Human Rights Research Associate

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is the Secretariat Department responsible for strengthening international human rights mechanisms; enhancing equality and countering discrimination; combating impunity and strengthening accountability and the rule of law; integrating human rights in development and in the economic sphere; widening the democratic space; and early warning and protection of human rights in situations of conflict, violence and insecurity.

The selected candidate will be assigned to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Myanmar Team in Bangkok, which covers the crisis in Myanmar, based on a series of mandates derived from resolutions adopted in the UN Human Rights Council. In this context, the Team is expected to report publicly to every session of the Council on the human rights situation and to make targeted recommendations to address the crisis. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) serves as a full member of the UN Country in Yangon and the Humanitarian Country Team. In so doing, it advises the UN system and humanitarians on the human rights aspects of programming, protection, and related analysis and advocacy. Within the scope of its programming, the Myanmar team also undertakes to support civil society capacity development to preserve civic space.
Within this context, the selected candidate will interact with colleagues in the Myanmar Team daily. Whether it is the Chief of the team or individual human rights officers therein, the supervision and mentoring of the associate will be a daily undertaking. A personal work plan will be developed, including roles and responsibilities, expected outputs, and personal learning goals, and will focus on the monitoring and reporting mandates of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concerning the human rights crisis in Myanmar. This will include working within an investigative or research cycle in support of human rights officers on priority cases and geographic regions, including through field missions in Thailand or elsewhere as needed to undertake field-based activities. It will also periodically include providing broader support to the Chief and his work within the UNCT.
Implementation planning will be undertaken jointly on a one-to-one basis and within the entire Team, tailored to the nature of specific activities. Technical skills will be acquired through mentoring, on-the-job training, and, where required, through external capacity building initiatives. Initial supervision will be as intense as necessary, gradually guiding the selected candidate towards greater independence and responsibility. Review meetings on the work plan with the team leader will be held regularly. The selected candidate will be encouraged and guided to manage all aspects of his/her work, in consultation with the Chief or the Deputy.

Under the direct supervision of the Chief of the, the UN Volunteer will undertake the following tasks :

- Assist the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Myanmar Team in conducting the monitoring of the human rights situation through media, social media, and liaison with civil society, as well as the development and maintenance of relevant thematic databases on the entire spectrum of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights to identify emerging patterns of violations, provide early warnings, and recommend remedial actions.

- Support drafting of internal and external reports, briefing notes, talking points, and other documents as requested.

- Facilitate information gathering and safe data storage processes in thematic databases for analytical purposes.

- Support capacity building activities and technical cooperation efforts of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Myanmar Team by contributing to the development of training materials and their delivery during in-person and online training, workshops, and other activities.

- Contribute to advocacy for the improvement of the human rights situation in Myanmar by drafting internal briefs and documents, sections of external public reports, advocacy messages, and other relevant materials to the Team and the UN system.

- Ensure the highest standard of confidentiality in managing information and full compliance with the do no harm principle.