Associate RSD Officer – Level 2

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 protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise 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.

During times of displacement, we provide critical emergency assistance in the form of clean water, sanitation and healthcare, as well as shelter, blankets, household goods and sometimes food. We also arrange transport and assistance packages for people who return home, and income-generating projects for those who resettle.

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 re-turn home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org).

The Associate RSD Officer is a member of the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) team. Under the direct supervision of the RSD Officer (RSD Supervisor), s/he is responsible for con-ducting RSD interviews to determine eligibility for refugee status, undertaking country of origin (COI) and other research related to the claim, as required, and drafting RSD assessments, in-cluding for complex cases. The Associate RSD Officer provides counselling to asylum-seekers and refugees on UNHCR’s RSD procedures and on their status, rights and obligations in the country of asylum. The Associate RSD Officer may review RSD assessments of members of the RSD team and provide legal and procedural guidance and coaching, as required. The As-sociate RSD Officer may assist in developing and implementing RSD training, including for Government authorities and other partners, as well as other measures to enhance the quality and efficiency of RSD decision-making, and provide technical advice to strengthen national asylum procedures. The Associate RSD Officer assists in compiling and analysing information related to the RSD activities of the operation, and participates in decisions regarding appropri-ate case management strategies.
The incumbent provides advice and guidance on legal and procedural matters related to RSD and RST whether in the context of mandate RSD and/or national asylum/RSD systems as ap-plicable (asylum in South Sudan is a State-led process), is responsible for conducting RSD/RST interviews, reviewing and providing advice on individual cases (where required) in line with requirements under the RSD/RST Procedural Standards. The incumbent is also re-sponsible for contributing to the development of an RSD strategy and, where required, meth-odologies to promote the effectiveness of RSD as a protection tool and implementing broader organizational objectives and priorities, in compliance with relevant UNHCR standards and policies, as well as national laws. The incumbent provides advice and support to staff engaged in RSD/RST and related activities, monitors trends of RSD decision-making, and conducts training and other capacity-development/strengthening activities to promote consistency in RSD procedures and decision-making. S/he contributes to developing and enhancing regional and global RSD standards and policies, as necessary.

Under the direct supervision of the Protection Officer the UN Volunteer will undertake the fol-lowing tasks:

Strategic Direction and Coordination:
• Stay abreast of legal, political, security and other developments which impact on the pro-tection environment, and in particular, on protection delivery through RSD.
• Assist in the development of the RSD strategy of the operation and in the annual planning exercise.
• Contribute to the development and enhancement of regional and global RSD standards and policies.

Response and Advice:
• Review RSD decisions and provide appropriate feedback and guidance to RSD staff.
• Conduct RSD interviews and draft RSD Assessments in accordance with applicable standards and guidelines.
• Maintain accurate and up-to date records and data related to all work on individual cases.
• Provide counselling to asylum seekers and refugees.
• Assist in designing, implementing and revising, as required, operation-specific SOPs for all aspects of the RSD operation in accordance with applicable standards and policies.
• Systematically apply an age, gender and diversity (AGD) perspective in the performance of assigned functions.
• Assist in monitoring RSD trends and in compiling and analysing RSD statistics related to RSD case processing to identify and respond to developments or issues impacting on the efficiency or quality of RSD decision-making, and to propose remedial measures.

Advocacy, Information Management and Research:
• Conduct research on country of origin information (COI) and legal issues related to RSD and assist in maintaining a local repository of relevant information, guidelines and stand-ards accessible to RSD staff in the operation.
• Ensure that persons of concern, Government authorities and legal partners have accurate information on the RSD procedures, including UNHCR standards, policy and practice.
• Assist in developing and maintaining processes to ensure that persons of concern, Gov-ernment authorities and partners have accurate information on the RSD procedures, in-cluding UNHCR standards, policy and practice.
• Assist in initiatives to advocate with and support Government authorities and legal part-ners to establish and strengthen fair and efficient RSD procedures and RSD decision-making.

Promotion and Capacity Building:
• Assess training needs of UNHCR staff engaged in RSD and related activities and provide on-going training and coaching on legal and procedural RSD issues.
• Support the development and implementation of RSD training initiatives for Government authorities and legal partners.

Human resources:
• Assist in evaluating and projecting RSD staffing needs using the RSD Staffing Bench-marks.
• Support UNHCR staff engaged in RSD and related activities and exercise effective over-sight.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:
• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for in-stance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities;
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publica-tions/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.;
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers;
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

11. Results/Expected Outputs:

• The incumbent processes 4 first instance RSD cases or 6 second instance RSD cases per week (RSD Interview and RSD Assessment completed).
• UNHCR’s RSD procedures are implemented in accordance with relevant UNHCR stand-ards and policies, including policies related to age, gender, and diversity mainstreaming (AGDM).
• Persons of concern have fair and transparent access to the RSD procedures.
• Persons of concern are treated with dignity, respect and professionalism.
• The development of capacity through coaching, mentoring and formal on-the-job training, when working with (including supervising) national staff or (non-) governmental counter-parts, including Implementing Partners (IPs);
• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for development during the as-signment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed