Human Rights Officer

The Human Rights Officer is responsible for monitoring and investigating compliance with international human rights and humanitarian law, analyzing data for early-warning and accountability, drafting reports and strategic advice, integrating human rights perspectives into peace, humanitarian and development planning, advising UN leadership and national authorities, and fostering partnerships and capacity-building initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Conduct substantive monitoring of the implementation of human rights and international humanitarian law and follow up on recommendations from human rights mechanisms, including treaty bodies, the UPR, and special procedures, as well as investigative findings, to ensure compliance with human rights and advance accountability.
• Collect, document, and analyze evidence-based information on civil, cultural, economic, social, and/or political rights, including the right to development, to enable analysis, early warning and response, accountability, and informed decision-making, identifying gaps and contributing to ensuring human rights data is discoverable, interoperable, and appropriately shared, including from gender and leave no one behind perspectives.
• Advise or support national counterparts to draft technical inputs for constitutions, legislation, and security-sector reforms that meet international human rights norms and standards.
• Provide substantive advisory and technical support to authorities and other non-State development actors to integrate human rights norms and standards in development and economic policies and programmes, including for a human rights economy and as relevant to national development plans and Voluntary National/Local Reviews.
• Provide substantive support to treaty bodies, special procedures, the UPR, and/or commissions of inquiry through research, coordination, and follow-up, exercising professional judgment under the guidance of senior staff.
• Engage substantively in fundraising and resource mobilization activities to advance the Office’s goals, contributing to donor engagement, proposal development, and coordination efforts, under the guidance of senior staff.
• Engage in the promotion of Human Rights through advocacy and impactful outreach activities.
• Engage substantively in the Office’s partnership‑building activities, including supporting the identification, development, and maintenance of partnerships, under the guidance of senior staff.
• Deliver training programmes and workshops using various platforms for different audiences to enhance the capacity of UN staff and partners.
• Prepare and contribute to the review of training materials for practitioners in collaboration and consultation with relevant UN Agencies and other partners.
• Supervise daily team activities by organizing work assignments, providing technical guidance to junior staff, monitoring progress against tasks, and ensuring all team outputs are delivered on time.
• Provide guidance to team members to promote professional development and a positive team culture.

Requirements

• An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in law, political science, international relations, social sciences or related area is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in human rights or related areas is required.
• Relevant experience may include, but is not limited to political affairs, public affairs, international relations, law, social sciences, economics, development, humanitarian affairs, or other related areas.
• Project management skills is required.
• Knowledge of regional and international human rights mechanisms is required.
• Skills in designing, delivering, and evaluating capacity-building and training programmes are required.
• Planning, organising, and coordination skills in a large multi-stakeholder environment are required.
• Ability to build and maintain partnerships is desirable.
• Ability to mobilize support from a wide range of partners and stakeholders is desirable.
• Skills in drafting human rights reports, policy and other documents are desirable.

Skills

• Human Rights Monitoring
• International Human Rights Law
• Project Management
• Capacity-building Programmes
• Training Design
• Human Rights Reporting
• Policy drafting
• Data Analysis for Early-Warning
• Stakeholder Coordination
• Partnership Building
• Humanitarian Law Compliance
• Peace and Development Integration

Languages

French, English