United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Jobs – Physical Site Planner

Organisation: United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Reports to: 
Field Associate
Duty Station: Adjumani/Pakelle, Uganda
Salary Grade:  P3
Reports to: Head of Office Adjumani/Pakelle
About UNHCR:
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was
established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations 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. It also has a mandate to help stateless people.
About Context:
In excess of 30,000 South
Sudanese refugees have fled from Jonglei and Unity States, into Uganda since
the 15th of December 2013. New refugees continue to arrive in
Adjumani, Arua, Kiryandongo and Koboko districts, using multiple border points.
OCHA sitrep no.9 indicates 3,000 to 4,000 daily arrivals. UNHCR and its main
government counterpart, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), have activated
the Contingency Plan for South Sudan. New arrivals assemble at designated
collection points from which they are transported to existing transit and
reception centers for further assistance.
The very high number of
arrivals is of great concern. It is expected that the total number of new South
Sudanese refugees may rise to 60,000 by the end of March 2014. Limited
assistance has been available so far, with significant gaps in shelter, water
and sanitation facilities, as well as medical supplies at the already overcrowded
sites. Given the scale of the emergency, in a country that is already dealing
with a major refugee influx from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on
its eastern front, urgent coordinated humanitarian response is required in
order to meet basic needs.
In Uganda, all new arrivals are
accommodated and provided with immediate assistance in existing transit,
reception and settlement facilities; however these are already seriously
overcrowded. Based on the outcome of the current joint Government-UNHCR-Inter-Agency
needs assessment, and in close cooperation with the relevant Ugandan
authorities and other partners, UNHCR will develop new fully-serviced transit
and reception facilities so as to decongest the existing ones and reduce public
health and safety risks.
UNHCR will also expedite the
relocation of new arrivals from the transit/reception centres to receiving settlements.
Critical investment will be made in existing and new receiving settlements, in
particular in the areas of site planning, infrastructure
rehabilitation/expansion/development, including for access roads, plot
demarcation and shelter.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
·        
Provide specialized shelter and settlement support
to ensure technical integrity while providing emergency assistance to
population of concern.
·        
Advise Team leader / Field Coordinator on all
matters related to shelter and settlement
·        
Oversee Site Planning issues in the Arua and
Adjumani/Pakelle for refugees’ influx from South Sudan.
·        
In close coordination with the UNHCR Kampala , OPM,
relevant IPs/OPs and local authorities, review settlement sites and facilities
with specific attention to the following:
·        
Physical planning for
Arua and Adjumani/Pakelle influx, with regard to the location of the
different villages, nature of settlement of refugees thus far,
Organization of households at village level and their proximity to Basic
services like safe water facilities, health, education, and community
facilities like registration centers, youth centers, reception centers, etc.
·        
Reviewing the road
networ
ks, placement of partner accommodation, offices and
other existing infrastructures in the relevant settlements. 
·        
Reviewing the existing
refugee shelter and sanitation facilities at the field level clearly pointing
out gaps.
·        
Reviewing the existing site plan recently developed for the Basecamp area in the Arua
and Adjumani/Pakelle.
·        
Updating the available
maps of the above listed settlements with relevant mapping features
with reference to the existing maps and settlement boundaries. This would
also involve
·        
Mapping the occupied space in the
clusters/settlements as well as the available contingency space;
·        
Advising on better ways
of visualization of the operations/programmes, including better ways
of managing/updating the objects and attributes for the infrastructure,
services, programmes and refugee statistics.
·        
Develop site plans, technical drawings for shelter
with due consideration for the overall needs and resources of the population of
concern, their cultural preferences and the concerns of the local communities.
·        
Develop the shelter strategies to meet the ongoing
needs of refugees, taking into account the preferences of the beneficiaries,
local construction practices and available materials.
·        
Plan and supervise the maintenance and upgrading of
family shelters in order to improve standards
·        
Work in close collaboration with all relevant
stakeholders including, local authorities, relevant partners and affected
communities on issues related to ensure sustainability of the shelter and
settlement programme.
·        
Oversee all matters related to construction
activities within the settlement among different sectors (such as water,
sanitation, health, education facilities, etc);
·        
Offer support to relevant sectors in the market
analysis of locally available construction materials and skills, promoting the
use of local capacity as appropriate.
·        
Ensure regular monitoring and evaluation of site
planning and shelter activities, providing inputs for situation reports and
reporting back to the country office and headquarters on progress and
standards.

Qualifications,
Skills and Experience:
·        
The applicant should
possess a University degree in architecture or Civil Engineering.
·        
A minimum of eight
years relevant experience in the related fiel
d, including
collaboration with different
·        
humanitarian organizations (Field experience in
responding to emergencies working with relevant governmental technical
departments and various organizations in identifying, designing, delimiting,
clearing and developing land allocated to establish site camps.
·        
Good knowledge of site
surveying (including topography, hydrology, geology, land use physical
planning, environment, engineering, etc.) and extensive experience in
undertaking related topography assessments/ feasibility studies for site
identification and environmental impact studies whilst using surveying tools
(including GPS equipment, GIS software).
·        
Prior experience in
settlement site planning including layout of shelter plots, r
oads, communal infrastructures and basic services.
·        
Prior experience in
designing and implementing shelter strategies.
·        
Knowledge of UNHCR
standards and criteria for site selection, including consideration of cross  
sectorial issues
related to protection, WASH, environment, land property issues etc.
·        
Previous experience in
tender processes (including development of all relevant technical
documentation) to ensure settlement development.
·        
Experience of site
construction management (including supervi
sion, monitoring,
quality control, evaluation etc.)
·        
Capacity to work with
multi sectorial teams Cultural sensitivity to the specific needs of the
persons of concern.
·        
Willingness and ability
to work in hardship environments.
·        
Computer literacy skills i.e. proficiency in MS
Office and other relevant software to produce digital maps, site plans, layout
and technical drawings.
·        
Excellent knowledge of
English
·        
Knowledge of another UN
language would be an asset

How to Apply:
Please send your CV and cover letter by e-mail to HQSL00@unhcr.org (please note this
address has two zeroes not two o’s).
NB: Only short-listed
candidates will be contacted.
Deadline: 26th January 2014.
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