Founded in 1956, The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit organization providing direct assistance to conflict-affected populations – refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and host communities – in more than 40 countries around the world. DRC has been implementing emergency response projects in Tanzania since the onset of the Burundi refugee crisis in 2015 in three refugee camps in the Kigoma Region at the border with Burundi. DRC’s integrated projects for refugees, asylum seekers and host communities comprise sectors such as Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM), Protection (CBP, PSN, GBV, CP and Legal), Shelter and infrastructure, and Economic Recovery.
Overall purpose of the role:
The legal assistant will provide legal support to People we Serve on humanitarian cases and offer legal training to refugees in Nduta camp. Legal assistant will work closely with legal interpreters on raising awareness to PwS on child protection, GBV, refugees’ rights, child labor, rights and responsibilities of child, voluntary repatriation, law of marriage, legal couching and counselling to PwS.
Responsibilities and tasks
- In support with legal officer, provide legal advice and support to PwS when litigating refugee rights.
- In collaboration from other DRC protection units and UNHCR raising legal awareness to refugees about different legal issues in the community and monitoring ongoing legal training to people we serve in the camp.
- Provide legal aid to PwS through stationed and mobile legal help desk.
- Participating in different zone community meetings and provide key legal updates.
- Meeting with PwS and do case follow up in the camp.
- Drafting legal documents when needed such as card splitting, card merging and voluntary repatriation agreements.
- Conducting daily visitation at detention facilities which include police and immigration.
- Assisting in developing legal projects such as concept note and proposal writing.
- Updating monitoring table and case database.
- Preparing various reports such as weekly, monthly and midyear reports.
- Making mediation and negotiation in cases such as matrimonial, neighborhood and family conflicts.
- Assigning duties and supervising legal incentives in performing their duties.
- Serves as a link between the DRC and other stakeholders such as judiciary, police, immigration, MoHA, UNHCR
- Undertaking legal research and organizing legal trainings to incentive staffs.
- Take over any other task designated by the Manager, Team Leader to ensure proper functioning of the Legal department.
- Ensure DRC’s accountability commitments are mainstreamed into all protection units
- Any other tasks required by his/her supervisors in the limit of his/her expertise.
Experience and technical competencies: (include years of experience)
- Experience of more than two years in humanitarian context.
- Minimum of 2 years’ experience working in INGO, with additional knowledge of human rights law and international refugees’ law.
- Able to work in challenging environment and meeting deadline.
- Flexible, team player, proactive and independent
- Technical understanding of core protection concepts, and response strategies in line with best practices.
- Experience working in protection in an integrated manner with other humanitarian sectors of intervention.
- Experience working with displaced or conflict affected populations.
- Strong planning, organizational and problem-solving skills with the ability to work both independently and within a team.
- Integrity, strong work ethic, and ability to consistently meet deadlines under pressure.
- Strong interpersonal skills and commitment to learning and implementing organizational policies and procedures.
- Full proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Word and Excel.
Education:
- University degree in Law.
- Must be Tanzanian.
Languages:
• Excellent proficiency in written and spoken English and Swahili, knowledge of Kirundi is an advantage.
Information
Employment category: Band I
Reporting to: Legal Team Leader
Technical Line Manager:Protection Manager
Direct report: N/A
Unit/department: Protection
Location: Kibondo
Key stakeholders: (internal and external)
- DRC Protection staff, refugees and donors
- Local Government (refugee camp) and host Community representatives.
- Community groups.
- Other NGOs and relief actors.
- MoHA, police, immigration
All DRC roles require the post-holder to master DRC’s core competencies:
- Striving for excellence: You focus on reaching results while ensuring an efficient process.
- Collaborating: You involve relevant parties and encourage feedback.
- Taking the lead: You take ownership and initiative while aiming for innovation.
- Communicating: You listen and speak effectively and honestly.
- Demonstrating integrity: You act in line with our vision and values.
Providing equal opportunities We are committed to creating an inclusive and positive work environment based on mutual respect for all employees. All applicants are considered for employment without attention to race, age, ability, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other factor. At DRC we celebrate diversity and appreciate our employees for the people they are and their unique skills, backgrounds, and perspectives. We encourage all interested candidates to apply.
DRC strives to attract, motivate and retain qualified national staff within its programs. As such, we strongly encourage national and diaspora candidates to apply for this position. However, candidates should take into consideration that DRC cannot employ, under an international contract, a national of the country in which he or she will be working (in this case, the United Republic of Tanzania)
Promoting high standards : DRC’s capacity to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees, IDP’s and other persons of concern depends on the ability of our staff to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. DRC conducts thorough and comprehensive background checks as part of the recruitment process.
Application and CV
Only motivated applications that address the stipulated duties and meet the required qualifications, sent together with a CV, will be considered.
DRC only accepts applications sent via our online-application form on www.drc.ngo under JOB.
Working at DRC
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DRC as an employer
Founded in 1956, DRC Danish Refugee Council is Denmark’s largest, and a leading international NGO. We have continuously been ranked as one of the best NGOs in the world - and are one of the few with a specific expertise in forced displacement. In over 40 countries, we protect, advocate and build sustainable futures for refugees and other displacement-affected people and communities.
By working in DRC, you will be joining a global workforce of around 8000 employees. We pride ourselves on our:
- Professionalism, impact & expertise
- Humanitarian approach & the work we do
- Purpose, meaningfulness & own contribution
- Culture, values & strong leadership
- Fair compensation & continuous development
DRC’s capacity to ensure the protection of and assistance to refugees, IDP’s and other persons of concern depends on the ability of our staff to uphold and promote the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct in relation DRC’s values and Code of Conduct, including safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. DRC conducts thorough and comprehensive background checks as part of the recruitment process.
Danish Refugee Council is an equal opportunity employer and we consider all applicants based on individual merit and qualifications, regardless of personal characteristics or attributes. We are committed to increasing the diversity of our workforce, aiming for a 50% balance of men and women in management roles and ensuring that at least 50% of management roles are filled by national staff. We recognize that a diverse and inclusive team is crucial for achieving our organizational goals and making a positive impact on the communities we serve.