Egypt: RSD Legal Officer for Unaccompanied Children and Youth

St. Andrew’s Refugee Services

Refugee Legal Aid Program

Vacancy: RSD Legal Officer for Unaccompanied Children and Youth

Founded in 1979, St Andrew’s Refugee Services (StARS) is a refugee service provider in central Cairo that works to enhance the quality of life for refugees and vulnerable migrants through education, legal aid, and psychosocial services. We provide high-quality and holistic services meeting the unaddressed needs of refugees, and a safe and inclusive space for displaced people to come together as a community, including unaccompanied children and youth (UCYs). We work for refugees, with refugees, to make rights recognition a reality.

StARS’ Mission is to enhance the quality of life of refugees in Egypt and make their rights a reality through client-centered programs.

StARS’ Vision is a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for refugees in which they can exercise their rights, pursue their aspirations, and live in dignity.

Project Description: Refugee Legal Aid Program

The Refugee Legal Aid Program (RLAP) provides advice and representation to refugees seeking recognition by UNHCR through refugee status determination procedures in Egypt, and assists refugees in accessing resettlement to safe third countries. We serve people from many places, including Ethiopia, Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, and Syria. Read more at http://stars-egypt.org/rlap/.

StARS has established a full-service center dedicated to meeting the education, protection, support and advocacy needs of UCYs in Cairo. RLAP is seeking its first RSD UCY Legal Officer to work as part of a small legal team alongside the RSD UCY Senior Legal Officer within the center to provide specialized legal representation and advice to the UCY refugee population in their RSD process. The UCY population in Egypt is made up of approximately 4,000 children and youth (16% Somali, 48% Eritrean, 17% Ethiopian),, of which StARS serves a majority within its programming.

Role

Under the supervision of the RSD Coordinator and the RSD UCY Senior Legal Officer, the RSD UCY Legal Officer is responsible for the provision of legal advice and representation to refugee children and youth in matters related to their RSD procedures. This includes: assessment of initial requests for assistance; the screening of clients to identify those of heightened vulnerability, specific need, legal complexity, or strategic importance; accompaniment of UCY clients to RSD interviews at UNHCR; preparation of detailed written statements addressing accounts of persecution in countries of origin; and drafting legal briefs and other argumentation in support of refugee claims in first instance, appeal and reopening procedures. The RSD UCY Legal Officer is also expected to contribute to advocacy efforts regarding the urban refugee population and to supervise and train volunteer staff. The RSD UCY Legal Officer is a member of a team of approximately 25 legal staff and reports to the RLAP RSD Coordinator. The RSD UCY Legal Officer will be primarily based in StARS’ center for UCYs in Mohandiseen, Giza and will focus on providing legal services to UCYs living in greater Cairo.

Responsibilities

All duties are carried out under the supervision of the RLAP RSD Coordinator and the RSD UCY Senior Legal Officer for UCYs.

Legal and Technical

• To screen and intake potential UCY clients for representation in RSD matters.
• To provide general legal counseling and assistance to UCYs regarding their applications for registration, protection, and RSD before UNHCR.
• To prepare UCYs for registration and RSD interviews and represent clients in such interviews as needed.
• To conduct individual screening and intake interviews with UCY clients seeking representation and advise on RSD matters.
• To draft legal briefs and prepare witness declarations and other evidence in support of RSD appeals and reopening requests for UCYs.
• To serve as an on-call legal advisor, assisting UCY clients by providing legal advice and assistance on a walk-in basis.
• To prepare and facilitate RSD preparation workshops and Know Your Rights trainings for UCYs.
• To undertake country of origin research in support of individual claims and for general organizational research purposes and to maintain good working knowledge of the current political and social situations in the countries of origin of RLAP’s UCY clients.
• To assess extra-legal client needs and work collaboratively with other StARS teams or refer to external organizations as appropriate, keeping in close communication and cooperation with StARS UCY caseworkers for counseling and follow up.
• To maintain good working knowledge of UNHCR’s RSD policies and procedures.
• To undertake comprehensive case management practices including maintaining and updating electronic databases and records for each client, and keeping detailed notes of all casework activities.
• To adhere to the Nairobi Code of Ethics, the StARS Policies and Procedures Manual, and the StARS Code of Conduct.

Programmatic

• To assist the RLAP RSD Coordinator and RSD UCY Senior Legal Officer in development and implementation of team policies and procedures.
• To assist the RLAP RSD Coordinator and RSD UCY Senior Legal Officer in conducting data and trends analysis of UCY clients approaching RLAP for RSD related services and of UNHCR’s Policies and Procedures.
• To build and maintain relationships with StARS’ psychosocial and education staff and operational partners.
• To attend and contribute to RSD team meetings and other trainings and orientation as required.

Finance/Administration

· To undergo probation and regular performance appraisals.

Communication/Reporting

· To communicate regularly with the RLAP RSD Coordinator and RSD UCY Senior Legal Officer, reporting on all major issues and developments in the field and within RLAP.

· To promote information-sharing within RLAP and StARS on all issues affecting the populations we serve.

Qualifications & Experience

The ideal candidate will have a demonstrated interest in working with children and youth. He/she will be energetic, articulate, and comfortable interacting with diverse segments of society. He/she will have demonstrated a firm commitment to defending human rights and to refugee issues in general.

Essential qualifications:

· English being the official language of UNHCR Cairo and StARS, the RLAP RSD UCY Legal Officer must be fluent in oral and written English.

· Fluency in Arabic or other refugee language is an advantage.

· Master’s degree in a related field (international development, international law, development studies, Middle East Studies) OR a qualified lawyer in any jurisdiction (J.D., LLB or equivalent) OR a minimum of one year of experience in representing refugees in the resettlement or RSD processes OR two years of experience providing direct representation to indigent people in any setting.

· Excellent legal research and drafting skills.

· An understanding of the complex protection needs of refugee children and youth, and importance of specialized and holistic service provision.

· Proven experience drafting client affidavits and legal arguments, and ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

· Knowledge of UNHCR guidelines and procedures is an advantage.

· Knowledge of the general protection situation and vulnerabilities of refugees in Egypt.

· A demonstrated commitment to and sensitivity toward vulnerable or displaced people.

· Ability to live and work in a fluid security environment.

· Ability to exercise sound legal judgment, well organized, self-motivated, and reliable.

· Demonstrated ability to work in a team as well as individually.

· A positive attitude and sensitive manner when dealing with clients, including a range of interviewing skills for dealing with challenging scenarios, particularly in advocating for children and youth, survivors of violence, trafficking, torture, and SGBV.

Desirable Characteristics:

· Experience designing and conducting trainings for non-technical audiences.

· Managerial experience or familiarity with volunteer oversight.

· Experience working with children and young people.

· Life and work experience in the Middle East or Egypt or with an urban refugee population.

Hours: 40 hour work week (Sunday – Thursday), and other hours and overtime as required.

Supervised by: RLAP RSD Coordinator and RSD Senior Legal Officer for UCYs.

Salary: 4,600 EGP/month, rising to 4,900 EGP/month following successful completion of a three-month probationary period, with 4,020 EGP/year medical allowance and 100 EGP pension contribution following probationary period.

Benefits: All StARS official benefit policies as stipulated in StARS Policies & Procedures Manual.

HOW TO APPLY:

Interested applicants should send a cover letter, CV, and brief legal writing sample to applications@stars-egypt.org. Please write “**RSD UCY Legal Officer**” in the subject line.