UNDP Jobs - 58748- International Human Rights Advisor

International Human Rights Advisor

Location :

Home-based with 22 Days Mission to Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, KYRGYZSTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

12-Aug-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Home-based with one 22 days mission to Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

At the request of the Kyrgyz Government, UNDP has developed a project to provide technical assistance aimed at holding democratic and transparent elections. The main objective of the project is to provide necessary support to the Central Election Committee (CEC) as well as to other relevant partners, in conducting the upcoming election cycles in a fair, peaceful and transparent manner, with a widespread adoption and implementation of information and communication technologies (ICT).

The Project aims to assist Kyrgyz citizens to exercise their rights and accomplish their civic duties for the choice of their representatives in national elected offices and in particular to assist and accompany the CEC in implementing the introduction of ICT in all phases of the electoral process.

The project is designed for three years and consists of three components:

Component 1: Promotion of ICT in the electoral process;
Component 2: Institutional communication, education campaigns for civil society and the electorate;
Component 3: Dispute Resolution in the election and training of election security.

The upcoming elections in Kyrgyzstan later this year will be conducted under the new electoral law and one of the key features of these elections will be the introduction of ICT and the use of biometric data for identification of voters. Therefore, it is obvious that due to new technologies to be used during the elections and new legislation, a numerous electoral disputes, complaints and relevant critical processes may occur on ED and afterwards. In order to well organize the work of the responsible national state bodies on EDR, a series of trainings will be carried out for authorities involved, in particular for the law-enforcement, prosecutors, judges, as well as for the Central Election Commission, State Registry Service (which is responsible for identification of citizens).

The project therefore will assist in development of the new electoral dispute resolution mechanisms through provision of technical advice and support to design of the by-laws, regulations, training modules and materials for all members of electoral process, in close cooperation with the national partners: CEC, SRS and donors. Based on the above products, the countrywide trainings will be held by national partners prior and during elections. Given above, it is important to involve an international high-level human rights expert to assist and guide CEC and other national partners to ensure protection of human rights of voters in EDR processes on ED and afterwards.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under direct supervision of UNDP National Programme Management Unit Kyrgyz Election Support Project Coordinator and under overall supervision of UNDP Democratic Governance Programme Dimension Chief, the Advisor will deliver the following tasks:

Provide human/voter rights relevant advice on all aspects of electoral capacity development to ensure high standards in the conduction of elections.

Review national electoral legislation framework to identify gaps relevant to human/voter rights issues during the electoral period in order to provide technical expertise to the Central Election Commission, State Registry Service, Judiciary institutions to:

provide support to develop regulations and ongoing institutional activities aimed at human/voter rights observation during pre-election period;
monitor, report, attempt to redress violations of the human/voter rights during the elections;
foresee, prepare and provide support to resolve electoral disputes in line with international and domestic human rights mechanisms and regulations in timely manner;
Form a platform for the Central Election Commission, State Registry Service, Judiciary institutions to discuss how public international and national law can be applied to specific electoral issues.

Draft a common declaration of principles of elections and human rights with aim to:

raise awareness of voter rights for universal and equal suffrage held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the voter;
ensure better understanding that the authority of the government is based on the will of the people;
build consensus around obligations and standards for elections that exist in public state and international law.

Produce reports on:

the assessment of the extent to which elections respect fundamental freedoms and are characterized by equality, universality, political pluralism, confidence, transparency and accountability;
identifying electoral challenges relevant to human/voter rights during electoral period and elections;
measures to improve state electoral law and electoral processes based on Best practices and Lessons learnt with compliance to international law.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Communication;
Drive for Result;
Working With People.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master degree in Political Science/International Relations/Law/Public Administration/Public Policy.

Experience:

Minimum 3 years of professional experience in human/voter rights/ election systems and its administration;
Specific experience (at least 1 project) in conducting trainings related to electoral dispute resolution procedures is an asset;
Experience of work (at least 1 project related to conducting trainings related to electoral dispute resolution procedures) with the post-Soviet region is highly preferable.

Language:

Fluency in English;
Knowledge of Russian will be an asset.