Human Rights Education Program Officer

Location: To be determined with the successful candidate (either from CIHRS’ office in Tunis, Tunisia or Marseille, France)
Starting Date: As soon as possible
Job type: Full-time
Salary: Commensurate with experience, vacation and sick leave allowance according to CIHRS internal policies.

About the Organisation

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) was established in 1993 as a regional NGO dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights. Its mission is to strengthen the human rights movement within the Arab region. For almost 30 years, CIHRS has played a unique and central role in identifying and responding to the challenges and needs of this movement and helping to shape its development. CIHRS enjoys consultative status with the United Nations ECOSOC and observer status with the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights. CIHRS has received numerous awards for its work, including the French Republic Award for Human Rights in December 2007, and an award from the Library of Alexandria (2010).

About the Role

The Human Rights Education Unit plays a pivotal role within CIHRS’ strategy, nurturing the next generation of rights defenders and civil society leaders from across the Arab region through a variety of technical and cognitive trainings, workshops, exchanges and debate on human rights and its place in the Arab context. The Human Rights Education Program Officer (HREPO) reports to the Human Rights Education Manager. They will be responsible for both implementing and following up on the implementation of two multi-year trans-Mediterranean HRE projects representing tailored, cognitive learning-journeys; designed to strengthen engagement on human rights by the next generation of human rights defenders, create new alliances with cross-cultural and thematic partners and beneficiaries, develop resources and capacity building activities around a purpose-built human rights education hub in Marseille, France, and further respect for human rights in the Arab region. The two projects are as follows:

The Tamkeen (Empower) Project takes participants through a learning journey where they will analyse human rights developments in their countries, exchange ideas with regional peers from similar social/political contexts, process new perspectives of human rights and how they apply to their respective societies, consider the challenges that face their mission, and debate and network with experts in the field both from the region and beyond to help advance their goals. The narratives/discourses developed over the project will contain solutions to current structural problems that confront society, powered by CIHRS’ established human rights research and dissemination vehicles. The project will:

• Develop critical thinking capacity, rhetorical skills and tolerance
• Deepen regional change-makers’ knowledge and understanding of human rights, including women’s, LGBT, civil, political, economic and social, as well as international human rights mechanisms and transitional justice
• Introduce alternative mechanisms of change to challenge the cultural mainstream
• Increase the participation and effectiveness of regional change-makers in regional human rights and political movements
• Develop human rights initiatives

The Tae’thir (Influence) Project promotes a culture of respect for human rights by and for young people through the use of digital media and dedicated artistic endeavour around pressing regional themes. It will support young artists by nurturing engagement with human rights issues and providing tools and platforms necessary to promote creations that elevate regional crises. A trail-blazing project, it includes a research and awareness-raising component designed to increase understanding by practitioners of the dynamics between human rights, art and the digital space in the Arab region, and opportunities that may arise from them. The project will:

• Reflect on the influential role art has played in the dissemination of human rights historically
• Deepen artists’ knowledge and understanding of human rights, including women’s, LGBT, civil, political, economic and social, as well as international human rights mechanisms and transitional justice
• Exchange ideas and share skills using content sharing tools to elevate artistic creations
• Exhibit artistic creations in order to raise awareness of human rights relevant to the region
• Contribute to participatory research to examine the link between art and dissemination of human rights
• Connect artists and activists from the region and Europe

The HREPO will:

• Play an active role in the strategic development, coordination and implementation of CIHRS’ regional human rights education initiatives in the Arab region
• Ensure human rights education is part of an integrated and coordinated approach to CIHRS’ human rights dissemination in the Arab region, including through liaising and collaborating with CIHRS’ communication and dissemination units
• Lead and coordinate intellectual debates between training participants
• Manage the day-to-day implementation of two distinct multi-year human rights projects designed for:
  • Researchers and professionals working in human rights organizations across the Arab region; and
  • Young artists and content creators from across the Arab region
• Research and design training curriculums and create and/or identify necessary resources
• Identify specialist trainers and lecturers to implement specific training sessions
• Contribute to the literature on human rights programming and lead a primary research project assessing the impact of art on human rights dissemination in the Arab region
• Monitor results and help draft regular narrative reports in line with logical frameworks
• Contribute to CIHRS publications and creation of course materials on human rights education
• Contribute to CIHRS media and publicity activities related to the programs
• Develop CIHRS relationships with partners and institutions working in the field of human rights education regionally and internationally, representing CIHRS in regional and international fora
• Provide guidance, feedback and follow-up on the human rights initiatives/ campaigns developed over the course of each project

About the candidate

Qualifications

• Graduate degree in a relevant social science or humanities field
• Languages: excellent written and spoken command of both Arabic and English. French is a strong asset.

The successful candidate will:

• Demonstrate a commitment to universal human rights
• Have at least four years’ experience in similar roles demonstrating increased responsibility
• Have a keen interest in academic debate on human rights, justice, accountability, law, or social sciences
• Strong knowledge of the artistic scenes in the MENA region
• Strong research capacities
• Have a keen interest in the inter-relation between art and human rights promotion
• Have excellent public and professional communication skills and a capacity to build and maintain relationships with trainers, panelists, participants, etc
• Have excellent organizational skills
• Be able to work both as part of a team and to be individually motivated
• Be able to work remotely and manage own schedule
• Thrive in a multicultural environment
• Show a willingness to take on new and challenging tasks and goals
• Be comfortable travelling to, and working from, North African and European destinations
• Preferably, though not a condition to apply for the position, be the main author of at least one research article published in a peer-reviewed journal on a relevant theme.

Commitment to equality

CIHRS is committed to ensuring equality and non-discrimination on grounds of sex, race, religion or belief in its hiring process. CIHRS is a multicultural environment that celebrates diversity. All employees are expected to promote and act in a manner that ensures a non-discriminatory, open and sensitive approach to others from different backgrounds and cultures.