Associate Human Rights Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is part of the United Nations Secretariat and leads the organization’s activities to promote and protect human rights around the world. It is headed by the figure of the High Commissioner, the United Nations Chief Human Rights Officer, who is appointed by the Secretary-General.
The OHCHR has presences in more than 60 countries, fulfilling its mandate (established by General Assembly resolution 48/141 of December 20, 1993) to support the promotion and protection of all universally low human rights. The Office’s mandate includes support for the work of international human rights mechanisms.
Based in Santiago, Chile, the OHCHR Regional Office for South America has the role of supporting States, civil society, intergovernmental organizations and the United Nations system in the promotion and protection of human rights in nine countries of the region : Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
To this end, the OHCHR Regional Office for South America has human rights advisers who work in the United Nations Resident Coordinator Offices in eight of the countries under its mandate.

Context

The OHCHR has been following the human rights situation of Venezuelan refugees and other migrants since 2018 through monitoring visits to transit and host countries and the establishment of partnerships with a variety of national and international protection actors. Given the magnitude and complexity of the Venezuelan exodus in Latin America, OHCHR enhanced its action in mid-2020 by starting a dedicated Regional Project on the Human Rights of Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela. Currently, 7.7 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants have fled their homeland, out of which about 6.5 million remain in Latin America and the Caribbean region.
The Project currently has ten members deployed in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Chile, and Panama. It aims to address gaps in the protection of the human rights of refugees and migrants from Venezuela. The Project closely coordinates with OHCHR field presences, supporting and expanding their work on migration. It also engages with the Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V) and other inter-agency platforms to mainstream human rights and the centrality of protection within humanitarian action. The team conducts monitoring missions, including cross-border deployments and joint deployments with other UN agencies and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), and provides technical assistance to State entities, civil society and NHRIs.
Of particular note, is the involvement of the UN Volunteers as a distinctive feature of the Project. Currently, 8 out of 10 staff members are international United Nations Volunteers. UN Volunteers have been the Project’s building blocks. This strategic choice to deploy the team on UN Volunteers has proven very effective. UN Volunteers have contributed significantly to the Project’s impact and demonstrated the critical value of volunteerism in the OHCHR’s work.
In the framework of the Regional Project on the human rights of refugees and migrants from Venezuela, OHCHR will integrate the UN Volunteer in the inter-agency offices (UN house in Brasilia ).

Task description

Under the overall supervision of Project Coordinator and the OHCHR Representative of the Regional Office for South America, and the day-to-day supervision of the Human Rights Advisor, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:
• Support the gathering of information and report on the human rights situation of refugees and migrants, in particular those from Venezuela, including through contacts with other UN actors, international NGOs, state authorities, public institutions and civil society.
• Participate in meetings of inter-agency coordination mechanisms (R4V) at the national level and assist in formulating proposals and recommendations to promote a human rights-based approach to migration.
• Conduct interviews with victims and key local actors in the country of assignment in order to identify human rights abuses and violations affecting refugees and migrants.
• Contribute to reports and follow up on cases of human rights violations under the supervision of OHCHR-Brazil.
• Support the drafting of legal analysis on human rights issues, particularly on migrants’ rights, including from a gender perspective.
• Provide technical assistance and follow-up on activities with counterparts and partners.
• Assist in other tasks relevant to the position, as required or as assigned by the designated officials of the Project Coordinator.