Stay abreast of political, social, economic and cultural developments that have an impact on the protection environment.
Promote International and National Law and applicable UN/UNHCR and IASC policy, standards and codes of conduct.
Foster their consistent and coherent interpretation and application through mainstreaming in all sectors and /or in clusters in applicable operations.
Assist in providing comments on existing and draft legislation related to forcibly displaced and stateless persons .
Provide legal advice and guidance on protection issues to forcibly displaced and stateless persons ; liaise with competent authorities to ensure the issuance of personal and other relevant documentation.
Conduct eligibility and status determination for forcibly displaced and stateless persons 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 to ensure programmes use a child protection systems approach.
Contribute to a country-level education plan.
Implement and oversee Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all protection/solutions activities which integrate AGD sensitive procedures.
Oversee and manage individual protection cases, including those on GBV and child protection. Monitor, and intervene in c
Additional Information
Please note that this vacancy is only open to eligible staff members who have been individually notified of their eligibility to apply for positions advertised in the Accelerated Posting Compendium.
Deadline for Applications
June 12, 2026
Hardship Level
D
Family Type
Non Family with Residential Location
Residential location (if applicable)
Dakar, Senegal
Grade
PR2
Staff Member / Affiliate Type
Professional
Reason
Regular > Regular Assignment
Target Start Date
2026-05-26
Standard Job Description
Associate Protection Officer
Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Associate Protection Officer reports to the Protection Officer or the Senior Protection Officer. Depending on the size and structure of the Office, the incumbent may have supervisory responsibility for protection staff, including community-based protection registration, resettlement and education. S/he provides functional protection guidance to information management and programme staff on all protection/legal matters and accountabilities. These include: statelessness (in line with the campaign to End Statelessness by 2024), Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) commitments, age, gender, diversity (AGD) and accountability to affected populations (AAP) through community-based protection, Child protection, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention and response, gender equality, disability inclusion, youth empowerment, psycho-social support and PSEA, registration, asylum/refugee status determination, resettlement, local integration, voluntary repatriation, human rights standards integration, national legislation, judicial engagement, predictable and decisive engagement in situations of internal displacement and engagement in wider mixed movement and climate change/disaster-related displacement responses. S/he supervises protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery in line with international standards.
The Associate Protection Officer is expected to coordinate quality, timely and effective protection responses to the needs of forcibly displaced and stateless persons , ensuring that operational responses in all sectors mainstream protection methodologies and integrate protection safeguards. The incumbent contributes to the design of a comprehensive protection strategy and represents the organization externally on protection doctrine and policy as guided by the supervisor. S/he also ensures that forcibly displaced and stateless persons are meaningfully engaged in the decisions that affect them and support programme design and adaptations that are influenced by the concerns, priorities and capacities of forcibly displaced and stateless persons . To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern, authorities, protection and assistance partners as well as a broader network of stakeholders who can contribute to enhancing protection.
All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR's core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.
Unhcr · Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso