The envisioned starting day is June 1st. However, there is some flexibility to accommodate candidates' constraints.
 

UNHCR’s mandated responsibility for finding solutions to refugee situations has long required stronger cooperation with development partners and the inclusion of forcibly displaced and stateless persons within development planning and programming instruments, including national development programmes. Due to a variety of factors, the proportion of refugees and internally displaced persons in protracted displacement situations remains high. Moreover, the diminishing number of forcibly displaced people who have access to so-called durable solutions constitutes a worrying trend that has persisted in recent years. The increasing scale of irregular migration, large scale refugee movements, internal displacement and the costs of responding to humanitarian situations have placed forced displacement high on the global agenda. Given the complexity and protractedness of many of today’s forced displacement situations, often occurring in fragile contexts, awareness is growing that forced displacement requires a development response to complement humanitarian assistance, address poverty and marginalization and other development challenges in a sustainable and inclusive manner. The SDGs provide a yardstick for inclusive development based on the principles of Leaving No One Behind and Reaching the Furthest Behind First. It is also acknowledged that extreme poverty and human suffering associated with refugees and other forcibly displaced people need to be systematically taken into account when addressing development challenges and development prospects of host communities, countries, and regions.
 
The Global Compact for Refugees frames this new approach towards more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing and focuses on the need to enhance reception and admission; to support host communities and host countries and facilitate access to durable solutions. It recognizes that more sustainable approaches to refugee situations cannot be achieved without the systematic engagement of a broader set of stakeholders, including development partners.
 

Within the context outlined above, the role of the SIPA Fellow is to support UNHCR's engagement and cooperation with development agencies’ medium-term programmes assisting local communities and refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the ability to leverage development partnerships to influence policy dialogue to enact institutional reforms toward improved protection environments, socio-economic inclusion, and self-reliance; taking into account and reducing the vulnerabilities of forcibly displaced persons. Specific thematic areas that will be covered by the Fellow include conflict prevention and peacebuilding; governance; and rule of law.