Associate Durable Solutions Officer

Associate Durable Solutions Officer

Host entity: UNHCR

Advertisement end date: 2026-11-05T00:00:00

General

Description of assignment title: Associate Durable Solutions Officer

Assignment country: Mexico

Work location: On UN premises

Expected start date: 2026-11-15T00:00:00

Expected end date: 2028-05-15T00:00:00

Duration: 547 days

Sustainable Development Goal: 8. Decent work and economic growth

Modality: Onsite

Type: International

Volunteer category: International Specialist Premise Fulltime LongTerm

Work schedule: -

For how many hours per week will the volunteer be required?: -

Number of Assignments: 1

Details

Mission and objectives

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (the UN Refugee Agency, also known as UNHCR) is an intergovernmental organization with a mandate to protect refugees and stateless persons worldwide. Since 1950, the agency has helped tens of millions of people restart their lives. Today, a staff of more than 15,000 people in 130 countries continues to help and protect millions of refugees, returnees, internally displaced and stateless people. UNHCR provides lifesaving assistance, protection, shelter, food, clean water, education and medical care to some of the world’s most vulnerable. UNHCR also provides assistance to refugees who want to return home when it is safe to do so and helps integrate refugees within their local host country or resettle to a third country when returning home is no longer an option. Non-governmental organization (NGO) partners work with UNHCR around the globe to assist and protect refugees and internally displaced people.

Context

UNHCR Mexico operates in a dynamic protection environment where increasing numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers are seeking opportunities for sustainable integration. Advancing durable solutions, particularly local integration through access to decent work and socioeconomic inclusion, remains a central pillar of UNHCR’s strategy in the country.

Strengthening pathways to formal employment, fostering private sector engagement, and promoting inclusive labour market participation are key to enabling refugees to become self-reliant and contribute meaningfully to host communities. Mexico offers a favorable context for advancing these objectives. The country hosts a significant presence of Japanese companies, particularly in the automotive and manufacturing sectors, which present strong potential for inclusive employment partnerships. In parallel, JICA Mexico brings over three decades of experience in industrial development, especially in the Bajío region, providing a solid foundation for collaboration around skills development, employability, and private sector engagement.

In this context, the objective of this JICA-funded position is to support UNHCR Mexico in advancing its livelihoods and socioeconomic inclusion agenda in priority locations, while generating strategic synergies between UNHCR and JICA cooperation frameworks. The role will contribute to expanding inclusive employment opportunities and strengthening partnerships under UNHCR’s Local Integration Programme.

At the same time, UNHCR Mexico is operating under significant financial constraints, including a substantial reduction in its approved 2025 budget, which has resulted in staffing reductions and the consolidation of field presence. Additional reductions are foreseen for 2026, even as needs related to integration and employability continue to grow. In this context, the position is also critical to sustaining core operational capacity and ensuring continuity of key programme activities. This request aligns with the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus priorities highlighted at the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in December 2023, as well as with Japan’s diplomatic initiative toward Latin America and the Caribbean announced by Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in February 2024, which promotes strengthened political, economic, and development cooperation with the region. It is strongly supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, as well as by the Embassy and Consulate-General of Japan in Mexico.

Task type

Task description

Under the supervision of the Durable Solutions Officer, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Support the implementation of UNHCR’s Local Integration Programme and livelihoods interventions in Aguascalientes, with emphasis on employability, access to livelihoods, financial inclusion and access to services, in line with UNHCR guidance and AGD (age, gender and diversity) principles.
• Support job matching and labour inclusion processes for refugees and asylum-seekers, including follow-up on employment placements, retention and basic working conditions, in coordination with partners and employers.
• Contribute to employer and private sector engagement by mapping companies in priority economic sectors, sharing basic guidance on inclusive hiring, and facilitating linkages to specialized partners and services.
• Support coordination with implementing partners, civil society organizations, local authorities and service providers involved in livelihoods, vocational training, documentation, financial inclusion and integration services.
• Contribute to community-based approaches to inclusion by participating in outreach, orientations and feedback mechanisms with refugees, asylum-seekers and host communities.
• Support basic monitoring of livelihoods and integration activities, including collection and organization of information on results, challenges and good practices.
• Assist in preparing inputs for internal reports, briefs, donor updates and presentations related to durable solutions and socioeconomic inclusion.
• Support the documentation of lessons learned and good practices from the Local Integration Programme.
• Perform other durable solutions-related duties as required in support of operational priorities.
• Support UNHCR in liaising with key Japanese stakeholders, when required for the durable solutions operation.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are required to:

• Strengthen their knowledge and understanding of the concept of volunteerism by reading relevant UNV and external publications and take active part in UNV activities (for in-stance in events that mark International Volunteer Day).
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country.
• Reflect on the type and quality of voluntary action that they are undertaking, including participation in ongoing reflection activities.
• Contribute articles/write-ups on field experiences and submit them for UNV publications/websites, newsletters, press releases, etc.
• Assist with the UNV Buddy Programme for newly-arrived UN Volunteers.
• Promote or advise local groups in the use of online volunteering, or encourage relevant local individuals and organizations to use the UNV Online Volunteering service whenever technically possible.

Eligibility criteria

Age: 18 - 80

Required experience: 36 months

Nationality: Candidate must be a national of a country other than the country of assignment.

Duration limit: Maximum years of service as an international UN Volunteer is 4 years.

Assignment requirements

Relevant experience: 3 months

Languages: English, Level: Fair, Desirable; Spanish, Level: Working knowledge, Required

Required education level: Bachelor's degree Political Sciences, Law, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Public Administration, Economics, Human Rights, International Relations or other relevant field.

Area(s) of expertise: Project management, programme development, strategy, Community development

Driving license: -

Competencies and values

☒ Accountability

☒ Adaptability and Flexibility

☒ Building Trust

☒ Client Orientation

☐ Commitment and Motivation

☐ Commitment to Continuous Learning

☐ Communication

☒ Creativity

☐ Empowering Others

☒ Ethics and Values

☒ Integrity

☒ Judgement and Decision-making

☐ Knowledge Sharing

☐ Leadership

☐ Managing Performance

☒ Planning and Organizing

☒ Professionalism

☐ Respect for Diversity

☒ Self-Management

☐ Technological Awareness

☐ Vision

☐ Working in Teams

Skills and experience

3 – 5 years professional experience (including JOCV) in:

• Refugee integration in the country of asylum, a third country, and/or the country of origin, and/or in the (re)integration of internally displaced persons in situations of internal displacement, including experience in policy development, programme design and implementation, and/or advocacy.
• Experience in community development and/or working with or within private sector entities, UN institutions, or non-governmental organizations is required.
• Demonstrated interest and/or experience in socio economic inclusion, financial inclusion, human rights, refugee law, humanitarian-development nexus.
• Previous experience as a volunteer and/or experience of another culture, (i.e. studies, volunteer work, internship) would be highly desirable.
• Experience working in community organization and/or development cooperation projects.
• Understanding or familiarity with political and drivers of violence in Latin America and Mexico will be considered an asset.
• Good interpersonal, networking and communication skills.
• Willingness to contribute and work as part of a team dedicated to serve others.
• Flexible and open to learning and new experiences.
• Respect for diversity and adaptability to other cultures, environments and living conditions.
• Computer skills (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, social media, and others).

Living conditions and remarks

The Bajío region—comprising the states of Aguascalientes, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, and Jalisco—represents a key geographic, economic, and industrial hub in central-western Mexico. This region includes major metropolitan areas and forms part of a highly developed industrial corridor that hosts a significant concentration of national and multinational companies, particularly in the automotive and manufacturing sectors. Monterrey (Nuevo León) and El Saltillo (Coahuila) are also key industrial cities in northern Mexico with strong economic activity and developed infrastructure.

• Health: In the metropolitan areas, there are first-level private and public hospitals. In the areas of Irapuato and Silao, you will have to travel for 1 hour to access this type of health service. However, you will find both private and public medical services in Irapuato and Silao.
• Education: Metropolitan areas have first-class universities. Most private schools are bilingual (English–Spanish). Silao and Irapuato are 1 hour away.
• Housing: Apartments can be rented furnished or unfurnished. International UNHCR personnel must obtain approval from UN Security for the selected residence BEFORE signing a rental contract.
• Entertainment: There is a long tradition of fairs and festivals, as well as entertainment for families, including sports, cultural events, and popular, classical, and modern activities.
• Weather: In the Bajío, throughout the year, the temperature generally varies from 19 °C to 35 °C and rarely drops below 16 °C or rises above 38 °C.
• Transportation: There are public buses, and if taxis are to be used, it is recommended to use taxis de sitio (authorized taxis).
• Security: The Bajío is also part of the North, South, and Central Security Risk Management Areas. According to the SRM, Aguascalientes belongs to the SRM South region, with the current General Threat Level 3, MODERATE. There are currently no direct threats to UNHCR; however, UNHCR staff may be affected by common crime, including car theft, residential burglaries, robberies of passers-by with and without violence, and extortion.

Additional eligibility criteria

This assignment is funded by JICA, therefore only former Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JICA-JOCV) recommended by the JICA-JOCV Secretariat are eligible to apply. Please consult the JICA website (https://www.jica.go.jp/volunteer/obog/career_support/unv/index.html) for further information on the eligibility criteria.

Deployment is scheduled between 1 October and 30 November (no later than 31 December 2026).