ISHR Fellowship- Africa Programme
Length: 1 year
Work percentage: Full-time (37.5 hours/week)
Based in: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire or remotely in Africa
Reports to: Africa Programme Manager
Start date: 2 September 2024
Remuneration: 1000-2000€ / month (depending on location, qualifications and experience).
Application deadline: 22 May 2024 (Midnight, Geneva time)
About ISHR
The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) is an independent, non-profit organisation
with offices in Geneva and New York. This ISHR fellowship offers a unique opportunity to view the
international and regional human rights systems at work. It provides hands-on experience
working for an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) as well as the opportunity
to contribute to our work supporting human rights defenders, strengthening human rights
systems, legal frameworks, building and leading human rights coalitions, and responding to
significant and systemic human rights concerns.
About the ISHR fellowship position
ISHR seeks to host a postgraduate Fellow to support our work within the Africa
Programme.Working in a small team, the Postgraduate Fellow will have the opportunity to learn at close
hand what it means to work for an international human rights advocacy organization. The
Fellow will also have the opportunity to 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 of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
(ACHPR) and lobbying and advocating in those fora in line with ISHR’s mandate and
priorities.
The Postgraduate Fellow will gain hands-on experience on the application of international and
regional human rights law in a multilateral human rights system, including advocacy on
normative and policy advances for the protection of human rights defenders in Africa.
The Fellow will also contribute to our work on capacity development and legislative protection
of defenders at the national level. There may also be opportunities to work at the
international level with the United Nations human rights mechanisms.
ISHR fellowship Scope of work
Through a combination of research and analysis, advocacy, and capacity building, the Postgraduate Fellow will work closely with the Africa Programme Manager, contributing to our work supporting
human rights defenders in Africa, strengthening human rights systems, building and leading
human rights coalitions, and responding to significant and systemic situations of concern.
Key tasks include:
● Supporting research on the situation of defenders in Africa as well as the legal
frameworks that protect and infringe on their rights and advocacy for policy changes;
● Supporting the Africa Programme in preparing submissions to national, regional and
international human rights mechanisms and courts;
● Assisting with research and drafting of submissions to regional and international
human rights mechanisms, including the ACHPR’s State Periodic Review, the UN
Universal Periodic Review 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 ACHPR and UN meetings;
● Contributing to ISHR’s publications, including through drafting and editing online web
articles, briefing papers, and other reports as needed.
ISHR fellowship Training and Opportunities
ISHR has a long-standing history of hosting Fellows. Our Fellows are fully included as part of
the team, including in staff meetings, which provide 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 or necessary for their work, ISHR staff will provide practical sessions and
guidance, for example, on monitoring UN mechanisms, drafting reports and advocacy
documents, utilizing communications technologies, etc. An onboarding training process
will be set to ensure compliance, clarify roles and create connections. The Fellow will
get a chance to know ISHR, including the staff, the programmes and organization’s work
culture.Fellows will be supervised by one programme manager and supported in achieving the
learning objectives through regular check-ins with the Intern Coordinator.
ISHR Fellowship modalities
The Fellowship is expected to be a full-time (37.5 hours per week) position and will take
place remotely / in Abidjan (if eligible) for a duration of a year.
Remuneration: 1000-2000€ / month (depending on location, qualifications and experience).
Requirements
The successful Fellow must:
▪ Be a recent Master or LL.M graduate in human rights law, international public law or
equivalent. Recent graduates from other relevant graduate-level programs will be
considered as well;
▪ Have working knowledge of international and regional human rights law;
How to apply
Please submit your application by filling out this form and attaching a cover letter, a CV
(maximum 2 pages with no profile photo), 1 relevant writing sample (no more than 5 pages
including bibliographies). In their cover letter, candidates should demonstrate their
commitment to human rights and social change.
Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please kindly note that due to the high
volume of applications, only short-listed candidates will be contacted. All applications will be
handled in accordance with ISHR’s Privacy Policy.
Application deadline: 22 May2024 (midnight, Geneva time).
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