The Division of International Protection (DIP) develops global protection policy, contributes to standard-setting and progressive development of international law and standards in the area of forced displacement and statelessness, provides guidance on complex international law and protection policy issues pertaining to all categories of populations of concern and to UNHCR’s field operations, leads the age, gender and diversity approach, and provides support to field operations and other headquarters’ entities on protection policy, legal and operational matters relating to forced displacement and statelessness, including status determination and related issues, from both protection and durable solutions perspectives.
The Office of the Director provides leadership to the Division with regard to legal issues and policy formulation, as well as support to field operations. It guides headquarters Divisions and Bureaux and field operations on global protection issues, particularly in the context of protection strategy formulation and support in emergencies.
The division is organized in a series of sections and units.
The Protection Policy and Legal Advice (PPLA) Section’s mission is to advance international legal standards on the protection of asylum-seekers and refugees, and to provide thematic doctrinal advice and guidance to governments and field operations.
The Asylum/Migration Unit ensures UNHCR’s engagement in international migration issues as they relate to forced displacement and statelessness. The Unit supports the regional Bureaux and field offices in advocating for protection-sensitive, comprehensive regional approaches to mixed migratory movements. The Unit also supports UNHCR’s engagement in global migration processes, including the Global Forum on Migration and Development and the Global Migration Group.
The Human Rights Liaison Unit engages with the human rights mechanisms of the United Nations and other bodies to strengthen the international legal framework on people of concern to UNHCR, and to mainstream and promote effective use of human rights norms as both advocacy and complementary protection tools for persons of the Office’s concern.
The Statelessness Section develops doctrine and tools on statelessness and provides support to field operations and external actors, in furtherance of UNHCR’s statelessness mandate. The Section promotes implementation of the Global Action Plan to end statelessness by 2024 – including through support to UNHCR field offices, provision of technical advice for nationality law and policy reforms, and regional and country-level meetings with governments to exchange best practices in addressing statelessness.
The Refugee Status Determination Section is responsible for developing and implementing UNHCR RSD and RSD-related strategies, as an integral part of UNHCR’s broader protection and solutions strategies. The Section aims to strengthen international refugee protection by enhancing the quality and efficiency of UNHCR and State RSD procedures, including in emergency and other special operations. The Section provides support through training, legal and procedural advice, expert missions and deployments. It also issues country-specific guidance documents to assist UNHCR staff and state decision-makers in individual asylum procedures, and works intensively with States and intra-state organizations to ensure that country of origin information (COI) available to decision-makers in different jurisdictions is of the highest possible quality.
The Protection and National Security Unit leads efforts to ensure that measures to counter terrorism and other threats to national or international security comply with international legal obligations towards people of concern to UNHCR. The Unit also monitors legal and policy developments in the area of exclusion from international refugee protection. It provides guidance and advice on legal and policy issues, including through individual case review, as well as training on exclusion, extradition and national security issues for UNHCR staff and government officials in regions dealing with complex caseloads.
The Resettlement Service advances UNHCR’s global resettlement agenda by promoting resettlement as an integral component of comprehensive protection and solutions strategies, and ensuring that durable solutions are applied in a complementary manner to maximize solutions opportunities for a higher number of refugees. The Resettlement Service also revises relevant guidelines, including those addressing fraud committed by refugees, and participates in multi-functional technical anti-fraud assessment missions to provide support and advice to UNHCR operations dealing with resettlement priority situations.
The Community-Based Protection Unit focuses on enhancing UNHCR’s organizational capacity to deliver community-based protection through the issuance of guidance, including targeted support to country operations. The Unit promotes good practices and develops global training packages, for example in the areas of disability inclusion and protection of LGBTI people of concern, while continuing to pursue the multi-year transition of the community services function to community-based protection.
The Child Protection Unit continues to roll out the Framework for the Protection of Children, launched in 2012, and provides operational and technical support in the development of multi-year country-level child protection strategies. The Unit responds to the critical needs of unaccompanied children and other children at risk of secondary movement, and smuggling and trafficking. The Unit also has a strong focus on adolescents and youth, supports specific projects for through the Youth Initiative Fund, and engages in advocacy and awareness-raising.
The Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Unit provides technical guidance and operational support on SGBV prevention and response, develops training tools and builds partnerships to strengthen UNHCR’s protection work in this area, in close collaboration with the senior regional protection officers and a network of six emergency staff with dedicated SGBV responsibilities.
The Gender Equality Unit works to incorporate the Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) Accountability Framework into UNHCR’s online planning and reporting system. Through the Unit, UNHCR remains an active member of the GenCap Steering Committee.
With a strong focus on monitoring, the Education Unit assists over 25 field operations to implement country-specific education strategies aimed at increasing access to quality education and strengthening accelerated education programmes in collaboration with a network of education agencies. Given the role of education in supporting durable solutions, the Unit advances the goal of integrating children of concern in national education systems through strengthening a broad partnership base with Ministries of Education and other education actors.
The Protection Support Unit provides protection support for both refugee and IDP emergencies, and for ongoing operations in coordination with regional Bureaux, supports Divisions at headquarters and field operations. Specific support includes staffing and deployment capacity for protection, guidance on protection strategies, protection information management, and the development of tools for protection in emergencies.
The Internally Displaced Persons Section guides UNHCR’s engagement in IDPs situations through policy and operational support, coordination of protection clusters and support to ensure the centrality of protection in emergencies. It supports an enhanced institutional response to IDP situations in the field, while promoting effective advocacy on globally relevant protection issues. The Section aims to strengthen UNHCR’s institutional response in protection and assistance in situations of internal displacement. It guides UNHCR’s operational engagement through planning processes with field operations, regional Bureaux and support Divisions at headquarters, while providing targeted and timely responses during emergencies. In cooperation with the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, IDMC, The Brookings Institution, OHCHR, OCHA and other partners, the IDP Unit facilitates consultation and training on the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, and promotes development of normative frameworks for internal displacement, which includes support for the ratification and implementation of the AU’s Kampala IDP Convention.
The Global Protection Cluster (GPC) Support Cell supports the UNHCR’s leadership and coordination functions and the GPC’s broad membership and provides inter-agency policy advice and guidance on protection and implementation of the cluster approach in 33 clusters and other protection coordination mechanisms worldwide. The GPC aims to strengthen support for field operations and enhance global engagement on protection in internal displacement. Issues requiring strategic planning and advocacy are addressed through the coordinated efforts of the GPC Support Cell, the GPC Areas of Responsibility (AORs), and strengthened collaboration with key operational UN agencies and international NGOs in the area of protection.
Situated within DIP is also the Comprehensive Solutions Unit, which, in collaboration with the Solutions Steering Group, as well as with other parts of DIP, supports regional Bureaux and field offices in in the design, development and implementation of comprehensive protection and solutions strategies. The Unit develops and tests guidance materials and provides technical advice on the more operational aspects of protection is this relates to solutions including: context mapping; voluntary repatriation, including intention surveys; protection-sensitive migration opportunities; cessation processes; the right to dignified work; housing, land and property; and access to justice.
Finally, the Resource Management Unit facilitates operational activities by providing human resources, financial and administrative support to DIP.
The sections and units within the Division collaborate to meet the needs of field offices and the Organization for timely and effective policy, legal, and operational guidance and advice in the field of protection.