Fellowship program takes NHRI staff inside the UN

An OHCHR fellowship program is providing representatives from national human rights institutions with the opportunity to see first-hand how the United Nations system works.

Staff members of national human rights commissions from around the world are being invited to apply for the six month fellowship program, which is organised by the OHCHR’s National Institutions Unit.

According to Gianni Magazzeni, who heads up the National Institutions Unit, the program provides a rich two-way exchange of information and expertise.

“We established the program because we felt there was a need to offer staff of national institutions the opportunity to work within the UN so they can understand better how the international system works and how the office of the High Commissioner operates,” says Mr Magazzeni.

“It’s one thing to study the UN from a distance, it’s another thing altogether to be involved in its daily work; to meet with Treaty Body experts or Special Rapporteurs, participate in UPR reviews by the Human Rights Council and engage with colleagues from offices dealing with specific human rights issues.”

In turn, the Fellows are encouraged to contribute their local knowledge when the OHCHR is interacting with countries and institutions in the region from which they come.

“Their understanding and expertise can help us to engage more effectively with partner organisations in their home region exactly because of their local knowledge” stressed Mr Magazzeni.

The program, run for the first time this year, involved one staff member from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and one from the Australian Human Rights Commission.

“From our perspective, along with the feedback we’ve received from the first two Fellows, the program has been a very valuable and rewarding experience, which hopefully can be expanded in terms of duration of the Fellowship and possibly include one NI Fellow from each region of the world at any given time” said Mr Magazzeni.

A clear benefit, he says, is that returning Fellows are able to strengthen the capacity of their national institution to engage more substantively with the United Nations and its human rights mechanisms.

Applications for the coming round of the National Institution Fellowship program must be received by 27 October 2008, with two fellowships to be awarded for the 2009 program.

Candidates should have a minimum of three years experience working in a national human rights institution. They should also be fluent in either English or French.

While most costs have to be borne by the contributing NHRI, some financial support will be provided by the OHCHR in the form of a monthly stipend during the fellowship.

Find out more

For more information about the program and application details, visit the website of the National Human Rights Institutions Forum.