Assistant Resettlement & Complementary Pathways Officer

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is offering an IICA full time position within the Resettlement Unit at our UNHCR Regional Office in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The position will be within the Resettlement Unit, located within the broader Protection Team. The chosen colleague will be supervised by the Associate Resettlement & Complementary Pathways Officer in the Dominican Republic and will also work closely with colleagues in the Multi Country Office Washington. As such, the colleague will be exposed to two dynamic offices that covers a range of issues affecting asylum seekers, refugees, and stateless individuals living in the Dominican Republic.

UNHCR is a global organisation dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. Every year, millions of men, women and children are forced to flee their homes to escape conflict and persecution. We are in over 125 countries, using our expertise to protect and care for millions.

Title: Assistant Resettlement & Complementary Pathways Officer

Duty Station: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Duration: through 31/12/2022

Contract Type: UNOPS International Individual Contractor – IICA 1

Closing date: 14 May 2022

Start date: ASAP

Organizational context

The Resettlement Unit in the Dominican Republic has an Associate Resettlement & Complementary Pathways Officer who conducts resettlement interviews and drafts submissions and provides direct oversight for the Resettlement Unit. The Unit currently has two Resettlement Associates who help with conducting protection assessments, logistics, data management, and other varied tasks. Alongside all case management activities, the Resettlement Unit also liaises with IOM, local authorities, and partners to help facilitate pre-departure arrangements. The Resettlement Unit in the DR coordinates closely with the Resettlement Unit at MCOW which oversees all resettlement processing activities out of the Northern Caribbean, including the DR.

With a full team on the ground, the Resettlement Unit expects to successfully identify and process a heightened number of individuals for resettlement, and to continue to gradually increase the resettlement program over the coming years.

The position

The incumbent’s primary role is to assist resettlement and complementary pathways activities in his/her Area of Responsibility (AOR). Under supervision, the incumbent assists in providing, in close coordination with concerned sections within UNHCR as well as external parties such as resettlement and complementary pathways countries, IOM and NGOs, a continuous support to resettlement and complementary pathways operations by ensuring that polices are correctly implemented and operations are supported in establishing comprehensive protection and solutions strategies.

The Dominican Republic Office has substantially increased its resettlement submission numbers over the past several years. The resettlement quota for 2022 is about 300 persons and includes submissions of Venezuelans, Haitians and other regional and extra regional nationals. This quota is expected to continue to increase in coming years. The Assistant Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Officer (ARO) will assist in meeting these operational goals by assessing cases for resettlement and/or complementary pathways, conducting interviews as well as monitoring procedural compliance and quality of case submissions. It is anticipated that the ARO will spend the majority of their time on interviewing refugees and finalizing RRFs. The successful candidate is expected to operate in a fast paced environment under strict deadlines for submission of work products.

Duties and responsibilities

• Prepare consistent and quality resettlement submissions, as well as to promote and facilitate access to complementary pathways for admission to third countries.

• Stay abreast of political, legal, social and economic developments that have an impact on the protection environment.

• Assist in implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for promoting the resettlement of persons of concern as protection tool and promoting access to complementary pathways for admission in the context of comprehensive solution strategies.

• Assist in the development of country resettlement and complementary pathways for admission strategy and annual planning exercise.

• Assist in promoting and monitoring the implementation of UNHCR’s global resettlement and complementary pathways policies, procedures and guidelines.

• Assist in monitoring resettlement activities to ensure progress against targets, transparency and efficiency in case submissions and appropriate follow-up with resettlement countries and other key stakeholders.

• Identify, interview, assess resettlement needs, and process persons identified for resettlement following established procedures; undertake field missions as required; provide counselling to individuals.

• Assist selection missions by resettlement countries to the country.

• Identify, interview, and referrer accordingly persons identified with potential to access complementary pathways for admission following established procedures; undertake field missions as required; provide counselling to individuals.

• Systematically apply an Age, Gender and Diversity perspective in all aspects of the resettlement and complementary pathways for admission process; comply with UNHCR policy and guidelines on HIV/AIDS.

• Assist in mitigating resettlement or complementary pathways related fraud through oversight (including in-country travel), advice and guidance.

• Maintain regular contact and close cooperation with resettlement countries and partners to ensure effective resettlement delivery and adherence to adequate protection and resettlement standards.

• Participate, where appropriate, in country-level discussions with resettlement and complementary pathways countries and partners.

• Assist in managing a process to ensure that persons of concern and partners receive up-to-date and accurate information on UNHCR’s resettlement policies and procedures, as well as on complementary pathways for admission opportunities and procedures.

• Assist in the submission of up-to-date and accurate resettlement and complementary pathways statistics, reports and needs assessments to management as required.

• Identify and recommend relevant training activities of UNHCR staff and implementing partners.

• Assist in communication with communities’ activities ensuring that persons of concern are made aware of UNHCR’s resettlement and complementary pathways procedures and have fair and transparent access to and participation in the processes.

• Participate, where appropriate, in country-level discussions with resettlement and/or complementary pathways countries and partners.

• Perform other related duties as required.

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required

– 1 year relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or no experience with Graduate degree; or no experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education

International Law; International Relations; Political Science;

Social Sciences; or other relevant field.

Desirable

Ability to understand and implement UNHCR’s policy and global strategic priorities, such as AGDM, IDP, Statelessness, and HIV/AIDS, in the area of responsibility at appropriate level. Good IT skills including database management skills.

Functional Skills

PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)

IT-Computer Literacy

DM-Database Management

PR-Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Operations & IDPs Status/Rights/Obligation

PR-Refugee Protection Principles and Framework

UN-UNHCR’s Mandate/Policy and Global Strategic Priorities

PR-Statelessness- Principles and Procedures, operational arrangements/assistance

MD-Experience with HIV/AIDS situations

EX-Field experience

Language Requirements

Fluency in written English and working knowledge of Spanish. French language skills are desirable but not required.**

The ideal candidate will

• Possess a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field

• Have previous experience with refugee status determination or resettlement procedures

• Have excellent communication skills with strong interpersonal and negotiation skills.

• Be fluent in English, Spanish with advanced writing and editing skills. French language is desirable, but not essential.

• Capable of building and maintaining simple databases and filing systems for project management.

• Have good experience using the Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).

• Demonstrate a genuine desire to learn and develop.

• Be highly organised and have good attention to detail.

• Be able to multi-task and to prioritise workload.

• Be a flexible, team-player.

Location

The successful candidate will be based with the team in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Conditions**The position is through 31/12/2022, with the possibility of extension. It is a full-time role with working hours starting from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (40 hours per week).**