Complete applications are due 27 March 2023. Prospective applicants must email Abadir Ibrahim (abibrahim@law.harvard.edu) before March 6, 2023, to discuss their plans and have their host organization vetted.
More information on the fellowships, eligibility and the application process is available on our post-graduate fellowship webpage.
The Fellow will spend three and a half months in the Front Line Defenders office in Dublin where they will be trained in relation to Human Rights Defenders; the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders; the Mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur; the procedures and methodology of the mandate; the role of Front Line Defenders and other national and international organisations in the support and protection of Human Rights Defenders. The Fellow will then enter an internship programme at the OHCHR and will move to Geneva for a period of six months before returning to Front Line Defenders for a further three months.
The successful candidate will have excellent drafting skills and a proven ability of synthesising and condensing large amounts of information into succinct briefings. They will also have excellent administrative skills. They will have some knowledge of the UN system and international and human rights law. They must have native or native-level English and fluency in Spanish (please note we can’t make exceptions to the language requirements). They will be a recent university graduate (see note below).
Basic Terms of reference – Front Line Defenders Dublin
Provide support to Front Line Defenders’ Protection Coordinators including dealing with routine queries and correspondence with human rights defenders;
Cooperate closely with the Regional Fellows and Protection Coordinators in drafting urgent appeals on behalf of human rights defenders at risk around the world:
Input HRD-related information on the Front Line Defenders database;
Undertake clerical tasks such as data entry, collating, emailing and maintenance of the database;
Support follow-up on cases taken up by Front Line Defenders or other specific projects relating to Human Rights Defenders as requested;
Draft as requested, minutes, briefings, reports, appeals;
Basic Terms of Reference – Geneva SR
Gather information on the situation of human rights defenders around the world (with a particular focus on themes of concern identified by the SR);
In coordination with other thematic mechanisms and with geographic desk officers, and under the supervision of the HRD assistant to the SR, draft urgent appeals and communications to Governments concerning human rights violations against human rights defenders;
Support follow-up of cases;
Analyse replies received from Governments and prepare summaries for inclusion in the annual Human Rights Council (HRC) report;
Assist in the drafting of annual reports to the HRC and the General Assembly; Assist in the preparation of background materials for official missions by the Special Rapporteur;
Assist in liaising with non-governmental organizations for the smooth implementation of the mandate, as needed.
Whilst in Geneva, OHCHR internship regulations will apply.
Honorarium: €1400 per month Dublin and €1700 per month Geneva.
Please note that in order to comply with OHCHR internship regulations, applicants will need to be currently enrolled in university or have graduated from university no more than one year previous to beginning the OHCHR internship.
On 10 February 2020 the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) invited applications for its Minorities Fellowship Programme, a training programme for human rights and minority rights defenders belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. During the Programme, human rights defenders will get an opportunity to establish contacts with other activists from different parts of the world.
Applicants of the fellowship must belong to a national, ethnic, linguistic or religious minority group. Selected persons will get a ticket from the country of residence to Geneva and stipend.
The application form for the fellowship can be download from the website of OHCHR (click here). Applications form along with the relevant documents can be sent to email id minorityfellowships@ohchr.org or by post to “Mr. Morse Caoagas Flores Coordinator, Indigenous & Minorities Fellowship Programmes Indigenous Peoples and Minorities Section Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights 48, Avenue Giuseppe-Motta, Office 2-05 CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland”. The deadline is 28 February 2020.
Justice and Peace NL is launching a new call for Human Rights Defenders to participate in the Shelter City Initiative which offers human rights defenders a possibility for rest and respite by letting them escape temporarily from a threatening situation. Shelter City offer a safe space to human rights defenders at a moment where they are particularly vulnerable and their security can no longer be guaranteed at home. The programme’s objective is to offer the human rights defender a shelter for three months, during which she/he will rest, build up capacity, extend her/his network and raise awareness about the situation in their country. At the end of the programme, participants are expected to return with new tools and energy to carry out their work at home. An important principle of the Shelter City Initiative is that human rights defenders can continue their work while they are temporarily relocated. From September 2018, eleven cities in the Netherlands will receive human rights defenders for a period of three months. Please circulate this message to all interested candidates who you may know. In order to be eligible to the Shelter City program, you must meet the following conditions:
The HRD should implement a non-violent approach in his/her work
They are threatened or otherwise under pressure due to their work.
They should be able to be relocated for a period of maximum 3 months. Limited spots are available for people who are not able to stay for the full 3 months;
They are willing and able to return to their country of origin after 3 months;
They are willing to speak publicly about their experience or about human rights in their country to the extent that their security situation allows.
They can speak basic English (limited spots are available for French or Spanish speaking HRDs);
They are willing and able to come to the Netherlands without accompaniment;
They are willing to begin their stay in the Netherlands around September 2018.
Note that additional factors will be taken into consideration in the final round of selection, such as the added value of a stay in the Netherlands as well as gender, geographic, and thematic balance.
To apply or submit the application of a human rights defender, please e-mail sheltercity@justiceandpeace.nl . You will then receive an application form. Application forms must be returned before 11 June 2018. An independent commission will select the participants.
Some support structures suffer from a lack of general knowledge. Here is one that I came across recently.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), in conjunction with the Scholars at Risk (SAR) Germany Section, convened the 3rd Workshop on the Philipp Schwartz Initiative (PSI) in Berlin, bringing together SAR staff, Philipp Schwartz Fellows, representatives of universities and research institutions in Germany supporting threatened scholars, and representatives from partner organizations.
As a part of AvH and supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and other private funders, the PSI provides universities and research institutions in Germany with the means to host at-risk foreign researchers with two-year, fully funded fellowships. Since the summer of 2016, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has invited applications to the PSI on behalf of scholars regardless of country of origin, current location, or academic field, as long as a demonstrable threat can be confirmed. The PSI is currently sponsoring more than 60 researchers, 34 of whom are SAR scholars. This number will undoubtedly grow, as the PSI has recently confirmed funding for an additional 30 grants. Applications in the context of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative cannot be submitted at this time. Applicants in the 3rd round will be informed of the outcome by 30 June 2017.
For more information about the important work being done, visit the Philipp Schwartz Initiative’s homepage and consult the most recent issue of AvH’s magazine, Humboldt Kosmos.
Who can apply? Please note that researchers cannot apply on an individual basis only through host institutions in Germany.
Research-performing institutions in Germany in the following categories may apply:
public and state-recognised universities, including universities of applied sciences (“Fachhochschulen”)
Max Planck Institutes, Helmholtz Institutes, Leibniz Institutes, Fraunhofer Institutes
Federal and State Research Institutes
other research-performing institutions that can convincingly demonstrate their research focus and infrastructures
Successful applicants will be able to grant a Philipp Schwartz Fellowship to a threatened researcher. In detail:
institutions that were successful in the 1st or 2nd call for applications (no submission of support concepts in 3rd call; only nomination of researcher)
institutions that applied but were not successful in the 1st or 2nd call for applications
institutions that have not applied for Philipp Schwartz funding before
Who is eligible for a Philipp Schwartz fellowship?
Threatened researchers from any academic field and any country of origin who
have completed their doctorate or a comparable academic degree (PhD, CSc or equivalent)
have not been resident outside their own country for more than three years; researchers who hold German university entrance qualifications (“Bildungsinländer”) are not eligible
possess the language skills required to successfully conduct their research projects
possess potential to be integrated into the (research-related) job market
who have not yet been funded in the context of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative
persons that have access to residence in safe countries due to multiple citizenship and German citizens are not eligible for nomination
multiple nominations of one person by several institutions are not permitted
The Humboldt Foundation imposes no restrictions with regard to country of origin or current location if the threat can be confirmed in accordance with the programme guidelines.
What does the funding include?
fellowship funds including subsidies of 3,500 EUR/month for up to 24 months
a one-off lump sum of 12,000 EUR for the host institution
How can a threat to a researcher be confirmed in the context of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative?
In the context of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative, a pertinent threat of researchers who are demonstrably threatened in their countries can be confirmed in two ways:
by way of a residence status in the context of an asylum-granting procedure that confirms a recognised threat
by way of a credible threat assessment from a third party, such as the Scholars at Risk Network, the Scholar Rescue Fund, or the Council for At-Risk Academics
When a human rights defender from a small nation, such as the Solomon islands, is selected for fellowship programme with the United Nations, it makes a story. Teddy Kafo writes in the Solomon Star of 14 February how Watson Puiahi of the local NGO “I Lukim Sustainability Solomon Islands (ISSI)” was chosen to participate in the ‘2015 Indigenous fellowship Program’ of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 