Civil Society Initiatives Program Officer, Baghdad, Iraq, L6

Description

Every year, millions of people around the world go missing as a result of conflict, human rights abuses, disasters, organized crime, irregular migration, and other causes. This is a complex global challenge that can be tackled effectively through cross-cutting programs that address a variety of difficult, interconnected issues.

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is the only international organization tasked exclusively to work on the issue of missing persons. It works with governments and other stakeholders, including families of the missing, to help them develop and maintain successful missing persons processes.

ICMP is implementing a multi-year project in Iraq to support authorities in their efforts to account for persons missing as a result of armed conflict and violations of human rights. To learn more about ICMP click here.

Position Background

The CSI Program Officer implements ICMP programs that support the participation of families in the process of location and identification of their loved ones. The role supports the development of networks to advocate for the adoption and application of legislation and mechanisms that guarantee the rights of family members of missing persons, including the right to truth, justice and reparation. The programs seek to benefit in particular women affected by the issue of missing persons. The CSI Program Officer will be based in the ICMP Office in Baghdad and will travel frequently to multiple regions in the country, security permitting. This is a challenging position that requires a combination of programmatic expertise, political sensitivity and personal empathy, as well as a commitment to the underlying objective of assisting the authorities in Iraq in locating and identifying missing persons in an impartial and transparent manner.

Reporting to the Head of CSI, Iraq Program the Civil Society Officer's duties and responsibilities will include, but will not necessarily be limited to, the following:

• Contribute to the identification and development of trust and working relationships relevant stakeholders, including Iraqi authorities, community leaders, judicial experts, civil society, representatives of family associations, community leaders, international organizations, and other involved in addressing the issue of missing persons
• Contribute to planning of CSI program activities in line with strategic objectives, ensuring activities are suited to the national and regional context
• Promote, develop and implement effective monitoring and evaluation of ICMP's Small Grants program
• Maintain ICMP's database of Iraqi NGO's and existing networks
• Organize conferences, seminars and other events
• represent ICMP Iraq at coordination meetings across Iraq
• Monitor political and social developments to identify threats and opportunities related to ICMP's objectives
• Contribute to the identification of public information and media opportunities to enhance the visibility of CSI activities
• Support the implementation of outreach campaigns and communications relevant to the right of families of the missing and ICMP's mandate
• Translation of documents from English to Arabic and vice versa and interpretation during meetings and events
• And other assigned duties

Requirements

• University degree in political science, sociology, law, or other relevant discipline;
• At least 3-4 years of experience working with civil society organizations in Iraq;
• Proven record of experience in the field of human rights;
• Sound knowledge of the political milieu in the country;
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills;

Additional requirements:

• Professional proficiency in English and Arabic;
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel and Power Point;
• Proven experience to interact positively with colleagues regardless of culture, nationality or gender;
• Willingness to travel and to work flexible hours including weekends and evenings;
• Capacity and willingness to work in sometimes challenging circumstances and under hardship living conditions.

Benefits

This is a full time position with a competitive base salary at the LES 6 level on the ICMP Iraq salary scale, generous paid leave and extensive health insurance benefits for the incumbent and any eligible dependent.

ICMP is committed to maintaining an environment of mutual respect, where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants. ICMP believes that diversity and inclusion among our staff are critical to our success as a global organization, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented individuals from a thoroughly diverse range of candidates. ICMP is proud to be part of the International Gender Champions network.