IHRDA is a pan-african non-governmental organisation that works to promote awareness of human rights in Africa and improve the effectiveness. We envision a continent where all have access to justice, using national, African and international human rights law and mechanisms. Summarised in three key words – defend, educate, inform – IHRDA works by advising and representing (pro bono legal counsel) victims of human rights abuses in Africa, training human rights defenders in Africa on the African Human Rights System and how to use its mechanisms to seek justice for victims of violations and publishing and distributing information on the African Human Rights System. Thus, we demonstrate that the use of the African human rights instruments and mechanisms provides an important avenue for securing human rights and reparation.

The African Human Rights Case law Analyser is a collection of decisions from the African human rights system. Created and run by IHRDA, it offers the most exhaustive access to the decisions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in English and French. It is unrivalled in its research friendliness, convenient navigation and search options, and intuitive readability. [read more…]

Description of the Post

IHRDA is seeking to recruit two (2) Publications and Communications Fellows to start work on 30 January 2012 for a period of twelve (12) months. Under the supervision of the Deputy Director, the Publications and Communications fellows will be involved in the main work areas relating to publications and communication at IHRDA.

Specific Responsibilities

• Upload information on to IHRDA’s case law database, the Case law Analyser http://caselaw.ihrda.org/ including textual revision, in either English, French or Portuguese;
• Assist in the collection of the texts of legal instruments and decisions of the judicial bodies of the regional human rights system (African Commission, African Court, African Committee of Experts) and the sub-regional economic communities (ECOWAS, SADC, EAC);
• Edit these texts to ensure grammatical and spelling accuracy as well as stylistic consistency;
• Upload these texts on to the Case law Analyser, while adding a special syntax that facilitates the functioning of the Analyser;
• Collect news and information on the regional human rights system and the sub-regional economic communities of Africa (ECOWAS, SADC, EAC) ;
• Regularly translate news and information on the Case law Analyser for publication on IHRDA’s social media accounts: www.facebook.com/ihrda ; www.linkedin.com/in/ihrda ;  www.twitter.com/ihrdafrica;

Qualifications and Eligibility

• Degree in information sciences, law, communications, the humanities, or related field from a recognised university;
• Bilingual: Fluency in French with good working knowledge of English or Portuguese or vice versa;
• Exceptional writing and editorial skills;
• High comfort level with internet communications.
• Knowledge or previous experience in web-based communication applications like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal is highly desirable;
• Knowledge or previous experience in editing, copy-editing and publishing, including knowledge of desktop publishing applications like Adobe, Quark Xpress would be considered as an added advantage;
• Interest in or willingness to learn about human rights in Africa, particularly Africa’s regional and sub-regional human rights systems is desirable.

Added advantage

• Experience in demanding, meticulous editorial work ;
• Knowledge of the workings of Africa’s continental and sub-regional human rights protections systems.

Benefits

• Monthly internship stipend
• Medical cover
• Accommodation
• Return air ticket

Application Instructions

Applicants should send the following documents to Modou Sowe at msowe@ihrda.org copied to ihrda@ihrda.org :

• Cover letter, addressed to the Executive Director, expressing your motivation and suitability for the internship;
• A Curriculum Vitae with contact details of two referees;
• A duly completed fellowship/internship form, download-able on our website at https://ihrda.org/fellowships/ ;
• A sample of writing in French/English/Portuguese or address of previous web-based work.

Please Note

Kindly also read the Internship Policy, also available on our website at https://ihrda.org/fellowships/

Kindly indicate where you learnt of this announcement.

Application deadline: November 6 2012. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.