SENIOR HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICER

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MONUSCO - United Nations Organisation Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Application deadline 2 years ago: Friday 11 Feb 2022 at 23:59 UTC

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Contract

This is a P-5 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 10 years of experience, depending on education.

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Salary for a P-5 contract in Goma

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Org. Setting and Reporting The position is located in the OHCHR Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) within the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). The Senior Human Rights Officer will be based in Goma and will act as the Coordinator of the Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDDP) component /Profiling Unit of UNJHRO. The incumbent reports to the Director of the UNJHRO. Goma is classified a “E” Hardship location and non-family mission

Responsibilities Within the delegated authority the Senior Human Rights Officer, will be responsible for the following duties:

1. Coordinates the implementation of the Human Rights Due-Diligence Policy on UN support to non-UN forces, including by coordinating risk assessments and ensuring relevant human rights monitoring information is gathered, as well as advises on support and follow-up for the implementation of the Policy; 2. Advises on appropriate policies and strategies to better promote and protect human rights in the mission area, including for peace processes; 3. Develops procedures and policies for the effective cooperation with other components of the UN peace mission, including with the police and military, and for the integration of human rights; 4. Provides strategic guidance to the UN peace-mission, the United Nations Country Team and Humanitarian Country Team on the mainstreaming of human rights in the activities as required and advocate for the integration of human rights in these programmes including with respect to the United Nations Development Assistance and Integrated Strategic frameworks as well as the Consolidated (Humanitarian) Appeal processes; 5. Advises senior management and contributes to the integration of human rights in humanitarian action through participating or coordinating emergency preparedness and response activities, including the work of the Protection Cluster as appropriate; 6. Devises advocacy strategies, advocates and advises relevant authorities including Government and State officials, UN Country Team (UNCT), and the UN mission senior management on strategies to better protect and promote human rights, mechanisms to stop impunity and to redress serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law; 7. Ensures regular communication with OHCHR in the sharing of information and best practices, and in the creation of policies;

8. Under the guidance of the Director of the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) represents the human rights component In decision-making fora; 9. Contributes to the integration of gender perspectives/considerations and specific women/girls' rights issues in all activities, programmes and strategies; 10. Establishes and maintains contact with national authorities, civil society, UN actors and bodies, and other relevant partners, to inform on the human rights situation in the mission area and advice on strategic and policy issues to better protect and promote human rights; 11. Contributes to promote coordination among all human rights related mandates present in the mission area; 12. Analyzes and synthesizes significant amounts of information of relevance to human rights, including from open sources; 13. Reaches out to various UN actors to collect and analyze information of relevance to human rights; 14. Support the effective flow of information and channels human rights analysis and concerns for inclusion in crisis management and response; 15. Coordinates the implementation of and where relevant designs the human rights work plan and evaluates its impact; 16. Coordinates, supervises and ensures adequate Human Rights component's conduct of human rights monitoring activities of the United Nations Joint Human Rights (UNJHRO) by the HRDDP unit in compliance with UN methodology and relevant to the observance of the international human rights and humanitarian law in the mission area; 17. Provides strategic guidance to and, as required, leads multidisciplinary teams in the conduct of investigations of human rights and international humanitarian law violations in compliance with UN methodology and standards; 18. Provides strategic guidance to civil society and authorities on building the protection mechanisms for victims and witnesses of human rights and humanitarian law violations; 19. Oversees the use and maintenance of a database of human rights cases, monitors access rights at regional field level, evaluates quality of data in compliance with established standards; 20. Provides substantive coordination and management oversight as required to the Human Rights component's field offices, ensuring a link between field operations, strategic direction and results targeted by the Human Rights component, including in its results-based work-plan; 21. Ensures information on human rights situation in the mission area is readily available to influence decision, strategy and policy-making; 22. Contributes to the integration of human rights in the mission's protection of civilians (PoC) efforts and, where relevant, coordinates such efforts, including by, inter-alia, mapping and reporting protection risks, early warning, advising UN uniformed personnel on human rights issues during the conduct of their operations, and participating or coordinating in Joint Protection Teams, as required; 23. Oversees the coordination of activities to support the work of HRDDP Advisor and the engagement of the Human Rights component in combating impunity for sexual violence as appropriate; 24. Establishes and maintains effective working relationships with national authorities, civil society (human rights and victim organizations, and organizations including on transitional justice), and other partners in order to strengthen implementation of the national transitional justice processes; 25. Advises UN and national authorities on the establishment of a vetting framework and implementation mechanisms in the mission area, as required; 26. Ensures the integration of gender-sensitive victim perspectives in the design and implementation of transitional justice mechanisms and processes, as well as relevant advocacy strategies and capacity building initiatives; 27. Oversees the planning of human rights training and educational programmes for national officials, representatives of civil society, human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), National Human Rights Institutions and other national stakeholders, and ensures they are in line with gaps assessed through human rights monitoring and mission priorities; 28. Coordinates with other UN mission components, UN actors and other regional and international organizations to create opportunities to integrate human rights into their training programmes, including those aiming at leg1slative, rule of law and security sector reforms; 29. Oversees the coordination of and ensures the appropriate management of technical cooperation projects and funds; participates in fund-raising activities, as necessary and ensures compliance with project-based reporting to donors; 30. Monitors and ensures reporting on compliance of the human rights component's capacity building activities with appropriate UN policy directives and methodology; 31. Oversees the planning and delivery of human rights training programmes for staff and personnel of the UN mission; 32. Devises training needs assessments and training strategies for new or-junior human rights staff and monitors their implementation. 33. Performs other duties as required.

Competencies PROFESSIONALISM:

Proven sensitivity to conflict and post-conflict political and social environments and ability to adjust behaviours accordingly; Comprehensive knowledge of human rights principles, international mechanisms and of related concepts, including the protection of civilians, transitional justice, humanitarian action, DDR, legislative, rule of law reforms and conflict-related sexual violence; Good knowledge of institutional mandates, policies, guidelines and methodologies related to UN peace operations and to human rights work, as well as good understanding of issues related to the integration of human rights in UN peace operations; Capacity to maintain effective partnerships with relevant stakeholders to further the mandate of the organization, and to strategically advocate for the integration of human rights in various fora; Sound political judgment, as well as diplomacy, impartiality, and discretion. Ability to produce in-depth analysis of political, ethnic, racial, gender-based, social, economic and other human rights-related problems to assess their impact and to provide concrete strategy recommendations to redress situations; Capacity to lead the continual improvement of human rights-related work processes and ability to apply best management practices to obtain optimum performance of the human rights component; Understanding of the relevance of information collected by various UN actors for human rights analysis; Sound knowledge of the political background and human rights situation in the country or region; Proven representational, negotiation and managerial skills; Understanding of the relevance of information and data management and its applicability to human rights work; Ability to work and act under pressure in a politically and psychologically difficult environment, with a minimum of comfort and in precarious security conditions; Commitment to implement the goal of gender equality by ensuring the equal participation and full involvement of women and men in all aspects of the peace operation and to mainstream gender in all activities of the human rights component; Shows pride in work and in achievements; Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; remains calm in stressful situations; Takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work.

TEAMWORK: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; Solicits input by genuinely valuing others' ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; Places team agenda before personal agenda; Supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; Shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

ACCOUNTABILITY: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments; Delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards; Operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules; Supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments; Takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

MANAGING PERFORMANCE: Delegates the appropriate responsibility, accountability and decision-making authority; Makes sure that roles, responsibilities and reporting lines are clear to each staff member; Accurately judges the amount of time and resources needed to accomplish a task and matches task to skills; Monitors progress against milestones and deadlines; Regularly discusses performance and provides feedback and coaching to staff; Encourages risk-taking and supports staff when they make mistakes; Actively supports the development and career aspirations of staff; Appraises performance fairly.

JUDGEMENT AND DECISION-MAKING: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation, and comes to the heart of the problem quickly; Gathers relevant information before making a decision; Considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them; Takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization; Proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information; Checks assumptions against facts; Determines that the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision; Makes tough decisions when necessary.

Education Advanced university degree (Master's degree or equivalent), in law, political science, international relations or social sciences or a related area. A first-level university degree with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience A minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in the human rights or closely related field of which half in human rights is required.

Experience in human rights monitoring, reporting and/or investigating violations and engagement for the protection of civilians in conflict or post-conflict context are required. Such experience should encompass at least three years in a managerial capacity and the supervision of teams.

Practical experience in the implementation of the Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP) in field operations is required. In particular, experience in screening non-UN security forces, identification of potential risks and crafting of mitigating measures is required

Experience advocating with senior government representatives for the promotion of and respect for human rights in a conflict or post-conflict environment is desirable.

A minimum of 3 years’ experience providing services in the field of Human Rights to or in a field operation of the United Nations Common System or a comparable international organization or non- governmental organization is desirable

Prior experience coordinating multi sectoral response to human rights protection concerns including through engaging with military and police for the protection of civilians is desirable.

Languages English and French are the working languages for the United Nations Secretariat. Fluency in English, (both oral and written) is required; knowledge of French is desirable.

Assessment Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

Special Notice - This position is temporarily available until 30 June 2023. If the selected candidate is a staff member from the United Nations Secretariat, the selection will be administered as a temporary assignment.

  • While this temporary assignment may provide the successful applicant with an opportunity to gain new work experience, the selection for this position is for a limited period and has no bearing on the future incumbency of the post.

  • Subject to the funding source of the position, the eligibility for this temporary job opening may be limited to candidates based at the duty station.

  • This temporary job opening may be limited to “internal candidates,” who have been recruited through a competitive examination administered according to staff rule 4.16 or staff selection process including the review of a central review body established according to staff rule 4.15.

  • The United Nations Secretariat is committed to achieving 50/50 gender balance in its staff. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for this position.

  • Staff members of the United Nations common system organizations who will reach the mandatory age of separation or retirement within the duration of the current temporary need period are not eligible to apply. Submitting an application or selection for the current temporary job opening does not delay or increase the mandatory age of separation.

  • Retirees above the mandatory age of separation who wish to be considered for the current temporary job opening must indicate the reason for their last separation as "retirement." Such retirees shall not be employed by the Organization, unless (a) the operational requirements of the Organization cannot be met by staff members who are qualified and available to perform the required functions; and (b) the proposed employment would not adversely affect the career development or redeployment opportunities of other staff members and represents both a cost-effective and operationally sound solution to meet the needs of the service.

    United Nations Considerations According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Candidates will not be considered for employment with the United Nations if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. The term “sexual exploitation” means any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another. The term “sexual abuse” means the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. The term “sexual harassment” means any unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that might reasonably be expected or be perceived to cause offence or humiliation, when such conduct interferes with work, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, and when the gravity of the conduct warrants the termination of the perpetrator’s working relationship. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment.

Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible. The United Nations places no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs. The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.

The paramount consideration in the appointment, transfer, or promotion of staff shall be the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. By accepting an offer of appointment, United Nations staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and assignment by him or her to any activities or offices of the United Nations in accordance with staff regulation 1.2 (c). In this context, all internationally recruited staff members shall be required to move periodically to discharge new functions within or across duty stations under conditions established by the Secretary-General.

Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage.

The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application.

Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.

Added 2 years ago - Updated 2 years ago - Source: careers.un.org