Child Protection Specialist (Human Rights Programme - Civil Society)

The Child Protection Specialist (Human Rights Programme - Civil Society) supports the implementation of the Joint Programme on Human Rights Programme Phase III (JPHR III) in Somalia. The role provides human rights expertise, legal and policy advice, technical quality assurance, capacity development, and monitoring and reporting support to strengthen human rights institutions and mechanisms across Somalia.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical guidance, legal advisory services and operational support to government counterparts in the Federal Government of Somalia and in the seven Federal Member States to strengthen and sustain human rights institutions and mechanisms.
• Provide strategic and technical guidance to the commissioners and staff of the Somali National Independent Human Rights Commission to discharge its human rights promotion and protection mandate.
• Provide expertise on human rights complaints handling, monitoring and reporting systems by national institutions.
• Provide technical assistance and strategic guidance to Government counterparts to enhance their cooperation with United Nations and regional human rights mechanisms, including in the context of the Universal Periodic Review and engagement with treaty bodies.
• Provide technical support to the National Mechanism for Reporting and Follow-up (NMRF), the mechanism which manages how the government tracks, implements, and reports on human rights commitments and recommendations, and helps ensure follow-up across relevant institutions.
• Provide technical support and capacity development to civil society organizations, particularly human rights defenders and organizations led by or representing marginalized groups and minority communities.
• Provide legal advisory services to Somali stakeholders, including analysis and legal research to enhance the alignment of envisaged legislations with Somalia’s international and regional human rights commitments.
• Participate in JPHR III meetings, including programme review and contingency planning discussions, to provide technical and operational information, advice and support.
• Contribute to policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials related to the implementation of the JPHR III for management use, information and/or consideration.
• Provide technical inputs to JPHR III monitoring benchmarks, indicators and measurement tools to ensure they capture human rights standards, child rights, gender equality, disability inclusion, minority rights and LNOB commitments.
• Participate in programme reviews, field monitoring, technical assessments and annual reviews to assess the quality of human rights implementation and recommend corrective actions to the Programme Manager and relevant partners.
• Contribute substantive human rights analysis to monitoring, evaluation and donor reports, including identification of technical gaps, emerging risks, lessons learned, good practices and recommendations for adaptive management.
• Actively monitor JPHR III programmes/projects/activities through field visits, surveys and exchange of information with partners to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems. Inform decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with relevant government counterparts, national stakeholders, global partners, allies, donors, and academia - through active networking, advocacy and effective communication - to build capacity, exchange knowledge and expertise in the field of human rights, and to reinforce cooperation to achieve sustainable and broad results in human rights.
• Contribute to communication and information materials for CO advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships/alliances and to support fund raising for JPHR III as relevant.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT/SJF) discussions and planning on related issues to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on the JPHR III.

Requirements

• Master or equivalent (Advanced University Degree) in Law, Political Science, International Relations, Human Rights, or another relevant social science field and any other related fields.
• A Bachelor or equivalent (First Level University Degree) in a relevant field such as Social Sciences, Law, International Relations or Development Studies, combined with an additional two years of relevant professional experience in Human Rights, may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.
• At least 5 years of relevant work experience in human rights, accountability projects, access to justice, capacity building, or other related fields is required, including experience supporting initiatives that promote accountability, access to justice, and human rights capacity building.
• A minimum of three years of proven ability to build and maintain partnerships with civil society organizations in Somalia, including supporting the identification, development, and maintenance of partnerships to promote and protect human rights, is required.
• Proven skills in drafting human rights reports are required.
• Knowledge of regional and international human rights mechanisms, including UN human rights mechanisms, is required.
• Proven skills to integrate a human rights-based approach, leave no one behind and gender into all areas of work, including planning and reporting, are required.
• Demonstrated knowledge of human rights monitoring, documentation, and analysis, including OHCHR’s methodologies, is required.
• Demonstrated skills in designing, delivering, and evaluating human rights capacity-building and training programmes for national and local authorities and institutions and other stakeholders, is required.
• Experience in providing technical assistance to national human rights institutions is required.
• Fluency in English and Somali is required.
• Knowledge of Arabic is an asset.
• Relevant experience at country level, particularly in development, fragile settings and humanitarian contexts.

Skills

• Human Rights Reporting
• Human Rights Monitoring
• Human Rights Documentation
• Human Rights Analysis
• Capacity Building in Human Rights
• Human Rights Training Design
• Human Rights Training Delivery
• Technical Assistance to Human Rights Institutions
• Partnership building with civil society
• Access to Justice
• Accountability Projects
• Human Rights Approaches
• Gender Integration
• Leave No One Behind Approach
• Knowledge of Human Rights Mechanisms
• OHCHR Methodology
• Legal and Policy Advisory
• Program Planning and Reporting
• Experience in Fragile Settings
• Fluency in English
• Fluency in Somali

Languages

English, Somali