UNDP Liberia

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT NO. UNDP/SC/2006/027

Date of Issue: 11 October 2006
Closing Date: 17 October 2006

Post Title : Human Rights and Protection Assistant

Organization : UNDP – Human Rights and Protection Programme

Duty Station/Office Monrovia/Liberia

Duration : One year

Type of Contract: Service Contract SC-6

Contract start date: 1 November 2006

This vacancy is open to applicants of either sex. Preference will be given to equally qualified women candidates.

Background

The UNDP Human Rights and Protection Programme started in August 2002 with a special focus on IDPs. Until that time, protection and general human rights concerns of IDPs were largely neglected due to a combination of a serious lack of resources and lack of competent persons or organizations to take on this role. The UNDP protection programme concentrated on four main activities. They were monitoring and reporting, awareness raising and advocacy, training and capacity building. The Protection Programme was implemented in collaboration with other humanitarian partners, the relevant government institutions, namely the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Gender and Development, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Liberia Refugee Resettlement and Repatriation Commission and the UN High Commission for Human Rights. As part of its monitoring and reporting activities, a key aspect was the deployment of 20 trained protection monitors to act as permanent and visible protection and human rights presence in the camps. The UNDP Human Rights and Protection Programme also included taking on the coordination responsibilities of OCHA of all human rights protection activities in Liberia.

With the escalation of the conflict and the subsequent increase of actors within the protection sector, the UNDP Human Rights and Protection Project has had to be refocused to take into account these changes to better address the wider human rights and protection concerns. The Programme has been expanded to target the general civilian population. The focus of the Programme now incorporates a broader human rights and justice focus implementation at two levels. These are broadly community level interventions and building the capacities of national human rights institutions and civil society groups and influencing policies on human rights and protection.

Gender has been included in the Human Rights and Protection Unit. This allows for women’s rights to be adequately monitored and promoted. The programme assistant would therefore be required to have a gender background in order to participate fully in gender activities of the unit.

National Programme Assistant Position

It is within this context that UNDP seeks to recruit a national human rights and protection assistant to work as part of a team to coordinate and implement the activities of the Programme.

Duties and responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Resident Representative (Programme) and the Assistant Resident Representative (Programme) and under the direct supervision of the Programme Manger of the Human Rights and Protection Programme, the successful candidate will carry out the following specific functions:

1. Provide programme and management support to the coordination and implementation of the UNDP Human Rights and Protection Programme
2. Provide overall supervisory support to the different project activities implemented by our partners and support under the Human Rights and Protection Programme.
3. Advise on human rights, gender and policy issues
4. Work towards developing and strengthening partnership with Government, civil society and international community.
5. Represent UNDP Human Rights and Protection Unit in coordinating meetings on human rights and protection and gender issues.
6. Coordinate training, awareness raising and advocacy activities as part of our programme activities.
7. Follow up on administrative matters pertaining to the Programme.
8. Perform other duties and responsibilities that may be assigned by the DRR (P), ARR (P), or the Programme Manager of the Human Rights and Protection Programme.

Qualifications and Experience

• A university degree in law, social sciences or relevant fields
• At least five (5) years relevant professional experience in the field of human rights and/or international humanitarian law
• Experience of working on gender and gender mainstreaming
• Human rights monitoring and reporting skills
• Experience in conducting training
• Administrative skills, ability to work with minimum supervision with efficiency and competence, must show respect for people with different national backgrounds.
• Availability for extensive field travels
• Computer literate (Microsoft, Excel, Lotus Notes, Power Point)
• Fluency in both written and oral English

Work relationships: Frequent contact with senior level officials both internally and externally.
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Email application to this vacancy should be sent to vacancies.lr@undp.org. Please insert Vacancy Announcement Number in the Subject of the email or written application. Applications without the Vacancy Announcement Number or with the incorrect Vacancy Announcement Number will not be accepted. Attach photocopies of qualifications (i.e. technical certificates and academicals) and a one-page cover letter indicating your interest and suitability for the position.

Please note that applications received after the closing date will not be considered. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for a written test followed by an interview.

Please forward all written applications to:

Deputy Resident Representative (Operations)
Attention: HR Unit
United Nations Development Programme
Simpson Apartment, Mamba Point
Monrovia, Liberia

cc: All UN Agencies and UNDP Programmes/Projects and All Counties

 

Note: All applications/queries must be addressed to: vacancies.lr@undp.org
Also you can download the P11 Form here