Freedom House seeks a Senior Human Rights Specialist for the Burkina Faso Human Rights and Access to Justice Program, a three-year project in Burkina Faso funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The project aims to build the capacity of civil society and human rights institutions to respond to the urgent human rights threats faced by Burkina Faso as a result of the breakdown of the rule of law caused by violent extremism and violations committed by multiple actors.
The Senior Human Rights Specialist provides technical support for Freedom House’s programming, which focuses on human rights documentation, advocacy and civil society strengthening. The Senior Human Rights Specialist’s duties will include, but not be limited to, leading trainings, providing technical assistance for stakeholder mapping, risk assessments, contextual analysis, and providing mentorship on human rights documentation and advocacy to project partners. The Senior Human Rights Specialist will also work with Freedom House headquarters and Ouagadougou office colleagues to support strategic planning, program design, monitoring and evaluation and administration. The position is based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and reports to the Freedom House Burkina Faso Project Manager.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Serve as technical lead for Freedom House on civil society capacity building in human rights documentation and advocacy.
- In collaboration with Project Manager, organize and lead program trainings, workshops, mentorship, roundtables and other civil society capacity building supported by the project.
- Lead the project’s risk assessments, contextual analysis and surveys of the human rights context.
- Plan and implement project activities and compile weekly and quarterly reports, including collecting and analyzing data and contributing to monitoring and evaluation reports.
- Support Project Manager in building and managing partner relations.
- Undertake other duties as assigned by the Project Manager.
Job Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree; Master’s degree in human rights, political science, law or other social sciences preferred.
- A minimum of 5 years of experience in human rights work
- Prior experience working in human rights documentation; demonstrated technical experience conducting assessments and human rights analysis.
- Demonstrated experience leading trainings, workshops, or capacity building activities.
- Experience with civil society engagement and human rights advocacy in Burkina Faso.
- Significant knowledge of human rights, civil society and rule of law issues in Burkina Faso.
- Strong interpersonal skills, demonstrated ability to create and maintain effective working relationships with local partners, government officials, media houses, as well as in-country and foreign experts.
- Strong knowledge of human rights principles and mechanisms.
- Experience conducting trainings, assessments and analysis related to human rights.
- Experience in developing activity work plans, budgets, implementing programmatic activities, managing small grants and financial processes preferred.
- Strong ability to communicate effectively in French, both orally and in writing. Ability to communicate effectively in English strongly preferred.
- Knowledge of, and ability to use MS Office Suite; particularly Word, Outlook, PowerPoint; and Excel.
Attributes and Characteristics:
- Eagerness to learn and willingness to embrace change and adapt in the challenging country context.
- Exhibit strong and sustained commitment to Freedom House’s mission.
- Show good stewardship in use of Freedom House resources.
- Respond promptly to stakeholder needs, and solicit stakeholder feedback to improve service quality.
- Exhibit professional conduct at all times, with a pleasant demeanor, good humor, positive attitude, adaptability to change, and ethical conduct.
- Consistently use good judgment in all circumstances.
- Comply with all applicable policies and procedures.
- Demonstrate strong desire for excellence, and desire to inspire others to attain professional excellence.
- Assess own strengths and weaknesses, pursue training and development opportunities, and strive to continuously build knowledge and skills.
- Strong organizational and time management skills.
More Information
- Job City Ouagadougou
