Area Based Return and Reintegration Support Specialist

Background
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Voluntary return in safety and dignity is the fundamental right of every refugee and internally displaced person. Over the last five years, sizeable numbers of IDPs in Syria, and to a lesser extent, Syrian as well as Palestinian refugees, have chosen to exercise this right, often in very difficult circumstances. For many, this has meant carving out a very precarious existence, amidst large-scale destruction of homes, livelihoods and social and economic infrastructure, against a backdrop of continuing – and now once again deepening – humanitarian needs across the country.

While the UN does not currently promote or facilitate the large-scale organized return of Syrian refugees, several UN agencies and NGOs have stepped up their support to communities receiving returnees, as well as other communities in need, including through concrete and practical interventions in areas such as shelter, protection services including legal aid and civil documentation, distribution of relief items, water and sanitation, health, education, livelihoods, repairs to civilian infrastructure and restoration of basic services. Such support is provided in accordance with relevant international legal and policy frameworks and respecting principles of do no harm.

UN agencies and other humanitarian actors, through the Technical Working Group (TWG) of the Return and Reintegration Working Group (RRWG), have been exploring practical ways to strengthen and better align their interventions in support of returnees and their communities, to ensure that these are strategic, effective, complementary and mutually-reinforcing, addressing immediate protection and humanitarian needs and enhancing the resilience of returnees and their communities to the multiple shocks of 10 years of crisis, including those linked to the current socio-economic downturn and Covid-19. Enabling an “area-based” approach is considered key to support sustainable reintegration and recovery while strengthening preparedness for potential larger-scale voluntary, safe and dignified returns in the future.

Within this framework, the Technical Working Group (TWG) of the RRWG in Syria (co-chaired by UNHCR and UNDP) seeks to implement a more comprehensive and holistic approach to build resilience at the local level. The RRWG is adopting an Area-Based Return Support (ABRS) approach to address the critical needs and concerns of returnees and their communities in areas of high return and high need while building on their capacities and assets to promote early recovery and self-reliance, social cohesion, and resilience. 

    Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall leadership of the Resident Representative of UNDP and UNHCR Representative, and reporting directly to the UNHCR Assistance Representative for Protection and UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, the Area Based Return and Reintegration Support Specialist will continue the facilitation of the implementing the ABRS approach in the selected locations in phase I, working closely with the TWG co-chairs, the Area Humanitarian Country Teams, and the staff of UN agencies and NGOs who are designing and implementing ABRS interventions at the sub-national level (referred to below as the ‘ABRS champions’). 

S/he will provide technical advice and support to the eight AHCTs in Syria and to ABRS champions to implement a complementary, sequenced package of interventions in agreed locations where large numbers of returns have recently taken place or are currently ongoing - helping ensure that these are designed and implemented in a participatory manner that engages relevant stakeholders, impacts positively on social cohesion, and contributes to sustainable reintegration. 

While the rollout will be field-led, the Area Based Return and Reintegration Support specialist will help promote a cohere