Division of International Protection Services

Executive Office, 9 June 2009

The Division of International Protection Services (DIPS) provides support to field operations as well as guidance and advice to the Executive Office and regional bureaux. DIPS is composed of one service, four sections and one unit whose activities are described below. Various changes designed to make the Office more effective in the delivery of protection and assistance will be implemented in 2009 and alter the structures and activities outlined below. In the intervening period, DIPS will continue to bring protection support closer to the point of delivery. The Division will, in addition, pay increasing attention to the needs of IDPs and continue to harness synergies with external partners, most notably for protection deployment schemes.

The Protection Delivery and Support Section builds the capacity of staff by developing, designing and implementing protection learning activities. It provides support to field operations in relation to the Office's mandate, legal standards, voluntary repatriation, protection responses within emergencies and operational involvement as the lead agency in the global protection cluster for internally displaced persons. The Section also manages the Surge protection deployment roster.

The restructuring of the Section in 2009 will entail a merger of the training component with other UNHCR training resources. This restructuring is aimed at placing a higher priority on staff development in UNHCR and closely linking training with career development.

In 2009, the Resettlement Service will aim to increase the use of resettlement. In 2008, UNHCR increased the number of referrals and the number of resettlement countries. Further increases in referral capacity are constrained by the number of places available. The Service will continue to support field offices; develop strategies and practices that benefit the field; monitor field practices and ensure compliance with standard procedures; and liaise with newly emerging resettlement countries to establish their programmes.

The Service will assist in the preparation for an international conference on integration. The Resettlement Learning Programme will be implemented in 2009, in cooperation with the Training Unit. The Heightened Risk Identification Tool will be fully disseminated in 2009.

The Statelessness Unit will support field operations in developing strategies to address statelessness through cooperation with States, other agencies and civil society. The Unit will help operations in identifying, preventing and reducing statelessness as well as protecting stateless people, particularly in protracted statelessness situations. In 2009, the Unit will develop general guidance on statelessness, provide advice on legislation and individual cases, and deliver a thematic learning program for staff and partners in several regions.

The Community Development, Gender Equality and Children Section will support the Field to work in partnership with communities to achieve gender equality, women's empowerment, develop integrated sexual and gender-based violence prevention and response programmes, and promote children's participation and the use of a child protection system. The Section will also manage community services and child protection deployments and build capacity to mainstream age, gender and diversity in UNHCR's policies, guidelines and training. It will also provide capacity building and technical advice to country offices.

The Protection Policy and Legal Advice Section promotes refugee protection standards through legal analysis, research and development of guidelines. The Section supports the Field and other units at Headquarters in ensuring the harmonized application of protection standards. In 2009, the Section will focus on the articulation of protection standards and policies and the timely provision of legal and operational advice to field offices on protection matters. In particular, it will

  • promote the proper interpretation and full implementation of the Refugee Convention and related protection policies to ensure global consistency;
  • formulate and develop refugee protection standards through legal analysis, research and development of protection guidelines and other protection tools;
  • service the protection dialogue at ExCom, draft and support negotiations on Conclusions, draft and follow-up on the annual Omnibus Resolution on UNHCR and disseminate information in this regard;
  • provide guidance to the field on the interpretation and application of international law relating to refugees and other persons of concern;
  • liaise with human rights bodies and promote effective use of human rights and humanitarian law principles to improve refugee protection; and
  • undertake research and coordinate with the academic and external world in general on protection research, knowledge, publication and dissemination.

The Status Determination and Protection Information Section includes the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) Unit and the Protection Information Unit, with a Senior Legal Officer dedicated to related specialized activities. The RSD Unit will increase the capacity of field offices to implement quality RSD procedures. The Protection Information Unit will support UNHCR's protection role by ensuring access to relevant protection information and by providing guidance to field operations, governments, the judiciary, NGOs and legal practitioners engaged in RSD and other protection-related activities.

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