Assistant Human Rights Officer (CSU & WHRGS)

Eligibility criteria

Candidate age: between 18 and 29 throughout the entire duration of their assignment, except the assignments in Headquarters duty stations. Nationals of the country of assignment are not eligible. Applicants must be students of any academic program (BA/BSc, Masters, PhD) and keep this status during the whole duration of their assignment, or be recent graduates.

Description of task

Under the direct supervision of the Coordinator of CSU and the Coordinator of WHRGS, the International UN Volunteer will:

1. Support the Civic Space Unit (CSU) team on the below listed 5 key priority areas by participating in meetings and follow up, writing up summaries, data analysis, mapping exercises, and conducting research and other related tasks.

1. Support regional and in-country initiatives to protect Human Rights Defenders (HRDs);
2. Support strategic field engagement on civic space;
3. Support the roll-out and implementation of the UN Guidance Note on protection and promotion of civic space;
4. Monitoring of civic space and the situation of HRDs;
5. Mainstreaming civic space and protection in UN system;
6. Building public support for civic space and HRDs;
7. Provide inputs to individual protection cases, talking points, 2-pagers as needed;

B) Support the WHRGS’s activities on the areas of women’s human rights and gender equality, including:

1. Assist in the development and implementation of capacity-building activities on women’s human rights;
2. Assist with the research for talking points and speeches on women’s human rights and gender equality, including on women’s rights and inequality, for the High Commissioner, the Deputy High Commissioner, the Assistant Secretary General in NY, and other senior managers as requested;
3. Support in organizing thematic panel discussions at the Human Rights Council on women’s human rights and gender equality, and conduct research for the preparations of reports to the Human Rights Council on women’s human rights and gender equality;
4. Compile relevant articles and reports on the areas of women’s rights and gender equality and disseminate these within the Section; and
5. Assist in providing inputs to position papers, reports, and other documents developed by the Section on the areas of women’s human rights and gender equality;

Other areas of work:

• Contribute to thematic reports or studies, including research of related literature, international law and jurisprudence and in particular, the UN Volunteer may:
• Collect information and conduct research for the preparation of briefing notes, statements and other documents;
• Take notes of meetings with different stakeholders, in particular civil society representatives;
• Attend sessions of the Human Rights Council (HRC) and assisting with the preparation of related activities and events;
• Assist in the organization of meetings and seminars; and
• Perform other related duties as requested by supervisor, as appropriate.

As part of the pilot programme “Ditch UNfair internship” the volunteer will be asked to contribute to the advocacy component of the project by providing feedback on how to improve OHCHR internship system, share stories and experience.

Qualifications/Requirements Required degree level: Bachelor degree or equivalent Education - Additional Comments:

To qualify for this assignment, applicants must, at the time of application, be enrolled in a graduate school programme (i.e. Master’s degree or equivalent degree, or higher) or in the final academic year of a first- level university degree programme (i.e. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent degree) in the area of law, political science, international relations, social sciences or related field, OR have graduated with a university as defined above AND, if selected, must commence take the assignment within one-year period from the date of graduation.

Required experience: Experience remark:

Applicants are not required to have professional work experience for this assignment though any relevant academic and/or practical experience, in particular in the area of legal or human rights affairs, would be an advantage. In addition, working experience in the areas of civic space and women’s human rights and gender equality issues, is desirable.

Applicants should be computer literate in standard software applications; have a demonstrated keen interest in the work of the United Nations with a personal commitment to the ideals of the Charter, and have the demonstrated ability to successfully interact with individuals of different cultural backgrounds and beliefs - which includes willingness to understand and be tolerant of differing opinions and views.

Language: English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this assignment, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable (i.e. French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian or Spanish).

Language skills:

• English(Mandatory), Level - Fluent

Area of expertise: Human rights, Other legal experience Driving license: No Competencies values:

Communication, Professionalism, Working in Teams

Application procedure:

* Not yet registered in the UNV Talent Pool?
Please first register your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/signup.
Important: After creating your account, complete all sections of your profile and submit it. Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink. Lastly, select the special call to which you would like to apply.

* Already registered in the UNV Talent Pool?
Please first update your profile at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/profile. Then go to ‘My Page’ at https://vmam.unv.org/candidate/mypage and click on the ‘Special Calls’ hyperlink to select the special call for to which you would like to apply.

Application deadline: 23-05-2021