Mission and objectives

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.

In support of the rural – urban linkages, SDG-aligned strategies, UNHCR in Jordan has a dedicated Technical Unit in Amman and technical staff in camps. Together, they support in coordination with the Government, to assess needs and coordinate the provision of WASH (Water, sanitation and hygiene), and in particular, hygiene promotion services to Persons of Concern (PoC) to UNHCR. This will include coordination at site level with WASH partners in conjunction with the government authorities, and monitoring progress of hygiene promotion programme implementation to ensure that an adequate level of hygiene promotion service is provided at each site in accordance with the UNHCR WASH Manual and Technical Guidelines, and applicable UNHCR Standards and/or National Standards.

Context

The Refugee Shelter & Settlement Assistant will report to the UNHCR Settlement Planner, in the context of the infrastructure & Planning projects in Za’atari Syrian Refugee Camps in Jordan, provide technical assistance in the field of shelter, settlement planning, and communal facilities construction within the Area of Responsibility (AoR), as well as reporting activities, monitoring the projects implementation, and consolidating collected data. The assigned UN Volunteer may be lending support to other UNHCR Jordan activities as required, subject to approval from Head of Office, Mafraq Sub-Office.

There are several actors working independently of the UNHCR, as well as sister agencies and other organizations. The UN Volunteer is required to monitor the situation on ground where relevant, and where construction works are taking place whether directly related to the Shelter and Settlement Planning projects or may indirectly affect the integrity of the infrastructure, and report regularly to the UNHCR Settlement Planner. At all times, he/she must commit to operate effectively across the organizational boundaries; excellent interpersonal skills and maintain harmonious working relations with sensitivity and respect for diversity.

Availability that his/her likeness appears on media, social media, photos and videos as it will be impossible for UNHCR to prevent such appearances on the public or external occasion s/he will interpret. S/He will need to understand that her/his picture will possibly be seen on the internet.

Qualified female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

This assignment falls under the Special Programme Initiative for the part-time deployments with up to 20 working hours per week and 50% of the monthly Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA).

This part-time contract helps in increasing diversity in the workplace, introduces flexibility into the office, and improves productivity. It also offers a better work-life balance than a full-time contract, allowing the assigned UN Volunteers to focus on other personal/ family commitments.

The assigned UN Volunteer will be working for four hours daily for five days every week with a total of 20 hours per week.

Additional Information:

National UN Part-Time Specialist Volunteers in Jordan are entitled to:

• Monthly Volunteer Living Allowance (VLA) at the amount of JOD 550,79;

• Annual and learning leaves;

• Free Medical and life insurance;

• Free access to different learning platforms.

Task description

Under the supervision of the UNHCR Settlement Planner in Za’atari Camp or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UNV Refugee Shelter & Settlement & shelter assistant will:

• Produce CAD drawings for upcoming/ ongoing projects and activities under the supervision and approval of the UNHCR Site Planner.

• Monitor the implementation of shelter maintenance and provide status reports to the UNHCR Site Planner.

• Learn how to facilitate Shelter and Settlement coordination among partners’ teams in the field, ensuring that inclusive and good practice coordination structures for all technical sectors covered are in place.

• Support the team during the winter response, through efficient and timely reporting. Follow up on technical winter assistance provided on ground by UNHCR Technical Unit. Act as a linking bridge with the community during winter response.

• Perform technical or other assessments, and prepare technical inspection, assessment, or other reports.

• Provide insight to cultural understanding of refugee community, assess actual needs, evaluate and breakdown concerns raised by refugee community in the camp.

• Develop strong rapport with refugee community and communicate effectively upon a basis of sympathy and emotional contagion.

• Report trends in shelter and site plan changes by refugees in the camp, such as shelter extensions, shelter movements and allocation, changes to the infrastructures and/ or camp layout at district and/ or block level.

• Apply and ensure adherence to safety standards related to the safe operation of and maintenance activities.

• Inspecting and reporting on work progress for the infrastructure and maintenance works carried out either by contractors, implementing partners and ensure proper utilization of available resources.

• Perform quantity and land surveying and estimate bills of quantities.

• Follow on the available stock of shelter items, prepare stock reports and report to the UNHCR Site Planner.

• Ensure that any work carried out does not conflict with existing UN environmental, health and safety policies.

• Ensure that full and accurate reports are maintained on shelter and settlement activities, by reviewing reports on activities and snag lists, and ensuring correct filling of forms, description of snags, repairs, taken actions, time, and location.

• Monitor the collection and recording of SDG 11 Shelter and Settlement access data in the Vulnerability Assessment Framework VAF for all UNHCR Refugees to enable comparative reporting against national averages, to ensure that refugees are not being “left behind”.

• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• 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 instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day).

• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country.

• Provide annual and end of assignment self-reports on UN Volunteer actions, results, and opportunities.

• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.

• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly arrived UN Volunteers.

• Promote and utilize the UNV Online Volunteering service providing themselves and their organizations with flexible, free of charge, Online Volunteer capacity to support their efforts. Information and promotional material can be found in the onsite kit

• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Skills

Age

18 – 80

Nationality

Application to this assignment is open exclusively to individuals residing in the country of assignment, with stateless, refugee or similar protective status.

Requirements

Required experience

3 years of experience in the following:

• Experience in civil/ architectural engineering, construction, or any other relevant field: Site supervision, Construction supervision, Drawings production, Surveying works and tools or Quantity surveying and BOQs.

• Preferable to have experience working with the UN or other international development/humanitarian organization including volunteering such as under Incentive Based Volunteering scheme is an asset.

• Have an insight to cultural understanding of refugee community, assess actual needs, evaluate and breakdown concerns raised by refugee community in the camp.

• Excellent interpersonal skills; culturally and socially sensitive; ability to work inclusively and collaboratively with a range of partners, including grassroots community members, non-technical organizations, and authorities at different levels.

• Ability to work and adapt professionally and effectively in a challenging environment; ability to work effectively in a multicultural team of international and national personnel.

• General computer literacy, including various MS Office applications (Excel, Word, etc.) and email/internet; familiarity with database management; and office technology equipment.

• Ability to produce technical and construction drawings using AutoCAD. Preferable experience in other technical software and applications.

• Self-motivated, ability to work with minimum supervision; ability to work with tight deadlines.

• Aware about safety procedures/standards/policies in camps.

• Have affinity with or interest in serving forcibly displaced population and improving their living conditions and security circumstances, volunteerism as a mechanism for durable development, and the UN System.

• Experience in reading engineering drawings and standards is a plus.

• Accuracy and professionalism in document production and editing is a plus.

• Experience in surveying works and the use of survey equipment is a plus.

Note: The candidate must be recognized as Refugee by the competent authorities responsible for granting of Refugee status in the Country of residence / refuge, or person has been recognized as a Refugee in accordance with UNHCR mandate and has right to reside legally in the country of refuge. Official document as a proof of refugee status is mandatory to submit. The applicant with the above-mentioned refugee status should submit the official document as a proof of refugee status before and/or during the interview. The applications without the respective document will not be considered for this assignment.

Area(s) of expertise

Architecture and settlements, Engineering and construction

Languages

Arabic, Level: Fluent, Required

English, Level: Working knowledge, Desirable

Required education level

Bachelor degree or equivalent in the field of Civil engineering, Architecture, or any other relevant field.

Competencies and values

– Professionalism

– Integrity

– Teamwork and respect for diversity

– Commitment to continuous learning

– Planning and organizing effective organizational and problem-solving skill and ability to manage a large volume of work in an efficient and timely manner; ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor (own) work; ability to work under pressure, with conflicting deadlines, and to handle multiple concurrent project.