Postgraduate Law Fellowship

Job Description

The Position

ISHR seeks to host a Postgraduate Fellow to support our work in Geneva. Working in a small team, the Fellow will have the opportunity to learn firsthand what it means to work for an international human rights advocacy organization. The Fellow will also collaborate with ISHR staff in all locations.

In a year’s work with ISHR, the Fellow will gain experience monitoring a number of deliberations and negotiations at the United Nations, and lobbying and advocating in those fora in line with ISHR’s mandate and priorities. The Fellow will gain hands-on experience in the application of international human rights law within a multilateral human rights system, including advocacy on normative and policy advances for the protection of human rights defenders.

The Fellow will also contribute to our work on capacity development and legislative protection of defenders at the national or regional level, if opportunities arise.

Scope of Work

Through a combination of research and analysis, advocacy, and capacity building, the Fellow will work closely with Programme Managers and Directors, contributing to our work in:

• Supporting human rights defenders
• Strengthening human rights systems
• Building and leading human rights coalitions
• Responding to significant and systemic human rights concerns.

Key tasks include:

• Supporting legal counsel in preparing submissions to national, regional, and international human rights mechanisms and courts.
• Researching human rights situations, contexts, and challenges faced by human rights defenders in different regions.
• Assisting with research in relation to submissions for international human rights mechanisms, including the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and the UN treaty bodies.
• Representing ISHR at meetings and in coalition work with other NGOs and UN contacts.
• Assisting with ISHR’s work with regional human rights defenders’ networks and human rights bodies at the regional level.
• Monitoring and taking minutes at UN human rights meetings.
• Contributing to ISHR’s publications, including drafting and editing online web articles, briefing papers, and other reports as needed.
• Supporting training design and organization, including facilitating sessions, if there is interest.

The Fellow will also have opportunities to work with different regional teams, depending on language proficiency, such as the Latin America Team, the Middle East and North Africa Team, or the Asia Team.

Training and Opportunities

ISHR has a long-standing history of hosting Fellows. Our Fellows are fully integrated into the team, including in staff meetings, which provides a comprehensive understanding of the work of an international human rights NGO. Fellows also have opportunities to interact and network with human rights defenders, diplomats, or other UN and NGO professionals.

Where appropriate, ISHR staff will provide practical sessions and guidance on monitoring UN mechanisms, drafting reports and advocacy documents, utilizing communication technologies, and more. An onboarding training process will ensure compliance, clarify roles, and foster connections. The Fellow will get a chance to know ISHR, including the staff, the programmes, and the organization’s work culture.

Fellows will be supervised by one Programme Manager and supported in achieving their learning objectives through regular check-ins with the Fellow and Intern Coordinator.

Fellowship Modalities

Applicants must be fully funded through a university-funded or external fellowship for the entire duration of their Fellowship.

The Fellowship is expected to be a full-time (37.5 hours per week) position, highly preferably on-site, for a duration of one year. There are also possibilities for home-office work, and 100% remote work can be considered in exceptional cases.

Requirements

The successful Fellow must:

• Be a recent graduate from an ABA-accredited law school, having completed relevant coursework in a J.D. or LL.M. programme. Recent graduates from other relevant graduate-level programs such as political science, international relations, or project management will also be considered.
• Have working knowledge of international human rights law.
• Demonstrate familiarity with the UN human rights system, regional human rights systems, and/or human rights defenders.
• Have strong drafting and research skills.
• Be able to report thoroughly and accurately on meetings.
• Be flexible and self-motivated.
• Be able to work as a member of an international and multicultural team and willing to participate in a variety of tasks as required.
• Have excellent written and oral communication skills in English.
• Knowledge of official UN languages, especially Arabic, Chinese, French, or Spanish, is highly desirable.
• Be proficient with IT tools such as Google Suite and Microsoft Office.

Applications

Please submit your application by sending the following documents:

• Cover letter
• CV (no profile picture, max 2 pages)
• 1 writing sample (max 5 pages, including bibliographies)
• Description of your funding source

ISHR will review these materials only for the purpose of this recruitment and will not use them for any other purpose. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Incomplete applications, including those without a description of the funding source, will not be considered. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Disclaimer: Applications will be received until this position is filled.