After a series of regional and complex emergencies have stretched the United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ human resources, the agency has identified a number of critical skills gaps across various functional areas — and launched a new initiative to fill them.
The Capacity Building Initiative, referred to as CBI, is a recruitment and conversion program geared to attract mid-career level professionals with expertise and working experience in areas where the organization needs to enhance its internal capacity.
As the humanitarian environment becomes more complex, so does the caseload UNHCR handles, along with the responses required to meet protection and assistance needs. And with the estimated 40 million refugees and internally displaced persons the agency seeks to serve, “we need an increase in capacity, both in new skills and in numbers,” said Antonio Fidalgo, head of the talent outreach unit for UNHCR.
About the author
Kelli Rogers@kellierin
Kelli Rogers has worked as an Associate Editor and Southeast Asia Correspondent for Devex, with a particular focus on gender. Prior to that, she reported on social and environmental issues from Nairobi, Kenya. Kelli holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and has reported from more than 20 countries.
