Switzerland: Consultant - statelessness

Organization: UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Country: Switzerland
Closing date: 10 Dec 2014

To implement UNHCR's global mandate on statelessness, the Statelessness Section of the Division of International Protection (DIP) serves as the engine driving development of UNHCR policy on statelessness as well as training and guidance tools on statelessness, at both operational and doctrinal levels. The full-time staff of the Statelessness Section is comprised of one Senior Legal Coordinator and one Legal Officer, supplemented by one full-time consultant.

On 4 November 2014, UNHCR launched its Campaign to End Statelessness in 10 years. A key component of the Campaign is the Global Action Plan: 2014 – 2024 , which is comprised of 10 Actions which States must take to achieve the goal of ending statelessness within a decade. To ensure that the activities planned for implementation of the Global Action Plan in 2015 are successfully completed, it is necessary to bolster the human resources of the Statelessness Section through the engagement of a consultant for a period of 11,5 months from 15 January 2015.

Under the direct supervision of the Senior Legal Coordinator (Statelessness), the incumbent will have the following responsibilities:

1) In collaboration with external partners, prepare an Edited Collection of research papers on statelessness for publication in follow-up to the First Global Forum on Statelessness which took place 15-17 September 2014 in the Hague;

2) Conduct missions to support UNHCR's country operations in implementation of the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness and provide follow-up support to the operations from Geneva;

3) Support the development and completion of an Analytical Database on national legislation related to statelessness;

4) Co-ordinate and assist with the organization of a workshop with the Inter-Parliamentary Union on addressing protracted statelessness situations; and

5) Provide other support as needed for the day-to-day activities of the Statelessness Section.

Qualifications and Experience

Education

University degree in law, with specialization in international law, including a focus on international human rights law.

Work Experience

At least 4 years of related professional experience, including working experience at the international level and on nationality or statelessness issues.

Key Competencies

• Excellent legal research, analytical and drafting skills;
• Knowledge of international legal standards on statelessness, protection standards and doctrinal issues related to nationality and statelessness;
• Good communications and advocacy skills;
• Excellent knowledge of English, working knowledge of another UN language is an asset.

How to apply:

Please send your CV and covering letter by the 10^th of December 2014 to the DIP Statelessness Section:hqpr03@unhcr.org