Human Rights Associate

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the Secretariat Department responsible for strengthening international human rights mechanisms; enhancing equality and countering discrimination; combating impunity and strengthening accountability and the rule of law; integrating human rights in development and in the economic sphere; widening the democratic space; and early warning and protection of human rights in situations of conflict, violence and insecurity.

Within this context the Human Rights Associate will interact with colleagues in the Myanmar Team on a daily basis. Whether it is the Chief of the team or individual human rights officers therein, the supervision and mentoring of the associate will be a daily undertaking. A personal work plan will be developed, including roles and responsibilities, expected outputs, and personal learning goals and will focus on the monitoring and reporting mandates of OHCHR concerning the human rights crisis in Myanmar. This will include working within an investigative or research cycle as a support to human rights officers on priority cases and geographic regions. It will also periodically include providing broader support to the Chief and his work within the UN Country Team and Humanitarian Country Team in Yangon.

Implementation planning will be undertaken jointly on a one-to-one basis and within the entire Team, tailored to the nature of specific activities. Technical skills will be acquired through mentoring, on-the-job training, and, where required, through external capacity building initiatives. Initial supervision will be as intense as necessary, gradually guiding the Human Rights Associate A towards greater independence and responsibility. Review meetings on the workplan with the team leader will be held regularly.

The Human Rights Associate will travel with members of the team in Thailand or elsewhere as needed to undertake field-based activities, and will submit mission reports and interview notes whenever necessary. In addition to informal contact on a daily basis, team meetings are held once a week. The Human Rights Associate will be encouraged and guided to manage all aspects of his/her work, including planning, implementation and review in consultation with the Chief or the Deputy.

Establishment of a Work Plan: During the first month of the assignment, the Human Rights Associate will work jointly with his/her direct supervisor to finalize an agreed upon work plan. The final work plan will be discussed and mutually agreed to by the HR Associate and his/her supervisor.

Evaluation: The United Nations Performance Evaluation System (e-performance) will serve as a primary platform to evaluate of the Human Rights Associate’s performance.

Under the direct supervision of the Chief of the Myanmar Team the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

• Support monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation in Myanmar with particular focus on protection of civilians issues, including violations resulting from lack of civilian protection and limitations on humanitarian access and aid deliveries, particular-ly the resulting impacts of conflict and human rights violations on women and children;
• Support drafting of internal and external reports, briefing notes, talking points, and any other document as requested;
• Assist the team’s delivery of capacity building and technical assistance efforts targeting NGOs, and civil society organizations especially partners working on protection of the human rights of women and girls;
• Facilitate information gathering and safe data storage processes in thematic databases for analytical purposes;
• Support evidence-based advocacy campaigns on thematic issues of relevance and ensure that distribution of OHCHR products reach wide number of State and non-State actors;
• Ensure the highest standard of confidentiality in managing information and full compliance with the do no harm principle.