Human Rights Officer

This position is located in the Human Rights Service of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The Human Rights Officer will be based in Kandahar, an “E” hardship and a non-family duty station, and will serve as Human Rights Officer/Team Leader under the guidance and supervision of the Senior Human Rights Officer and overall direction of the Chief, Human Rights Service.

Responsibilities

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

Leads the management and implementation of the human rights work in the assigned area, in accordance with the UNAMA Human Rights Service workplan, and management of Team members. Plans, coordinates and leads activities related to the UNAMA’s human rights mandate, including from a gender perspective, inter alia, protection of civilians, right to life, liberty and integrity; issues related to the rights of women, children, persons deprived of their liberty; human rights defenders, media workers and other vulnerable groups; and monitoring of fundamental freedoms, civic space, and the economic, social and cultural rights situation of the region of assignment.

• Devises advocacy strategies, advocates and advises relevant de facto authorities, civil society, the UN Country Team (UNCT) on strategies to better protect and promote human rights and mechanisms to stop impunity and redress human rights violations in the mission area. Establishes and maintains contact with de facto authorities, armed groups, civil society, UN Agencies, Funds, and Programmes with complementary mandates, and other relevant partners to inform on the human rights situation in the mission area and advise on strategic and policy issues to better protect and promote human rights.
• Support a human-rights based approach in the design and implementation of UNAMA’s preventive diplomacy, good offices, national dialogue, mediation initiatives, and other matters, as appropriate. Drafts, reviews and coordinates the timely delivery of a variety of reports, briefings and other type of communications in compliance with established standards, including with regard to public human rights reports.
• Contributes to the integration of human rights in humanitarian action, through participating or coordinating emergency preparedness and response activities including in the work of the Protection Cluster, as appropriate. Plans and/or coordinates the collection and analysis of human rights monitoring data and information, as well as the preparation of data presentations and reports, for information-sharing, responding to queries, knowledge-management, planning and decision-making. Plans and/or coordinates visualisations and the updating of information materials, such as brochures, web pages, etc.
• Works directly with other components of the UN peace operation to integrate human rights considerations into the planning and review of their programs and operations, including through developing procedures and policies, as appropriate. Designs, delivers, coordinates and evaluates human rights awareness-raising initiatives for national and subnational stakeholders.
• Ensures, coordinates and supervises the timely entry of accurate and verified human rights cases into an established database; conducts quality control; and delivers statistics and trend reports, as required. Contributes to the integration of gender perspectives/considerations and specific women/girls’ rights issues in all activities, programmes and strategies. Assists in the coordination and implementation of the Human Rights Service work plan; evaluates or assists in the evaluation of its progress and suggests adjustments as needed.
• Represent the UNAMA Human Rights Service at meetings and thematic events related to the UNAMA human rights mandate in the region of assignment. Performs other related duties as required.

Education

• An advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent degree) in law, human rights, political science, international relations, social sciences, humanities or a related area. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in human rights issues and relevant professional experience is required, particularly on issues of protection of civilians, right to life, liberty and integrity, gender, violence against women, child protection, prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, human rights defenders, media, civic space, fundamental freedoms and on economic, social and cultural rights. Experience in leading and conducting human rights fact-finding missions in a UN peace operation, UN human rights presence or equivalent international organisation – outside the country of origin – is required. Experience in leading, managing and supervising a multicultural team is required.
• Experience in human rights case management and data analytics, human rights analysis and human rights reporting, is desirable. Experience working in Afghanistan is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the position advertised, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of Pashto and Dari is an advantage.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/235193?language=en