Human Rights Associate

OHCHR’s office in Mexico works to ensure that institutions, Government authorities, and the United Nations Country Team have adequate information, understanding, and skills to identify human rights concerns and to develop measures to address them effectively. OHCHR-Mexico also works to ensure that civil society and human rights victims have increased awareness of human rights standards and mechanisms.
Main activities are focused on technical cooperation and legal advice on harmonization of legislation, development of indicators on human rights, support the elaboration of public policies with human rights based approach, follow-up the international recommendations, gender and human rights, amongst other issues, and monitoring of human rights situation throughout the country, with emphasis on grave human rights violations (such as enforced disappearances and torture) as well as the situation of human rights defenders and journalists and the right of indigenous peoples to prior consultation.
OHCHR-Mexico is divided into several functional units: Administration, Grave Human Rights Violations, Gender and ESCR, Democratic Space, Vulnerable Groups, Indicators and Public Communications. The UNV would be part of the Democratic Space Unit, which currently consists of a coordinator (international staff) and an international UNV. The Democratic Space Unit personally receives complaints of alleged human rights violations and gives legal orientation to victims, particularly human rights defenders, and journalists. The Democratic Space Unit also participates in field missions to follow up cases of alleged human rights violations, meeting with victims, family members of victims, local NGO´s and government authorities

Main activities are focused on technical cooperation and legal advice on harmonization of legislation, development of indicators on human rights, support the elaboration of public policies with human rights-based approach, follow-up the international recommendations, gender and human rights, amongst other issues, and monitoring of human rights situation throughout the country, with emphasis on grave human rights violations (such as enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions) as well as the situation of human rights defenders and journalists and the right of indigenous peoples to prior consultation.

The UN Volunteer will support the following activities: receiving complaints of alleged human rights violations; participating in field missions and meetings with authorities, civil society organizations and victims; promoting legislative harmonization and the development of comprehensive public policies; technical assistance to federal and state governments; among others.

Under the direct supervision of the Coordinator of the Civic Space Unit, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks:

•Follow up and support the implementation of human rights policies, at the local and na-tional levels, especially in relation to freedom of expression, the right to defend human rights, and freedom of
assembly and association.
•Participate in meetings and interviews with human rights victims.
•Assist in the documentation of cases of grave human rights violations and support vic-tims in liaising with international human rights mechanisms.
•Contribute to research and collect information pertaining to human rights issues through monitoring human rights situations at the field level and from a variety of data sources (e.g. communications,
publications, the press) to keep abreast of is-sues/events and provide up-to-date information, especially in relation to civic space.

With a focus on the protection of journalists and human rights defenders:

•Plan, design and implement capacity building activities for all actors, local and nation-al, including on state responsibility.
•Support the Civic Space Unit in liaising and advocate with relevant national and local authorities, National and Local Human rights institutions, and Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s)
•Participate in multi-stakeholder meetings regarding the implementation of national leg-islation and public policies
•Write reports, case files, strategies, offi-cial correspondence, briefings, statements, and communications, including talking points, in relation to human
rights violations
•Assist in the analysis of information regarding substantive matters in the field of human rights, and recommend actions to be taken.