Senior Disability Advisor

Handicap International - Humanity & Inclusion

With close technical support from and collaboration with the HI regional office and under the direct supervision of the Chief of the Protection Division, the UNRWA Senior Disability Advisor position will, in keeping with the Agency s mandate, policies and procedures, facilitate greater implementation and operationalization of disability inclusion within UNRWA programmes and fields as well as support rights-based protection advocacy.

REPONSIBILITIES:

Responsibility 1: Facilitate operationalisation of the disability inclusion policy and identify opportunities to implement disability inclusion within UNRWA

Sub-responsibilities:

• Support the role of senior management to promote greater leadership in UNRWA on disability inclusion.
• Develop, in consultation with field offices and HQ departments, updated Disability Inclusion Guidelines as a matter of priority to follow the updating of the Disability Inclusion Policy (2022).
• Identify opportunities for field offices and Programmes to develop and implement initiatives on disability inclusion. These could include assessment, identification and checklist tools, briefing documents, training and capacity development materials, monitoring methods and community engagement materials all aimed at increasing disability inclusion in practice in specific projects.
• Monitor the results and outcomes of disability inclusion practice in the Agency, including elaboration of annual progress reports.
• Coordinate the Agency s reporting as part of the UN Disability Inclusion Strategy.

Responsibility 2: Provide technical assistance on disability inclusion across UNRWA services and operations

Sub-responsibilities:

• Support programmes in relation to technical support on disability inclusion in consultation with the respective programmes and field offices.
• Continue the Agency-wide work on disability disaggregated data, supporting programmes and fields to improve the identification and assessment of Palestine refugees with disabilities in Agency programmes and services.
• Support programmes to ensure that disability inclusion is part of the project management cycle.
• Review and provide feedback from a disability inclusion perspective to Agency policies, strategies, operational plans etc. being developed by fields, departments and programmes on a needs basis. This includes continued support to the Relief and Social Services Department to develop quality standards to guide partnerships with community-based disability-specific service providers.
• Contribute to the resource mobilisation efforts of the Protection Division by providing input related to disability to funding proposals and meeting any donor requirements as needed and identifying opportunities for raising funds on disability inclusion.
• Represent the Protection Division in meetings and workshops as needed and requested on disability.
• Continue to support the Protection Division to ensure persons with disabilities are part of protection and protection mainstreaming activities and strategies.

Responsibility 3: Support improved protection outcomes for Palestine refugees with disabilities through targeted programmes

Sub-responsibilities:

• Lead situation analyses, vulnerability assessments, and barrier analyses that identify exclusion risks for persons with disabilities to inform programme design and implementation
• Identify and design, in coordination with relevant departments, disability-inclusive programme initiatives focusing on assistive devices, tailored livelihood support, and individualized protection assistance for persons with disabilities at risk of abuse, neglect, or exclusion.
• Identify entry points and develop disability programme integration into a community-based protection approach for persons with disability by facilitating, among others, the establishment of partnerships with Organizations of Persons with Disabilities and community-based rehabilitation actors.
• Design and implement awareness campaigns to reduce stigma and discrimination against persons with disability.
• Develop and deliver training curricula, mentoring plans, and technical guidance for frontline staff, partners, and local stakeholders on inclusive programming.
• Ensure that persons with disabilities and their representative organizations are actively involved and can meaningfully participate in programme delivery, feedback mechanisms, and decision-making.
• Integrate inclusion objectives into programme quality standards, logical frameworks, and results frameworks.

Responsibility 4: Serve as the technical lead within the agency on advocacy for the rights of Palestine refugees with disabilities

Sub-responsibilities:

• Help strengthen protection monitoring and documentation related to disability rights and inclusion across UNRWA s five fields of operation by working closely with counterparts in Protection HQ and in Fields to identify existing gaps in monitoring and documentation systems as well as advise on technical adjustments to strengthen data collection and analysis, including supporting the design of research tools and providing capacity-building support to staff.
• Provide technical support to enhance UNRWA s analysis of protection risks and trends facing Palestine refugees with a disability, including the development of context specific risk profiles identifying both programmatic and external drivers of vulnerability (e.g., legislative and policy barriers to rights, legal status challenges, socio-economic marginalisation, and physical restrictions)
• Provide technical support during the development of advocacy products and materials.
• Support improved engagement on the specific protection needs of Palestine refugees with a disability across protection programming, including supporting improvements in targeted support in such areas as legal aid and case referrals
• Represent UNRWA in external disability inter-agency fora and with donors including in meetings and activities of the IASC Task Team on Disability Inclusion, including the work around the rollout of Guidelines at UNRWA level; the UN Inter-Agency Support Group (IASG) on the CRPD, including the Working Groups of which UNRWA is currently a member member; and in relation to the new UN policies related to disability and raise the profile of UNRWA as a disability inclusive organisation.
• Keep abreast of opportunities for UNRWA to participate and highlight disability issues regionally and internationally in relation to Palestine refugees.