Assistant Protection Cluster Coordination Officer

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Description

Desired Candidate Profile

Required languages (expected Overall ability is at least B2 level):

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Desired languages

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

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General:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been present in Ukraine since 1994 and substantially increased its presence and response after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The geographical presence within Ukraine has significatively expanded to deliver the emergency response. The country office is located in the capital, Kyiv, and sub- and field offices are currently located in Dnipro, Kyiv, L’viv, Odesa and Kharkiv. 

The war in Ukraine has caused death and suffering on a dramatic scale. In 2025, more than 12.7 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection, according to the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. Some 3.7 million people are internally displaced, while around 6.8 million refugees from Ukraine are recorded across Europe and beyond. Some 75,000 people, including some of the most vulnerable notable older people and people with disabilities, live in collective sites spread across the country. Ukraine also hosts asylum-seekers and refugees and is home to thousands of people who are stateless or at risk of statelessness. 

The massive destruction of civilian infrastructure, with the energy sector being particularly targeted has made life extremely challenging for millions of people who have lost their homes and livelihoods, and has severely disrupted access to electricity, water, heating as well as critical services, including healthcare, education and social protection services. Humanitarian access continues to be hampered, particularly in frontline areas as well as to areas under temporary occupation of the Russian Federation. Civilians remain exposed to serious risks to their physical security and integrity, particularly in eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. The risk of GBV, including sexual violence, continues to prevail, alongside family separations, loss of housing and properties, as well as identity and civil documentation. Populations displaced or otherwise affected by the war live in situations of deprivation, following the loss or damage of their housing, loss of income, and often become dependent on an overstretched social protection system.

The Government of Ukraine maintains a strong lead role in responding to the needs of its population and UNHCR supports the Government and its central and local institutions to provide protection, shelter/housing, cash and in-kind assistance to displaced and other people impacted by the war. Currently, UNHCR has MOUs with five-line ministries, the First Lady’s foundation as well as the Office of the Ombudsman, 19 regional state administrations and agreements with 14 partners to deliver assistance and support the localization of the response. 

Under the leadership of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, UNHCR operates as part of the Inter-agency humanitarian response, working in close coordination with local authorities and humanitarian partners. UNHCR is leading three clusters - Protection, Shelter and NFIs, and CCCM. The strategic orientation of UNHCR’s response is to reach people, particularly those with specific vulnerabilities, who remain in frontline and heavily affected areas with immediate relief while supporting displaced people and those who have remained in their homes, or returned, with protection advice, housing support, livelihoods advice and cash assistance to enable their recovery and attainment of durable solutions. 

Protection needs to be truly at the center of this response, as the highest critical needs of the population caused by the international armed conflict are in the area of protection. Since Ukraine is a highly sophisticated country with a strong government leadership and well-established administrative, social protection and digital systems, it is essential to design and deliver UNHCR’s protection programs in a way which simultaneously addresses immediate needs and supports the further development of sustainable and inclusive national protection systems. 

With the EU having voted to confirm Ukraine’s accession to the EU at the end of 2023, Ukraine will also embark on a series of substantial and long-term reforms in numerous sectors, including justice and home affairs, which presents an opportunity to contribute to strengthened and more inclusive protection, asylum and statelessness reduction systems. Working closely with government authorities, local community representatives and partners from the embassies, UN, civil society and international financial institutions, amongst others, is thus key to ensuring that UNHCR’s response is closely aligned with and complementary of national and local strategies and recovery plans. 

As the war continues, new urgent humanitarian needs are created every day, alongside protracted ones and peoples’ and communities’ efforts to recover and rebuild their lives in war-torn communities. Among the IDPs and refugees from Ukraine, the majority express a hope and desire to return to their homes as soon as the security situation allows. The protection needs of the population thus need to be analyzed and addressed both from a humanitarian as well as from an early recovery and durable solutions perspective, with UNHCR playing a leading role in this work.

Nature of Position:

The incumbent supports protection coordination in an environment that requires high standards of accountability and facilitation, in which respect for the principles of partnership and collaboration are essential. The candidate will be expected to directly engage with partners and to ensure effective coordination and engagement for the implementation of Protection activities. For this it is expected that the candidate coordinates partners implementing legal assistance, psychosocial support and community-based protection programming and establishing linkages with other sectors engaged in the response. The Assistant Protection Cluster Coordination Officer supports the Protection Cluster Coordination Officer in Inter-Cluster Coordination mechanisms at sub-national level, for advocacy and facilitation of protection mainstreaming and cross-cutting issues of age, gender, and diversity in the humanitarian response in non-protection sectors.

Security:

The international armed conflict in Ukraine is ongoing and the Russian Federation Armed Forces temporarily occupy parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. The frontline is the primary area of kinetic military operations, particularly in the eastern, and southeastern regions, and north of Kharkiv. Cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, aero-ballistic missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been targeting vital civilian and military sites, including airports, since the start of the invasion. As a result, commercial air travel is suspended, and vehicles and trains are the only modes of transportation. Since 2023, there has been an increase in attacks targeting civilian infrastructure throughout the country. 

Whilst the UN has not been targeted directly, the threat of collateral damage continues to remain in place, with cases of UNHCR IPs reporting collateral damages, and several humanitarian workers recorded as been killed and injured since the start of the full-scale invasion. The UN Security Management System (UNSMS) applies a comprehensive Security Risk Management (SRM) process to identify security threats and evaluate risk levels. The security risk levels are regularly reviewed. Currently, the most significant threats and hazards are associated with the international armed conflict, with current risk levels ranging from “high” to “Very High” or “Unacceptable” in areas with ongoing hostilities.

This has resulted in a decrease of humanitarian space, making it difficult and sometimes impossible to access people in need in frontline areas. When assessing risk levels, the security personnel and the UNHCR Representative, as part of the country’s Security Management Team, adhere to the SRM process as defined by the UNSMS. In general, the projected risk level in all three SRM areas where the UN/HCR operates is “High”.

Therefore, applicants for positions in Ukraine should be prepared to work in a highly dynamic security environment where unexpected events occur frequently. Air raids are common, and staff may be required to work from bunkers or underground car parks, metro stations, and other locations for extended periods. Power and water outages are to be expected and will make life more challenging during the winter months. Depending on the evolution of the war, disruptions to public services such as shops, banks, and restaurants may occur. Curfews are in place throughout the country, and mission travel must be authorized by the Representative or designated managers, subject to the completion of mandatory BSAFE, SSAFE, and IFAK training and security clearance procedures. Private trips within the country are prohibited for international staff.

The Field Security Unit works closely with UNDSS and other interlocutors of the UNSMS to ensure that program activities can be implemented within the acceptable level of risk by following the required measures and procedures set up and approved by the Designated Official. Due to the country's evolving operational and security environment, UNHCR needs to maintain strong security contingency preparedness supporting its mandate of providing protection and assistance to people in need.

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Additional Information

Functional clearance