Associate Program Cash Base Intervention Officer

The Office of the UNHCR was established on 14 December 1950 by the UN General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to pro-tect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safe-guard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exer-cise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country (www.unhcr.org).

The Republic of Mali is a signatory to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Additional Protocol. It has also signed and ratified the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee and Asylum Problems in Africa. Despite multi-dimensional internal conflicts, Mali never ceases to receive nationals from other neighboring countries seeking asylum and protection, thanks to its open-door policy.

The multidimensional crisis that Mali has been facing since 2012, has not improved despite the various efforts undertaken by different actors to return peace. Despite the pooling of forces between Burkina Faso and Mali in the fight against armed terrorist groups, the security situation remains highly volatile on the border strip with Burkina Faso covering the Centre (Douentza, Bandager, San) and Gao regions. On the other side of the border, the same climate of insecurity prevails in the localities bordering Burkina-Faso. The insecurity fostered by the GAT on both sides of the border has led to massive and continuous movements of people towards Mali, precisely in the regions of Douentza, Bandiagara, San, Gao, Menaka, etc.

Since October 2023, waves of population movements from Burkina Faso have been regularly recorded in the villages and towns bordering Mali, particularly in the Central regions. These movements continued in waves until the end of May 2024, depending on events in the country of origin, with an estimated 500 people per day in towns such as Koro in the Bandiagara region and Mondoro in the Douentza region.

At the end of July 2024, about 44,123 new refugees (14,71 households) were registered, including 41,661 refugees (13,890 households) from Burkina Faso. UNHCR operation in Mali has been actively involved in receiving, registering, and caring for asylum seekers from Burkina Faso, mainly in the central regions, notably Bandiagara, Douentza, San, Mopti, and Sikasso.

As part of responses, multi-purpose cash transfers were made through our financial service provider (ECOBANK) to 26,154 refugees (9,443 households) for a total amount equivalent to US$ 1,276,598. For flexible and mixed emergency shelter solutions, cash for shelter transfers benefited 2,590 refugees (888 households) for a total value of US$ 293,438.

The project aims to facilitate assistance to newly arrived refugees, more than 44,123 persons, in the AoR of the Mopti sub-office through Cash-Based Interventions. With the declaration of Central Sahel Emergency L1 on the 05th of February 2024, Mali Operation has received additional funds of US$ 7.8 M including around US$ 5M for CBI

Within the delegated authority and under the supervision of the Head of Mopti Sub-Office or his/her designated mandated representative(s), the UN Volunteer Associate Programme CBI Officer will:

• Implement the CBI for the benefit of refugees in the Mali operation (covering all field offices) through the ERP CashAssist and the Financial Service Provider ECOBANK.
• Set up a mechanism to coordinate and monitor the cash transfer for refugees in the AoR of the Mopti sub-office.
• Evaluate the possibility of implementing other cash transfer modalities, especially the use of mobile transfers.
• Coordinate the Post Distribution Monitoring.

Furthermore, UN Volunteers are encouraged to integrate the UN Volunteers programme mandate within their assignment and promote voluntary action through engagement with communities in the course of their work. As such, UN Volunteers should dedicate a part of their working time to some of the following suggested activities:

• 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 instance in events that mark International Volunteer Day);
• Be acquainted with and build on traditional and/or local forms of volunteerism in the host country;
• Provide annual and end of assignment self- reports on UN Volunteer actions, results and opportunities.
• 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.

Results/expected outputs

• As an active UNHCR team member, efficient, timely, responsive, client-friendly and high-quality support rendered to UNHCR and its beneficiaries in the accomplishment of her/his functions, including:
o CBI is fully and effectively integrated into the emergency response plan and protection and solutions strategies.
o Increase the use of CBI in e.g. protection, education, shelter, livelihoods, and health programs, with the support and collaboration of colleagues.
o A sound monitoring process for cash assistance is established.
o Trends and interventions, including CBI expenditure, and upstream and downstream activities are analyzed.
o Post-distribution monitoring (PDM) is conducted regularly and in line with the relevant guidance.
o Represent UNHCR in inter-agency coordination mechanisms and fora, promote and maintain collaborative cash arrangements and strong relations with partners and other key actors at the Sub office level.
o Data and analysis for evidence-based, communication, and visibility are generated.
o CBI-related learning and capacity building, including organizing training and learning events are in place.
o Fulfill CBI-related reporting requirements.
o Use of the UNHCR Cash Assist tool.
• Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) perspective is systematically applied, integrated and documented in all activities throughout the assignment.
• A final statement of achievements towards volunteerism for peace and development during the assignment, such as reporting on the number of volunteers mobilized, activities participated in and capacities developed.