Protection of Civilians Officer (Wau)

About the role

The Protection of Civilians Officer is based in the Protection Transition and Reintegration Section of UNMISS, Wau, a non-family duty station. The officer advises the Head of Field Office on protecting civilians, supports the mission's POC strategy and reporting, and works closely with partners and the regional office.

Key responsibilities

• Advise the Head of Field Office on protecting civilians, building local capacity for community protection and implementing regional office measures
• Ensure POC concerns are reflected in planning, work plans and operations, with attention to women and children
• Support the mission's POC communications strategy and ensure alignment with DPKO-DFS policy
• Cooperate with the Field Integrated Operations Center, UN military and UN Police, and humanitarian sections to strengthen early warning and response
• Disseminate lessons learned, lead or take part in POC after-action reviews and coordinate approaches to durable solutions and voluntary return of IDPs
• Support the mission-wide POC strategy, the operational POC Task Force and coordination with partners on child protection, human rights and sexual violence in conflict
• Coordinate with state authorities, civil society, UN agencies, funds and programmes and NGOs, including the protection cluster
• Update the POC threat assessment, coordinate joint protection teams and include POC analysis in reporting, including SG reports
• Report resource and capability constraints affecting the POC mandate
• Assess training needs and design and deliver tailored POC training for mission components and regional counterparts

Required profile

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in political science, international relations, humanitarian and human rights law, public administration or a related field; a first-level degree plus two years of qualifying experience may be accepted
• Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in political science, humanitarian affairs, human rights, international relations, public administration or related fields at national and international level
• Experience in post-conflict countries or a peacekeeping operation; previous POC experience desirable
• Ability to integrate a protection of civilians approach into mandate implementation and to mobilize partners and stakeholders
• English at UN Level II (reading, writing, listening and speaking); French is the other working language of the Secretariat