MidFull TimeEN
Deadline for Applications
March 9, 2026Hardship Level
BFamily Type
FamilyFamily Type
FamilyResidential location (if applicable)
Grade
PR2Staff Member / Affiliate Type
ProfessionalReason
Regular > Regular AssignmentTarget Start Date
2026-02-06Standard 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.
Duties
- 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 cases of refoulement, expulsion and other protection incidents through working relations with governments and other partners.
- Recommend durable solutions for the largest possible number of forcibly displaced and stateless persons through voluntary repatriation, local integration and where appropriate, resettlement.
- Assess resettlement needs and apply priorities for the resettlement of individuals and groups of refugees and other forcibly displaced and stateless persons.
- Participate in the organisation and implementation of participatory assessments and methodologies throughout the operations management cycle and promote AGD sensitive programming with implementing and operational partners.
- Contribute to and facilitate a programme of results-based advocacy through a consultative process with sectorial and/or cluster partners.
- Facilitate effective information management through the provision of disaggregated data on populations of concern and their problems.
- Promote and integrate community-based approaches to protection and contribute to capacity-building initiatives for communities and individuals to assert their rights.
- Support activities in the area of risk management related to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, fraud, case-processing, data protection, and human rights due diligence at country level.
- Participate in initiatives to capacitate national authorities, relevant institutions and NGOs to strengthen national protection related legislation and procedures.
- Intervene with authorities on protection issues.
- Negotiate locally on behalf of UNHCR.
- Decide priorities for reception, interviewing and counselling for groups or individuals.
- Enforce compliance of staff and implementing partners with global protection policies and standards of professional integrity in the delivery of protection services.
- Enforce compliance with, and integrity of, all protection standard operating procedures.
- Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
- Perform other related duties as required.
Minimum Qualifications
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P2/NOB - 3 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 2 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 1 year relevant experience with Doctorate degree
Field(s) of Education
Law, International Law, Political Sciences or other relevant field
Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified.
(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Professional experience in the area of refugee protection, internal displacement, human rights or international humanitarian law. Good knowledge of International Refugee and Human Rights Law and ability to apply the relevant legal principles.
Desirable
Field experience, including in working directly with communities. Good IT skills including database management skills.
Functional Skills
*PR-Protection-related guidelines, standards and indicators
*PR-Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD)
PR-Gender Based Violence (GBV) Coordination
MG-Project Management
PR-Human Rights Doctrine/Standards
PR-International Humanitarian Law
PR-Assessment of IDPs Status, Rights, Obligation
PR-Climate change and disaster related displacement
CO-Drafting and Documentation
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)
Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.
All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.
As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.
This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.
Desired Candidate Profile
Essential Attributes:Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):
French,
,
Desired languages
,
,
Operational context
Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:
Candidates are encouraged to consult the eTA platform for official information on security and general conditions in Cameroon, in line with mission guidelines.
Nature of Position:
Under the supervision of the Senior Protection Officer in Yaoundé, the Associate Protection Officer assists the Office in providing quality, timely, and effective protection responses to the needs of people under the mandate of UNHCR. S/he is also required to assist the office in ensuring that refugee, asylum seekers, and IDPs are involved with the Office in making decisions that affect them, whether in accessing their rights or in identifying appropriate solutions to their problems. To achieve this, the incumbent will need to build and maintain effective interfaces with communities of concern and authorities as well as protection and assistance partners.
The incumbent will supervise the legal protection team and will assists the protection team, in making sure that protection standards, operational procedures and practices in protection delivery are in line with the international standards and provides functional protection support and advice to other protection colleagues and other units.
S/he contributes to implementing, and adjusting, when necessary, the office’s comprehensive protection strategy including the role of UNHCR in the context of further strengthening the national capacity of relevant actors, both governmental e.g. Ministry of Justice, and non-governmental, e.g. NGOs and lawyers. In this regard, s/he represents the office externally on protection doctrine and policy as needed and under the guidance by the supervisor.
S/he will be involved in UNHCR activities concerning internal displaced persons and the representation of UNHCR in IDPs platforms.
The incumbent will also support organizing capacity-building activities through the preparation of materials and presenting the topics.
The Associate Protection Officer will provide counselling to asylum seekers and refugees on UNHCR's RSD procedures and on their status, rights and obligations in the country of asylum.
The Assistant Protection officer should be aware of the specific protection needs of women and men, children, youth and older persons, persons with disabilities, persons living with HIV/AIDS; gender equality and Gender Based Violence (GBV) and will be the focal point of persons of diverse sexual orientation and/or gender identities (LGBTI persons).
Living and Working Conditions:
Cameroon is a family duty station with a relatively calm, though occasionally volatile, political environment. The climate is tropical, with two rainy seasons—April to May and September to October—and an average temperature of 25°C. Most international staff reside in neighborhoods such as Bastos and Golf, which are located about 10 to 15 minutes from the UNHCR office. Travel times may vary slightly due to school traffic. While having a personal vehicle is useful for commuting and errands, reliable alternatives such as taxis and the Yango ride-hailing app are widely used, with fares ranging from 500 to 5,000 XAF (approximately $1 to $8), depending on the distance. The office may assist with access to UN plates if needed.
Housing options in Yaoundé are varied, with one- to three-bedroom apartments available across the city. Monthly rents typically range from 400,000 to 1,200,000 XAF (approximately $670 to $2,000), depending on location and amenities. Electricity and water are generally available, and most residences and hotels are equipped with backup generators and water storage systems to manage occasional outages.
Staff are advised to complete all required medical formalities before arrival and to bring adequate medical supplies. Vaccinations required or recommended include yellow fever (mandatory), COVID-19, polio, rabies, tetanus/diphtheria, MMR, and malaria prophylaxis. UN staff have access to a fully operational UN medical clinic during office hours, and several reputable health facilities are available in the city.
The average monthly cost of living for international staff is around $2,000, excluding car-related expenses. With a vehicle, costs may increase due to fuel and maintenance. Fresh produce is seasonal but generally available, and staple goods are accessible in supermarkets. Yaoundé offers a variety of reasonably priced restaurants with good hygiene standards. In more remote areas, food quality and hygiene may vary, and availability of certain items may be limited or seasonal. Standard precautions are advised when eating out, such as avoiding raw salads, drinking bottled water, and ensuring meat is thoroughly cooked. Minor stomach upsets are common and should be expected at some point.
Additional Qualifications
Skills
Education
Bachelor of Arts: International Law, Bachelor of Arts: Law, Bachelor of Arts: Political ScienceCertifications
Work Experience
Competencies
Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Negotiation & conflict resolution, Organizational awareness, Political awareness, Teamwork & collaborationUNHCR Salary Calculator
https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales
Additional Information
Functional clearance
This position doesn't require a functional clearance