Human Rights Adviser (S)

Background:

This position is open for secondment only and participating States are kindly reminded that all costs in relation to assignment at OSCE/ODIHR must be borne by their authorities.

Candidates should, prior to applying, verify with their respective nominating authority to which extent financial remuneration and/or benefit packages will be offered. Seconded staff members in the OSCE Secretariat and Institutions are not entitled to a Board and Lodging Allowance payable by the Organization.

The OSCE has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses politico-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects. It therefore addresses a wide range of security-related concerns, including arms control, confidence- and security-building measures, human rights, combating human trafficking, national minorities, democratization, policing strategies, counter-terrorism and economic and environmental activities. All 57 participating States enjoy equal status, and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically, but not legally binding basis.

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the OSCE responsible for the human dimension. ODIHR is active throughout the OSCE area in the fields of election observation, democratic development, human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, and the rule of law. ODIHR's assistance projects and other activities are implemented in participating States in accordance with ODIHR's mandate.

The Human Rights Defenders Team is one of the two teams which are part of ODIHR's Human Rights Department. The Team designs, implements and monitors programmatic activities on human rights education and capacity building for civil society, government authorities, and national human rights institutions in OSCE participating States, as well as OSCE staff in support of the mandate of the Human Rights Department in the human dimension area. 

Tasks and Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the Deputy Head, Human Rights Department and in consultation with the Capacity Building Coordinator and other team members, the incumbent will be tasked with:

1. Identifying, developing, implementing and delivering capacity building programmatic activities and projects on key human rights areas of concern for/with national human rights institutions and in co-operation with other team members, projects with/for government authorities, non-governmental organizations and OSCE structures and missions;
2. Monitoring and analysing implementation of OSCE Human Dimension commitments related to human rights and fundamental freedoms with a view to identifying key areas of concern, especially with regard to national human rights institutions;
3. Providing advice and recommendations and preparing general and issue-specific reports and/or other background materials on incidents, priority issues and situations related to human rights for ODIHR management;
4. Responding to requests to ODIHR on information about implementation of OSCE Human Dimension commitments related to human rights and fundamental freedoms in key areas of concern;
5. Performing other related duties as required.

Necessary Qualifications:

• First-level university degree in law, political science, international relations, or social sciences, specialization in human rights;
• Minimum of 6 years of progressively responsible and relevant professional experience in the field of human rights including experience at the international level;
• Significant experience in developing and implementing capacity building activities;
• Sound knowledge and/or experience of working with national human rights institutions strongly preferred;
• Excellent knowledge of UN, Council of Europe and OSCE human rights standards;
• In-depth knowledge of human rights monitoring and reporting methodology and practice;
• Experience of designing and implementing projects;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English; working knowledge of Russian and/or other OSCE languages is desirable;
• Demonstrated gender awareness and sensitivity, and an ability to integrate a gender perspective into tasks and activities.
• Ability to work with people of different nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds;
• Computer literate with practical experience in Microsoft applications.

If you wish to apply for this position, please use the OSCE's online application link found under https://jobs.osce.org/vacancies.

The OSCE retains the discretion to re-advertise/re-post the vacancy, to cancel the recruitment, to offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration.

Only those applicants who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted.

Please note that vacancies in the OSCE are open for competition only amongst nationals of participating States, please see https://www.osce.org/participating-states.

The OSCE is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages the nomination of qualified female and male candidates from all religious, ethnic and social backgrounds.

Candidates should be aware that OSCE officials shall conduct themselves at all times in a manner befitting the status of an international civil servant. This includes avoiding any action which may adversely reflect on the integrity, independence and impartiality of their position and function as officials of the OSCE. The OSCE is committed to applying the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mandate. For more information on the values set out in OSCE Competency Model, please see https://jobs.osce.org/resources/document/our-competency-model.

Please be aware that the OSCE does not request payment at any stage of the application and review process.

Please apply to your relevant authorities well in advance of the deadline expiration to ensure timely processing of your application. Delayed nominations will not be considered. The OSCE can only process Secondment applications that have been nominated by participating States. For queries relating to your application, please refer to the respective delegation as listed here: https://www.osce.org/contacts/delegations.