Human Rights Officer

Details

Mission and objectives

Under Resolution 2625 (2022), the Security Council determined that the situation in South Sudan continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region. The Council extended the UNMISS mandate until 15 March 2023. It also emphasized that the Mission should continue advancing its three-year strategic vision defined in resolution 2567 (2021) to prevent a return to civil war, build durable peace and support inclusive, accountable governance and free, fair and peaceful elections in accordance with the Revitalized Peace Agreement. Under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, UNMISS is therefore authorized to use all necessary means to implement its mandate which includes: (a) Protection of civilians (b) Creating conditions conducive to the delivery of humanitarian assistance (c) Supporting the Implementation of the Revitalised Agreement and the Peace Process (d) Monitoring, investigating, and reporting on violations of humanitarian and human rights law: The overall ceiling for uniformed personnel is maintained at 17,000 troops and 2,101 police, including 88 corrections officers. Please refer to https://unmiss.unmissions.org/mandate for more information.

Context

UNMISS was established in 2011 under the auspices of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO); subsequently, UNMISS mandate has been renewed through resolutions 2057 (2012), 2109 (2013), 2155 (2014), 2187 (2014), 2223 (2015), 2241 (Dec. 2015), 2304 (2016) and 2327 (2016), 2392 (Dec. 2017), 2406 (Mar. 2018), 2459 (Mar. 2019), 2514 (Mar. 2020), 2567 (Mar. 2021), 2625 (Mar. 2022).

Task description

Under the direct supervision of the Field office Team Leader or Thematic Team leader, and overall supervision of Director of the Human Rights Division or his/her designate, the UNV Human Rights Officer will be responsible for implementing the Division’s work plans, including assisting, in conducting monitoring/ fact-finding missions, as well as reporting and advocacy activities in the area of assignment as mandated in United Nations Security Council Resolution 2625 (2022). In particular, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks: General activity: Please note that this job description is generic and therefore, activities listed below may not be carried out by all Human rights officer. • Contribute to and/or draft communications, briefing notes, talking points, press releases, statements, bullet points, or other products; • Draft various internal and external reports on the human rights situation in South Sudan covering specific timeframes (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly) or themes (e.g., freedom of expression) based on submissions from colleagues based in the field and HQ. The candidate may be asked to draft reports during evening hours (i.e., daily) or weekends (i.e., weekly); • Provide guidance to relevant colleagues to ensure submissions from field teams are in line with OHCHR methodology on human rights reporting; • Provide and prepares legal analysis and research, and outputs, such as work unit reports and assessments, policy documents and guidelines, briefings, etc. • Participate in legislative reviews and drafts commentaries and other relevant documents; • Conduct capacity building activities in areas of administration of justice and transitional justice which include advising national counterparts, facilitating and organizing workshops, supporting national criminal justice system organization, training of national actors and/or monitoring of the court and legal system; • Facilitate the implementation of the human rights mandate in the designated area • Gather information, analyse and report on the situation of human rights in relation to the armed conflict, including through close cooperation with field teams, other United Nations actors and the community; • Support HRD’s analysis by maintaining a proactive situational awareness of human rights and political developments for the purpose of gathering data on hotspots and early warning mapping and support in HRD’s information analysis; • Identify incidents requiring further monitoring and/or investigation, co-ordinate with field teams regarding follow-up, and analyse the potential impact of reported incidents on the human rights situation; • Monitor and follow up on incidents of denial of access by armed groups to locations where human rights monitoring and investigation activities are planned to take place, and coordinate with field teams and the Legal Affairs to identify possible courses of action in response; • Assist in developing the profiles of alleged perpetrators of human rights violations in close coordination with field teams; • Conduct fact-finding missions and investigations into abuses/violations of human rights or humanitarian law • Establish and maintain contacts with government representatives, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations, UN agencies and other partners operating in the AOR; • Ensure, coordinate and supervise the timely entry of accurate and verified human rights cases into an established database; conduct quality control and deliver statistics and trend reports as required; • Undertake risk assessment in the framework of Human Rights Due Diligence Policy (HRDDP) and monitor implementation of mitigating measures; • Ensure the integration of gender perspectives, with specific attention to issues related to women and girls, including conflict-related sexual violence, within all assigned human rights activities; • Represent the UNMISS human rights office at working level meetings, as relevant; • Perform other related duties as required.