Programme Associate

The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to pro-tect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safe-guard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exer-cise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org).

Context

The Programme Associate normally receives guidance from more senior programme staff in the Operation. The incumbent may receive indirect guidance from other sections and units relevant to the country programme(s). UNHCR Manual, Operations Plans, UN and UNHCR financial/budgetary rules and regulations will guide the work of the Programme Associate. The incumbent is expected to stay abreast of the challenges posed to the region by the political context, the UN and humanitarian reform and institutional developments. The incumbent is expected to have contacts within the Organization and outside the duty station, as well as with partners and other stakeholders to collect information, monitor programme activities and implement administrative requirements.

Task Description

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of Program Officer or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UNV Program Associate will:

• Support the assessment and analysis of the needs of persons of concern in the country/region in a participatory manner and using an Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective as basis for planning.
• Assist in managing the development of a broad network of partners, good coordination practices and the development of partner capacities related to programme management if applicable.
• Assist in organizing and documenting the selection of partners in accordance with the policy on selection and retention of partners, ensuring due diligence to meet the requirements of projects.
• Provide support to the field with technical advice to ensure partnership agreements are established in a timely manner, regularly monitored and reported on in compliance with established guidelines and procedures included in the framework for implementing with partners.
• Support the implementation and performance of partnership agreements through field visits and appropriate physical monitoring if applicable, reviewing performance and financial reports.
• Support the development and implementation of multifunctional team (MFT) monitoring plans for activities implemented through partnerships and those under direct implementation in line with Programme Manual and programming instructions.
• Contribute to the review and analysis of operations plans, mid-year and year-end reports of the different UNHCR offices, ensuring quality assurance and compliance with established policies, guidelines, procedures and standards. Generate and maintain records of implementation rate (performance progress and expenditures) on a regular basis.
• Follow up on any change in regards to alignment of results chain, verifying indicators, budget, prioritization, apportioning needed to measure programme performance, trends and target interventions, contributing to soundness of Operations Plan and enhancement of data quality.
• Follow up with UNHCR offices the compliance with issuance of audit certificates for partners in line with the Policy on Risk-Based Project Audits.
• Provide support to the field through technical advice and training on resource allocation processes and other programmatic issues.
• Use UNHCR’s corporate tools (e.g. Focus Client, Global Focus Insight and FOCUS Reader, MSRP) for core activities related to planning, budgeting, implementation and reporting, generating data for evidence-based programmatic decisions and analysis.
• Support UNHCRs programming of community of practice and continuously contributing to improvements of programming tools and processes.
• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.