Associate Resettlement & Complementary Pathways Officer, P2, Kampala (for US nationals) At UN High Commissioner for Refugees

This vacancy is opened in the context of the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) scheme sponsored by the Government of the USA and is addressed exclusively to candidates WITH THE US NATIONALITY

Duties and Qualifications

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT.
Uganda has a refugee population of over 1.5 million with a majority of South Sudanese and Congolese refugees. Resettlement operation in Uganda is one of the largest of Africa and resettlement activities are conducted in 8 different locations (Sub-Offices), with 40 resettlement staff.
Uganda shifted in 2020 its identification process from a durable solution project to protection/medical referrals, and profiling system.
The resettlement activities are managed by the Senior Resettlement Officer and 2 Resettlement Officers, one located in Arua and one in Kampala. There are also 2 Associate Resettlement Officers in Kampala and Kyaka who are in charge of the review of the RRFs and have additional responsibilities such as follow up on the US deferrals and US submissions, as well as focal point responsibilities with additional resettlement countries.
UNHCR Uganda recently committed to be part of a 2022-2024 Multi-Year Multi-Plan for an increased submission of South Sudanese refugees to the USA, which will lead to the submissions of over 17,000 SSD refugees during that period.
In addition to the standard JD, the current Associate Resettlement Officer in Kampala will have to support the resettlement team with case identification for resettlement, provide technical supervision to resettlement staff located in different sub-offices and field units, ensure that there are enough cases in the resettlement pipelines and that targets are achieved. This will require ability to often go on missions in the field.
Due to the large resettlement team working under various contracts, the candidate will need to have experience working with team, and demonstrated training and coaching experience. Due to recent shift in resettlement identification, experience in innovative ways of identifying resettlement cases will be an asset.
The candidate will need to have demonstrated experience dealing with integrity issues both for individual cases and in (resettlement) process at a large. Experience working with database (and more particularly V3 and V4 proGres) will be an asset. The candidate will need to be able to work under pressure and have a high level of accountability.
Reasons for the request:
UNHCR Uganda has submitted over the last years large number of refugees for resettlement, and has accepted in September 2021 an increase of resettlement quota from 3,500 in 2021 to 4,300 refugees in 2022, 4,800 in 2023 and 5,200 in 2024, at the condition that additional staffing and resources will be provided.
Parallely, UNHCR Uganda has also increased its Complementary Pathways response (third country admissions) and have several ongoing programmes (international scholarships, family reunification and Labor mobility) that will increase over the years.
Under the supervision of the Senior Resettlement Officer, the unit is composed of 2 Resettlement Officers and 2 Associate Resettlement Officers. These staff at managerial level are instrumental to provide oversight on an operation which is complex and spread in 8 Sub-Offices and is composed of 40 staff.
The operation is also considered as high integrity risk and the new 2019 Standard Operating Procedure has increased the level of supervision and approval at all stages of the process (especially at entry point/identification level).
In addition to the responsibilities indicated above, the current JPO may also be responsible for coordinating the complementary pathways in Uganda. ”

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT.
Accountability

• Ensure that committed quota with resettlement countries are met within the deadlines and at high standard level
• Ensuring that all cases in the resettlement process are submitted in a timely manner, in compliance with the 2019 Resettlement SOPs, or closed if required.
• Ensuring that refugees are informed on the resettlement and complementary pathways taking place in Uganda, and on the decision that affect them.

Responsibility
Uganda has a refugee population of over 1.5 million with a majority of South Sudanese and Congolese refugees. Resettlement operation in Uganda is one of the largest of Africa and resettlement activities are conducted in 8 different locations (Sub-Offices), with 40 resettlement staff.
The resettlement activities are managed by the Senior Resettlement Officer in Kampala, and 2 Resettlement Officers, in Arua and one in Kampala. There are also 2 Associate Resettlement Officers in Kampala and Kyaka who are in charge of the review of the RRFs and have additional responsibilities such as follow up on the US deferrals and US submissions, as well as focal point responsibilities with additional resettlement countries. Associate Resettlement Officer in the field acts as a team leader for that Sub-Office. Resettlement interviews are conducted by national staff and international deployees. Review of the RRFs are done either by the Associate Resettlement Officers or by the international deployees (level 2 -with additional responsibilities).
In 2019, UNHCR Uganda reviewed its resettlement standard operating procedures (SOPs) which have among others reinforced integrity measures and oversight in the resettlement process. This includes segregation of duties and independence in all stages of the process. This implies that refugees are identified for resettlement through protection needs assessments by UNHCR Protection and Public Health staff through their contact with refugees or monitoring of the partner activities. Identification of refugees has also been done based on profiling exercise using data from proGres V4 including Specific Needs Code for Person with Specific Needs (PSN) and aiming at targeting refugees with cumulative vulnerabilities. Once identified and to establish the credibility of the claim and protection needs, UNHCR protection staff complete a protection assessment to confirm that data recorded in proGres V4 are accurate. The assessment is endorsed by a Protection Panel composed of three panel members of which one is a Resettlement staff at managerial level. Upon the approval of the panel, the case is created in the Resettlement Module in proGres V4 and proceeds for resettlement interviews. As per the new procedure, (Associate) Resettlement Officers verify the compliance of the SOPs before creating the resettlement cases and approve any changes of biodata and addition of family members in the Registration Group. These safeguards which have been found useful to mitigate fraud require.
UNHCR Uganda recently committed to be part of a 2022-2024 Multi-Year Multi-Plan (MYMP) for an increased submission of South Sudanese (SSD) refugees to the USA, which will lead to the submissions of over 17,000 SSD refugees during that period.
Uganda shifted in 2020 its identification process from a durable solution project to protection/medical referrals, and profiling system. This shift requires a good coordination between protection and resettlement unit to ensure that at all time, there are enough protection referrals in the resettlement pipelines.
To complement resettlement and in line with the Three Year (2019-2021) strategy on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways, UNHCR Uganda has also increased its Complementary Pathways response (third country admissions) and have several ongoing programmes (international scholarships, family reunification and Labor mobility) that will increase over the years.
Reasons for the request:
UNHCR Uganda has submitted over the last years large number of refugees for resettlement, and has accepted in September 2021 to take part to MYMP for increased submissions of SSD refugees. These additional submissions will require additional resources at mid-managerial level to ensure the compliance with the 2019 RST SOPs and review of RRFs that will be produced by resettlement caseworkers.
Authority
-Approving the biodata and family composition changes done by resettlement caseworkers
-As part of the Protection Panel, approving Protection Referrals to resettlement
-Approving the referrals to the Anti-Fraud Focal Points
-Reviewing RRFs and referring to Regional Bureau for final review or submissions

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED.
EDUCATION/QUALIFICATION: degree in:
Social Sciences;
International Law;
Law;
International Public Law;
International Refugee Law;
International Human Rights Law;
WORK EXPERIENCE: 3 years relevant experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 2 years relevant experience with a Masters degree; or 1 year relevant experience with Phd.
Essential:
Professional work experience (years depending on degree obtained) relevant to refugee protection work, preferably within the international capacity. Demonstrated experience in casework or case management, preferably in a refugee or immigration context. Ability to draft legal note.
SKILLS: organisational skills, planning skills, analytical skills, data management,
Technology Awareness (use of Office 365, proGres V4, etc)