Project Director – “Reparations: An Accountability Pathway for Economic Social and Cultural Rights Abuses in Yemen.”

Global Rights Compliance (‘GRC’) is a niche organization made up of international lawyers and development experts focused on “democratizing” complex international human rights, and criminal and humanitarian law. Drawing on decades of experience in conflict-affected areas and transitional justice environments our “root and branch” philosophy combines innovative full-spectrum accountability strategies, building the capacity of States to implement international humanitarian and human rights standards, bespoke expertise in evidence gathering in conflict settings, and assisting communities to seek remedies for violations.

GRC is committed to enhancing compliance with international humanitarian law (‘IHL’), international criminal law (‘ICL’), and international human rights law (‘IHRL’) in fragile and conflict-affected states(‘FCAS’).

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The ongoing Yemen conflict has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Conflict continues to remain the main driver of hunger, with the World Food Programme (WFP) consistently warning of ‘multiple famines of biblical proportions.’ Both the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification System (IPC) analysis and WFP, estimate that 17 million people in Yemen are severely food insecure. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 23,4 million Yemenis are in need of humanitarian assistance. Yet an understanding of starvation as a deliberate crime and associated violations of international humanitarian law and abuses of economic, social, and cultural (ESC) rights remains lacking in Yemeni civil society. This inability of effective identification, documentation, and safe preservation of such information results in an inaccurate factual record of the conflict and its impact on civilians. Correctly identifying starvation-related violations and abuses may dispel misconceptions pertaining to the incidental nature of starvation as a by-product of armed conflict and rather places the focus on the role of deliberate human conduct intrinsic in these types of crimes.

The proposed project Reparations: An Accountability Pathway for Economic Social and Cultural rights abuses in Yemen is centered around two objectives: (i) capacity building tailored to three Yemeni partners and a wider community of Yemeni CSOs identified on inception on best practices on documentation using the Starvation Manual and Starvation Accountability App; safe open-source investigations; and documenting for reparations-oriented accountability; and (ii) translating the knowledge gained into a discreet investigation of starvation-related abuses.

The project’s objectives will be realized through capacity-building and innovative forensic investigations and legal accountability. From the design, implementation, and delivery of legal analytical products, the program and its implementation will be informed and guided by a strong survivor-informed and gender-sensitive approach, ensuring that programming inclusively elevates to the maximum extent possible Yemeni perspectives.

THE ROLE

The Project Director will hold operational responsibility for the Project throughout, ensuring the integrity of each component and leveraging the synergy between components to optimize outcomes.

Additionally, the Project Director will participate in the hiring and supervising of GRC staff, oversee the development of work plans, M&E, quarterly reporting, and financial oversight, and also act as a senior point of contact for cooperation with project stakeholders. They will be responsible for ensuring the gender sensitivity of the project and adapting delivery accordingly.

DUTY STATION: The job will be remote with possible travel.
CONTRACT DURATION: 6-month contract with a possible extension.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Project Implementation: develop and review the content of training and mentorship sessions together with the Legal Consultant, Yemen Research Adviser, and OSINT provider and deliver online and offline sessions of legal mentorship and training; act as a senior point of contact with Yemeni CSO implementing partners and OSINT provider; together with the Legal Consultant, Yemen Research Advisor, and OSINT provider lead and direct the development of the project’s investigative outputs, including by liaising and providing mentorship to the Yemeni CSO partners; be responsible for the review and finalization of legal submissions to UN bodies and public-facing reports.
• Team management: align with other team members to ensure efficient working streams and timely completion of project deliverables; provide mentorship and support to other team members, offering guidance to enable them to perform to their full potential; actively participate in team brainstorming sessions on project implementation strategies; identify emerging talent and work with them to reach their full potential, ensuring they are developed and given new areas of responsibility.

ATTRIBUTES AND EXPERIENCE

We are looking for a candidate:

• with 7 or more years of experience with in-depth knowledge of international human rights, criminal and/or humanitarian law, and reparations;
• experience managing and leading a US-funded project;
• with an advanced degree in law; in-depth knowledge of international human rights, humanitarian and criminal law;
• who has practical experience working with a variety of stakeholders including civil society organizations, and governmental and intergovernmental institutions;
• who has experience in conducting capacity-building activities with civil society organizations, preferably in the Yemen context;
• with an ability to lead and conduct complex investigations, blending traditional investigative techniques and OSINT;
• is proficient in English (additional language skills are an advantage, particularly Arabic);
• able to work on their own initiative and with limited supervision, without requiring detailed guidance to get started but who can be given a desired outcome and figure out the action areas required to reach it;
• able to work as part of a multicultural team working towards a common goal and respectful of differentiating working approaches;
• who is flexible, versatile, and creative and able to work in a changeable & fast-moving environment, and capable of spontaneously support in project deliverables that are not in their remit where needed;
• with a proactive character, suggesting solutions and approaches, anticipating problems, and foreseeing potential challenges;
• able to think practically, to break down and pursue the elements required to operationalize a strategy;
• administratively competent; able to manage competing urgent demands.