Location: London, United Kingdom
Last date: 09 Oct 2011
Fixed-term contract: 12 January 2012 for up to one year.
Salary: From £37,197 - £39,440 depending on experience.
Reporting to: Director
Essential requirements: Fluency in English and the right to work in the UK. (Please do not apply if you do not meet these requirements.)
Location: The post is based at Child Soldiers International's (CSI's) office in London. Travel to New York and Geneva will be required.
CSI
Child Soldiers International (CSI) was formerly the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, an international coalition of human rights and humanitarian organizations created in 1998 to campaign for a human rights treaty to prevent children being used in armed conflict. That treaty - the Optional Protocol to the (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC) - entered into force in 2002. CSI now works for the effective implementation of OPAC, a global ban on any form of military recruitment of people below the age of 18 years and a definitive end to the military use of children in any capacity.
Through research and advocacy, nationally and internationally, CSI works to end all forms of military recruitment and use in hostilities of persons below the age of 18 years. Our vision is of a world where boys and girls are protected from any form of recruitment or use for military purposes, whether by government armed forces or non-state armed groups.
Job purpose
The OPAC Program Manager is responsible, under the overall direction of the Director, for taking forward CSI's work related to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (OPAC), and for related IGO advocacy with a specific focus on UN mechanisms in New York and Geneva.
You will build on an existing program of work to strengthen the knowledge and understanding of measures required for the effective implementation of OPAC; strengthen the capacity of the Committee on the Rights if the Child (CRC) to monitor the implementation of OPAC; and continue with CSI's campaign to end the recruitment by armed forces of children under the age of 18, with a specific focus on the UK. You will represent CSI in meetings and other events with UN stakeholders in New York and Geneva, as well as at meetings with UK government officials, parliamentarians and others.
In close consultation with other CSI staff, you will lead the development of an international advocacy strategy to support CSI's work to mark the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of OPAC. You will refine advocacy objectives and aims for this project; identify key targets; design a program of advocacy activities by CSI; and manage advocacy budgets. You will advise on, and provide support to, the publication and launch of the report, and will be responsible for implementing elements of the advocacy strategy.
The OPAC Program Manager also provides advice and support to CSI staff on OPAC-related strategies, including in CSI priority countries, which are currently Chad, DRC, Myanmar and Thailand. This will include input into country strategic planning, and research and advocacy activities, and review of reports and other written documents.
Main Responsibilities
i. Lead the development, and support the implementation, of CSI advocacy strategy on the prevention of child recruitment by armed forces:
• Strategy development: Lead the development of an advocacy strategy to support CSI's project to mark the tenth anniversary of the entry into force of OPAC.
• Advocacy: Set up and participate in advocacy meetings and other activities with UN and other stakeholders.
ii. Lead CSI's work on raising the minimum age of voluntary recruitment to 18:
• Strategy development: Build on and develop existing CSI strategies on the minimum age of recruitment by UK armed forces, and advise on future strategies on the recruitment of under-18s in other countries.
• Research and monitor: Gather information on issues relating to the recruitment of under-18s in the UK.
• Writing: Draft reports, briefings and other relevant materials.
• Advocacy and lobbying: Identify opportunities for advocacy and represent CSI at meetings with UK government representatives, members of parliament and other stakeholders.
• Media work: Identify opportunities for media coverage, draft media statements and represent CSI in media interviews.
• Coordination: Coordinate activities with other NGOs working on the issue.
iii. Lead CSI's research and advocacy on OPAC implementation:
• Advice and support: Provide advice to CSI on OPAC-related strategies and support to CSI staff in the development and implementation of strategies on OPAC implementation in priority countries.
• Managing research: Set up and manage processes for desk-based research and drafting of shadow reports to the CRC on OPAC implementation by selected states.
• Advocacy: Represent CSI in CRC sessions and undertake other agreed OPAC-related advocacy activities.
• Coordination: Coordinate with CRC Secretariat staff and other IGOs, INGOs or NGOs involved in OPAC implementation as required.
iv. General responsibilities applicable to all of above are:
• Strategic planning: Contribute to CSI's planning and review processes.
• Budget management: Oversee project budgets and contribute to donor reporting requirements.
• Perform all necessary administrative tasks to ensure effective self-servicing and the organizational development of CSI, as appropriate.
Person Specification
Essential experience and knowledge:
• In-depth knowledge of the international human rights legal framework.
• Applied in-depth knowledge of UN human rights mechanisms and New York-based UN mechanisms related to children and armed conflict.
• Track record in carrying out research on human rights or child rights related issues, and of producing human rights reports and other materials in English to a publishable standard.
• Experience of international and national-level human rights advocacy, and of representing human rights concerns to external stakeholders, including governments, the UN and other inter-governmental organizations.
• Knowledge of children's rights/child soldier issues would be an advantage.
• Knowledge of UK parliamentary system would be an advantage.
Essential skills and abilities:
• Proven ability to design and implement research and advocacy strategies and to identify and act on advocacy opportunities.
• Proven ability to initiate and manage projects - planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation - which implement agreed strategies.
• Strong communication skills (oral and written).
• Ability to exercise good political judgement and thorough analysis.
• Proven ability to work both independently and as part of a team, and to provide support and guidance to other staff members, consultants or partners as required.
• Proven ability to manage and organize a complex and demanding workload and work on own initiative.
• Willingness and ability to travel at regular intervals to New York and Geneva.
• Ability to manage budgets and report to donors.
• Ability to carry out routine administrative and organizational tasks, and use internet, basic computer systems, and office equipment.
• The ability to converse fluently in French would be an advantage.
To apply: Please e-mail a covering letter, outlining your experience and capacity to do this job, details of two referees, and CV to info@child-soldiers.org. (Please state in your covering letter how you meet the essential requirement of the right to work in the UK.)
Closing date: 9 October 2011.
Interviews: Week commencing 31 October 2011.
Job Email id: info(at)child-soldiers.org
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