Cairo Reception Centre
Throughout the year I have continued to be responsible for coordinating the delivery of Protection services at UNHCR’s Main Building. This has required a high level of flexibility to respond to growing demands and new challenges. At the time of my last update, approximately 2,000 people were approaching the office every day. By mid-summer, this had escalated to over 3,000 persons and – on occasion – over 4,000 persons a day. To enhance safety and dignity, we have continually developed new process flows, increased the presence of psychosocial workers and other volunteers on-site, constructed new interview rooms and shaded waiting areas, and enhanced the accessibility of the premises. This has led to more days than I could ever have expected spent reviewing site plans, or walking around the Reception Centre with a tape measure in hand, in an effort to find innovative ways to enhance wellbeing and process flows at the premises!
However, there have also been many days spent responding to challenging situations, knowing that in many instances there are insufficient services and support to be able to provide the urgent assistance that is needed. With an estimated 1 million persons scheduled to be registered with UNHCR in Egypt by the end of the year, amidst a decline in funding and services, every day brings unavoidably difficult questions. Working in Protection is an incredible privilege, but it is not easy. It requires significant resilience to be able to continue to listen to, and serve, people experiencing great hardship. There have been moments throughout the year when each of us faced a particularly heartbreaking case. However, at such time I have also witnessed and experienced the incredible warmth, compassion, and support of so many colleagues working Protection frontline, leaving me incredibly proud to be a part of such an amazing team.
JPO Training Opportunities
Working for UNHCR provides access to a wealth of learning resources through the organization’s internal learning platform. As a result, I have had the opportunity to complete detailed courses in topics such as Interviewing for Protection, Mainstreaming Child Protection into all sectors, and Age-Gender-Diversity learning. Excitingly, some of these courses are now also available to the public through the recently launched UNHCR Learning Platform, which will help to strengthen the knowledge and understanding of humanitarian actors on issues related to refugee response.
One additional benefit of the JPO programme is that there is also a dedicated budget for skills development. UNHCR works in over 130 countries with a wide range of official languages, making language a key skill for an international career in the humanitarian sector. For example, UNHCR’s offices in francophone African countries operate in French, whilst the offices in Spanish-speaking Latin America naturally require staff to speak professional-level Spanish. Growing up in Jersey, I have always had an understanding of French and in August – with my training budget – had the amazing opportunity to complete a 4-week French language immersion course in Lyon. With many francophone countries in Africa seeing a worsening refugee crisis and facing rising instability, I hope to be better placed now to support efforts to respond to these crises in the future.
Data Protection is Protection!
Throughout my role, I have been fortunate enough to undertake an incredibly diverse range of responsibilities. Early this year, I took on the additional role of data protection focal point for Egypt operation, working across units to advise on data protection queries, conduct trainings, and provide support preparing data-sharing agreements with other organisations.
Data is an incredibly powerful tool for understanding a context and ensuring that services are provided to those who need them most. As UNHCR Egypt conducts Registration and Refugee Status Determination – in addition to providing wider services – the operation maintains the personal information of hundreds and thousands of individuals. Whilst taking on additional responsibilities is always challenging, it has enabled me to support a completely different aspect of UNHCR’s activities and utilize my legal background.
Final Thoughts
In the midst of a humanitarian response, there often little time for introspection. On reflection, however, it has been an incredible year so far, where I have had the opportunity to engage in strategic discussions, participate in embassy and donor engagement, and witness our frontline response strengthen and grow. Egypt has truly become my home and I look forward to all the experiences still to come during my remaining months at UNHCR Cairo.
