Legal Officer

Brief description of the organization

Yazda is a non-governmental, non-profit organization established in 2014 in response to the genocide committed by the self-declared Islamic State (“IS”) against the Yazidis and other communities in Iraq and Syria. Since its inception, Yazda has worked with local and international partners to provide Yazidi survivors, IDPs, and refugees with humanitarian, accountability, and advocacy services in their post-genocide recovery. Yazda has been working in Iraq since October 2014 and operates out of the main offices in Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and out of the Sinoni office in Sinjar in Nineveh Province. Yazda is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States and is registered in Erbil, Baghdad, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and Australia.

المقدمة: تبحث يزدا عن تعين مسؤول قانوني للانضمام إلى فريقنا في محافظة دهوك ضمن مشروع العدالة الانتقالية وإعادة التأهيل لتقديم الدعم القانوني للناجين والناجيات 

Introduction: Yazda seeks to hire a Legal Officer to join our team in Duhok within our project called TJR to provide the legal support to the male and female survivors.

Programming

Responsibilities and Tasks:

• Conduct basic intake interviews with beneficiaries to assess their legal needs, with a particular focus on providing legal counseling on issues related to the Yazidi survivors Low (YSL).
• Provide intensive support to beneficiaries in accessing the benefits stipulated by the YSL, by continuously accompanying survivors through all stages of the application process for YSL benefits.
• Provide legal assistance to beneficiaries with legal or urgent protection needs, especially about challenges associated with the YSL.
• Assist beneficiaries in filling out forms for national ID/passports, marriage certification, and birth certification, with a focus on the necessary documents for applying to the YSL.
• Respond to client inquiries related to the YSL; discuss related cases; and review client papers, which may include multiple topics/types of cases related to the YSL.
• Provide legal assistance to survivors who need civil documentation or who lost their documentation due to ISIS captivity, to help them apply for and benefit from the YSL.
• Provide specific information and recommendations on how to proceed with obtaining the YSL and any other related legal documents.
• Accompany survivors to ministries and government departments to obtain the required documents to support their applications under the YSL.
• Follow up on cases of people in detention, reformatories, shelters, or other long-term cases that do not involve legal representation, with a focus on cases that impact survivors’ rights under the YSL (e.g., tracing people in the system, legal research to support, talking to government agencies to get more information, etc.).
• Provide feedback to PM or other delegated project staff or to other agencies for cases referred for legal assistance.
• Participate in case conferences for complex and ambiguous cases with a legal issue, upon request by the Case Management team.
• Support the Case Management team in conducting legal awareness sessions in operation according to identified needs.

Logistics/Finance:

• Prepare timely procurement plans for the legal and case management team.
• Ensure the teams do not travel to unsafe areas.

Other activities:

• Ensure the proper filing and archiving of individual legal files to maintain data confidentiality.
• Undertake home visits to clients in very specific cases, where the client’s mobility is reduced.
• Build the capacity of local actors and key community members on main legal protection issues, concerns, and trends.
• Carry out all tasks respecting key protection principles including but not limited to do-no-harm principles, non-discrimination, confidentiality and accountability, and need-to-know principles.
• Contribute to the drafting of internal/external reports according to Yazda and donor requirements ensuring quality and timely submission.
• Participate in legal coordination meetings or workshops/trainings as requested by the Project Manager.