Human Rights Associate

Volunteering Crisis & Emergency Response Legal

Overview

Support monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation in Myanmar.

You have:

• Ideally one year of demonstrated interest and/or experience in Human Rights.
• Experience in humanitarian action or protection-related issues.
• Experience in monitoring and reporting on human rights situations, particularly in conflict zones.
• Skills in drafting reports and briefing notes.
• Competence in facilitating information gathering and data storage.
• Ability to manage and utilize data effectively for reporting purposes.
• Commitment to confidentiality and adherence to the 'do no harm' principle.

Contract

This is a UNV International Youth contract. This kind of contract is known as International UN Volunteer. It is normally internationally recruited only. More about UNV International Youth contracts.

The UN Youth Volunteer will be assigned to the OHCHR Myanmar Team in Bangkok which covers the crisis in Myanmar based on a series of mandates derived from the role of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and from resolutions adopted in the UN Human Rights Council. In this context, the Team is expected to report publicly to every session of the Council on aspects of the human rights situation and to make targeted recommendations to address the crisis. In addition, through the Team, OHCHR serves as a full member of the UN Country in Yangon and the Humanitarian Country Team. In so doing it advises the UN system and humanitarians on the human rights aspects of programming, protection and related analysis and advocacy. Within the scope of its programming, the Myanmar team also undertakes to support civil society capacity development and efforts to preserve civic space during a time of crisis and acute protection concerns.

Within this context the 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 HRO 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 Human Rights Associate and his/her supervisor.

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

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

• Support monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation in Myanmar with particular emphasis on protection of civilians issues, limitations on humanitarian access and aid deliveries, resulting impacts of conflict and human rights violations on women and children; • Support drafting of internal and external reports, briefing notes, talking points, and other documents as requested; • Assist 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 data-bases for analytical purposes; • Support evidence-based advocacy campaigns on thematic issues of relevance and distribution of OHCHR products to reach the widest possible audience; • Ensure the highest standard of confidentiality in managing information and full compliance with the do no harm principle.

☒ Accountability ☒ Adaptability and Flexibility ☒ Communication ☒ Planning and Organizing ☒ Working in Teams

Demonstrated interest and/ or experience (ideally one year) in: • Human Rights • Humanitarian action or protection-related issues • Monitoring and reporting on human rights situations, with a focus on protection of civilians, particularly in conflict zones. • Issues related to humanitarian access, aid deliveries, and the impacts of conflict and human rights violations on vulnerable groups, especially women and children.

Further the UN Youth Volunteer brings: • Skills in drafting internal and external reports, briefing notes, talking points, and other relevant documents. • Competence in facilitating information gathering and ensuring safe data storage in thematic databases for analytical purposes. • Ability to manage and utilize data effectively for reporting and advocacy purposes. • Ability to convey complex information clearly and concisely. • Proficiency in ensuring wide distribution of OHCHR products to various State and non-State actors. • Commitment to maintaining the highest standards of confidentiality in managing sensitive information. • Adherence to the "do no harm" principle in all professional activities.

Bangkok, Thailand which is a family duty-station with modern amenities and infrastructure. Travel outside of the duty station would likely occur on a regular basis.

Conditions of Service

The Conditions of Service outline the policies and rules governing UN Volunteer assignments. These, along with other resources, are available on the Unified Volunteer Platform (UVP) at https://app.unv.org/explore. You can also access the entitlement calculator here: https://app.unv.org/calculator.

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Potential interview questions

Added 7 months ago - Updated 6 months ago - Source: unv.org