Report on the Deployment of Female Protection and Field Staff

EC/1995/SC.2/CRP.11

1. It will be recalled that the forty-fifth session of the Executive Committee, in its conclusion on the Recommendations of the Working Group: Refugee Women, requested the High Commissioner to report on the representation of female protection and field staff at a 1995 meeting of the Sub-Committee on Administrative and Financial Matters (SCAF) (A/AC.96/839, para.22 (f)).

2. A report on female protection staff should recognize that protection is the responsibility of all UNHCR staff. Many male and female staff members in the field are engaged in protection activities even though they hold titles such as Head of Sub-Office, Field Officer or Social Services Officer. Therefore, the true number of female protection officers in the field is higher than the number of women with Protection Officer or Legal Officer titles. The Department of Human Resources Management (DHRM) understands that the intent of the Executive Committee Conclusion was to emphasize the importance of having female staff in positions where they can meet the needs of refugee women and children, who make up a large majority of refugee populations in general. The number of female protection officers in the field should be taken together with the number of female professional staff in the field to provide a picture which addresses the concerns of Executive Committee.

PROTECTION STAFF COMPOSITION (professional, project personnel, JPOs, short-term staff) with "Protection Officer" or "Legal Officer" titles

3. At the end of 1993, 37.7 per cent of the Protection Officers and Legal Officers were female. By the end of 1994, this figure had risen to 41.8 per cent.

4. Two factors influence the percentage of women in the total UNHCR professional staff: past practice, and recent efforts to increase the percentage of women in the staff as a whole, and in field positions in particular. The percentage of women among recent recruits is higher than among professional staff as a whole, reflecting UNHCR's efforts to achieve the desired gender balance amongst professional and higher staff. These recruitment efforts are reflected in the past year's modest but real increase in the proportion of women in the professional and higher categories. UNHCR strives to achieve its target of 35 per cent female staff in the professional category in the immediate future, with 50 per cent as the ultimate goal.

PROFESSIONAL STAFF COMPOSITION (professional, project personnel, JPOs, short-term staff)

5. At the end of 1994, 35.4 per cent of all short-term staff were female, a significant increase over the figure of 25.8 per cent at the end of 1993. The 1994 figures show that 21.7 per cent of female short-term staff are at Headquarters, and 78.3 per cent are in the field.

6. Progress has been made towards achieving the ExCom goal of increasing the number of women in protection and field posts so that the special problems of female refugees in field locations may better be dealt with; UNHCR will persevere with efforts in this direction.