettlement Learning Programme, Protection Learning Programme and Management. Learning Programme desirable
- Knowledge of additional UN languages.
How to apply:
Application
Interested candidates should submit their online application on the UNHCR career page by clicking on the 'international vacancies' tab here: https://www.unhcr.org/careers.html.
Deadline for applications: Sunday, 16 December 2018 (midnight Geneva time).
To view all UNHCR vacancies, go to http://www.unhcr.org/careers.html.
The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.