Crisis Action

Internship

Brussels, 2012.

Crisis Action, a dynamic international non-profit organisation Crisis Action with offices in Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, London, Nairobi, New York and Paris and which works to avert conflicts, prevent human rights abuses and ensure that governments fulfill their obligations to protect civilians, and more specifically facilitates joint campaigns and advocacy by international humanitarian and human rights organisations on conflicts including Sudan/South Sudan, Syria and Israel/Palestine, as well as targeted work on other conflicts, is looking for an intern for its small Brussels office. The intern, i.e. the Campaign and Research Assistant, will work with the Brussels Director and the Political Analyst.

The work involves a range of tasks including

● liaising with leading NGOs as well as with EU and Member State officials;

● monitoring EU and international news;

● researching background information on conflicts;

● arranging, attending and taking minutes at meetings;

● assisting with joint campaigns and advocacy work;

● maintaining contact lists of EU officials and civil society organisations;

● general administrative work and office tasks.

Qualifications

● degree in international relations, social sciences or a similar field and/or related experience

● demonstrated interest in conflict and humanitarian affairs and/or EU external relations policy

● strong communication and coordination skills

● excellent knowledge of English and very good knowledge of French

● general IT skills and good knowledge of MS Office

Starting Date

As soon as possible.

Duration

Preferably for six months and full-time.

Unpaid, but…

The internship is unpaid, but local transport and a small lunch allowance will be paid.

How to Apply

Please email your CV, cover letter and contact information for two references to brussels2@crisisaction.org with "Last name - Brussels Summer 2012 Internship" in the subject line.

Application Deadline

6 June 2012. Applications will be accepted until 23:59 CET. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interview by 15 June. Interviews by phone are foreseen for the week of 11 June.

Amnesty International, European Institutions Office

Paid Internships

Brussels, 15 September 2012 – 15 July 2013.

The Amnesty International European Institutions Office (Brussels) offers three further paid traineeships in the ensuing areas:

1. Assistant for EU Common Foreign and Security Policy/External Relations (focusing on Africa, Asia and Americas)
Date of interviews: to be confirmed, shortlisted candidates will be informed individually
Traineeship description (CFSP).

2. Assistant for EU Common Foreign and Security Policy/External Relations (focusing on Wider Europe, Middle East and Central Asia)
Date of interviews: to be confirmed, shortlisted candidates will be informed individually
Traineeship description (CFSP).

3. Asylum & Migration Policies Assistant
Date of interviews: week of 9 July, shortlisted candidates will be informed individually
Traineeship description (Asylum & Migration).

Starting date

15 September 2012 – 15 July 2013.

Duration

10 months

Final day for application

3 June 2012 (no applications will be accepted after midnight that day).

Collège Universitaire Henri Dunant & Universidad de la Rioja

Xth Summer School ‘Protecting Human Rights through United Nations Mechanisms
Geneva, 2-6 July 2012

This interesting course in Spanish is organised by the Collège Universitaire Henri Dunant (Geneva, Switserland) and the UNESCO Chair of the Universidad de la Rioja (Logroño, Spain).

General objectives

● Analise the legal-political challenges of democracy in increasingly complex societies;

● Consider the democratic principles of representation and participation, in the light of political and institutional problems that civil society is facing;

● Discuss the characteristics of good governance (transparency, accountability and participation);

● Examine the current challenges in the exercise of fundamental freedoms;

● Strengthen the ‘human rights approach’ in the design, implementation and evaluation of public policies, through better knowledge and use of UN mechanisms protecting human rights.

Programme

● Round table "Rethinking Rousseau and democracy: towards a model of democracy linked to public space";

● Relational freedoms: freedom of assembly, freedom of association and right to strike;

● The international system for the protection of human rights;

● Presentation of and briefing on the Human Rights Council;

● Intellectual freedoms: freedom of opinion, freedom of religion, freedom of education;

● Workshop on the case of the Human Rights Committee on the physical freedoms: freedom of movement and security;

● Workshop on how to advance human rights: the case of slavery. Strategy Analysis;

● Side Event: cultural rights and interreligious dialogue;

● Visit of the Palais des Nations and the Museum of the League of Nations;

● Visit of the International Labour Organization.

To whom it the course directed

Preferably directed to persons studying law, social work, social and political sciences, journalism and communication studies, and to NGOs and human rights activists.

Lecturers

The course is given by academics and practitioners from international organisations.

Duration

30 hours.

Place

Palais des Nations. Portail de Pregny, Avenue de la Paix 14, Geneva.
UNESCO Office in Geneva (BIE): 15 route des Morillons, 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex.

Inscription

Number of places: 25.

See also Inscription Bulletin.

Deadline for inscription

25 June 2012.

Fee

Normal fee: 172 €
Reduced fee: 150 € (Students Universidad de La Rioja, members Universidad de La Rioja).

Students must cover their travel expenses, room and board.

Directors

Prof. Dr. D. Alfred Fernández, Director Collège universitaire Henry Dunant.

Prof. Dr. Ana Mª Vega Gutiérrez, Director UNESCO Chair Universidad de La Rioja.

Amnesty International, European Institutions Office

Paid Internships

Brussels, September 2012 – July 2013.

The Amnesty International European Institutions Office (Brussels) offers several paid traineeships. The traineeships on offer cover the following areas (please find a traineeship description for each specific position):

1. Assistant for EU Common Foreign and Security Policy/External Relations (focusing on Africa, Asia and Americas)
Date of interviews: to be confirmed, shortlisted candidates will be informed individually
Traineeship description, to be posted shortly

2. Assistant for EU Common Foreign and Security Policy/External Relations (focusing on Wider Europe, Middle East and Central Asia)
Date of interviews: to be confirmed, shortlisted candidates will be informed individually
Traineeship description, to be posted shortly

3. Asylum & Migration Policies Assistant
Date of interviews: week of 9 July, shortlisted candidates will be informed individually
Traineeship description (Asylum & Migration)

4. Campaign Assistant on Discrimination
Date of interviews: 18-19 July, shortlisted candidates will be informed individually
Traineeship description (Discrimination)

5. Assistant for Business and Human Rights and Roma Inclusion
Date of interviews: week of 9 July, shortlisted candidates will be informed individually
Traineeship description (ESCR)

6. Media and Communications Assistant
Date of interviews: to be confirmed, shortlisted candidates will be informed individually
Traineeship description (Media)

7. Assistant for Justice and Home Affairs
Date of interviews: to be confirmed, shortlisted candidates will be informed individually
Traineeship description (JHA)

Content of training programme

● In depth training in the specific area of work of the Executive Officer the trainees is assigned to, including research work, representation and participation in meetings

● Training on Amnesty International’s work in general and human rights, with a focus on discrimination issues and the European context

● Training on campaigning, including strategic campaigning, campaigning techniques, activism tools, with a focus on discrimination issues, the European Union and Council of Europe contexts

● Training on lobbying and advocacy techniques, with a focus on discrimination issues, the European Union and Council of Europe contexts

● Training on IT applications and website maintenance

● Media Training

● Career advice and mock interview

Duration

● Starting date: 15 September 2012 (until mid-July 2013)

● Duration: 10 months.

Paid position

● You will be offered a “contract d’immersion professionnel”, making this a paid position, at present this is paid € 736,23 per month.

● In order to qualify for this contract, you must hold a work permit for Belgium or be allowed to work in Belgium. For further information, please see: working as a foreign national.

Application

● Please send the application form only (only these will be considered; please indicate clearly which traineeship you are applying for) by e-mail in English to internships@amnesty.eu.
● For further information, please contact: Albert Gans, Amnesty International European Institutions Office, Rue de Trèves 35, B-1040 Brussels, tel. +32 (0) 2 548 27 62

Deadline for application

3 June 2012 (no applications will be accepted after midnight that day).

University of Nottingham

Summer School ‘Protecting Human Rights through United Nations Mechanisms

Nottingham, 11-15 June 2012

The Human Rights Law Centre at the University of Nottingham organises its 2012 Summer School on ‘Protecting Human Rights through United Nations Mechanisms’.

The Blog Administrators wish to underline that this is probably one of the best, if not the best course in Europe on the issue of 'human rights at the UN level'.

Focus and aim

The focus throughout will be practical and applied: the Summer School will give participants an insider’s understanding of the mechanisms and will equip them with the tools to best use the UN system for the protection of human rights. The School will have sessions devoted to the human rights treaty bodies (the reporting and individual communications procedures), the Human Rights Council’s Universal Period Review Procedure, Special Procedures (UN human rights special rapporteurs, etc.), and the work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and its field presences. The Summer School is a highly interactive event in which all participants will be encouraged to be fully involved.

Training methods

The training methods include presentations, Q and A, group exercises and role play. All participants receive an extensive electronic file of resource materials.

Target public

The Summer School is designed to benefit professionals in non-governmental organisations, national human rights institutions, governments, international governmental organisations, field operations, and interested academics and students.

Lecturers

The Summer School is led by key experts in the field.

Programme

● Overview of the Treaty Body System

● The Strengthening Process of the Treaty Body System

● Human Rights Treaty Bodies: The Reporting Procedure

● The Treaty Bodies: Bringing Human Rights Home

● Procedural Innovations in CEDAW and Other Human Rights Treaty Bodies

● Human Rights Treaty Bodies: NGO perspectives, case study of Ireland at the Human Rights

Committee

● The Special Procedures System of the UN Human Rights Committee

● Case study: The Special Rapporteur on Torture

● Human Rights Treaty Bodies: The Individual Communications Procedure

● Human Rights Field Operations

● Ethics for Human Rights Work

● Perspectives from the field on human rights

● UN Commissions of Inquiry

● The UN Human Rights Council

● The UN Human Rights Council: Universal

● Periodic Review (UPR)

● NGOs at the Human Rights Council

● Human Rights at the Security Council

● Group work and group presentations

● Open topic panel discussion

Fee and registration

The course fee is £900, which includes tuition, lunches and refreshments, accommodation (bed and breakfast rate), and course materials. The course fee is £650 for participants who do not require accommodation. There is a non-refundable deposit of £200 payable upon registration. The remaining fee must be paid by 1 June 2012. Participants will need to meet their own travel costs and arrange visa and other UK entry requirements.

Deadline for registration

1 June 2012

For more information

Kobie Neita, Summer School administrator
0115 846 6309 or hrlcsummerschool@nottingham.ac.uk

International Peace Information Service (IPIS)

Summer Internships

Antwerp, 2012.

The International Peace Information Service (IPIS), a research NGO which works on Sub-Saharan Africa, is looking for two research interns to support its research on business and human rights. The interns will work at the Antwerp office, 45 minutes from Brussels, Belgium.

We are seeking two independent and highly motivated people, each to work on one of the following topics:

1. The interaction between oil contracts, multinational corporations and human rights in Uganda;

2. The impact of Chinese investments in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a small and dynamic team, the intern will have the opportunity to work in close cooperation with the research team on corporate social responsibility in a leading research NGO in the fields of natural resources, arms trade and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in sub-Saharan Africa. The intern will undertake substantial research on issues of business and human rights, contributing to the work and publications of IPIS. The intern will also assist the researcher corporate social responsibility’s everyday work and in the activities of the organisation, including, when possible: attending meetings with officials and other organisations; participating in project design; and following projects up. Depending on upcoming the possibilities and the progression of interns’ work, they may have the possibility to introduce their own research interests. This has the potential to contribute to an IPIS publication, for which the intern would bear considerable responsibility.

Required Qualifications and experience

■ Good knowledge of international law or human rights law;

■ Excellent research and writing skills;

■ The ability to prepare syntheses and work independently;

■ An understanding of recent evolutions in Business and Human Rights.

Desirable Qualifications and experience

■ A good command of written and spoken French;

■ Knowledge of the African system of human rights protection;

■ Familiarity with international conflict dynamics;

■ Knowledge about EU law and policies.

Time commitment

At least 3 full days per week for a minimum of 4.5 months, or full time for a minimum of 3 months.

Start Date

Mid to Late June 2012.

Application Deadline

30 May 2012.

To Apply

Please submit the following electronically to vacatures@ipisresearch.be:

1. Curriculum vitae;

2. A cover letter describing how you meet the specified requirements;

3. A unedited writing sample of recent work.

About IPIS

The International Peace Information Service (IPIS) is a research NGO which works on Sub-Saharan Africa. We focus on arms trade, exploitation of natural resources and corporate social responsibility. IPIS also devotes attention to post-conflict reconstruction, sustainable development, human rights and environmental issues.

We carry out in-depth research into the exploitation of natural resources and put into perspective issues as the redistribution of rents, poor governance and corruption, the financing of conflicts, and corporate social responsibility. For more information please contact us at info@ipisresearch.be or visit our website at http://www.ipisresearch.be/.