Refugee Status Determination Program, Volunteer Legal Advisor

**Saint Andrew’s Refugee Services, Cairo**

**Call for Applications: Refugee Status Determination Program, Volunteer Legal Advisor**

Founded in 1979, StARS is a refugee service provider in central Cairo that works to enhance the quality of life for refugees and vulnerable migrants through five broad program areas: education, psychosocial, legal, community outreach and unaccompanied youth and children support services. We provide high-quality services meeting the unaddressed needs of refugees, and we provide a safe and inclusive space for displaced people to come together as a community. We work for refugees, with refugees, to make rights recognition a reality.

**StARS’ Mission:** Driven by a commitment to solidarity and human dignity, StARS works both as displaced people and for displaced people to support the resilience and leadership of individuals and communities in their pursuit of an enhanced quality of life.

**StARS’ Vision:** StARS envisions a future where displaced people and the societies they join stand in solidarity, recognizing the strength and leadership of refugees. In this world, the displaced thrive with dignity, claiming their rights and enriching our shared human experience.

**Standard of Professional Conduct:** StARS and all its staff must adhere to the values and principles outlined in StARS’ Code of Conduct, Child Safeguarding Policy, and PSEAH policy.

**Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion:** StARS is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. StARS expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.

**We serve** people from many places, including Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

To learn more please visit our website: www.stars-egypt.org or our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/standrewsrefugeeservices?fref=ts

**Description of the Program.**

The Refugee Legal Aid Program provides advice and representation to refugees seeking recognition by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees through refugee status determination procedures in Egypt and assists refugees in accessing resettlement to safe third countries. The Refugee Legal Aid Program is seeking Volunteer Legal Advisors to assist vulnerable refugees in their refugee status determination process.

**Current Sudan Context**

In light of the recent and ongoing civil war in Sudan, StARS is experiencing a high influx of persons forcibly displaced from Sudan. This includes Sudanese nationals and other nationalities previously displaced from their country of origin to Sudan. StARS remains flexible and reactive to changes in the local asylum-seeking environment as influenced by the Sudan conflict. The Refugee Legal Aid Program is seeking to increase its capacity to provide legal advice and representation in accordance with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees procedures, to best assist those affected by this ongoing conflict.

**Role**

Each year, the Refugee Legal Aid Program offers several unpaid internships for qualified candidates who can join us for six months. Under the supervision of the Refugee Status Determination Coordinator and Refugee Status Determination Senior Legal Officers, the Refugee Status Determination Volunteer Legal Advisors are responsible for the provision of legal advice and representation to urban refugees in matters related to their Refugee Status Determination procedures with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Egypt. Among other responsibilities, Refugee Status Determination Volunteer Legal Advisors conduct Refugee Status Determination workshops to educate refugees about the process in Egypt; accompany clients to refugee status determination interviews at United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; conduct screening interviews with clients seeking assistance appealing the rejection of their refugee status determination claims or seeking to reopen their United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees files; represent clients in various refugee status determination procedures, including refugee status determination appeals; and serve as on-call legal advisors, providing information and assistance to clients on a walk-in basis. Refugee Status Determination Volunteer Legal Advisors are responsible for their own caseloads and get extensive direct experience representing refugees.

Following the completion of their six-month commitment, volunteers have gone on to work with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, International Organization for Migration, and othe