Open Society Justice Initiative Offers Human Rights Fellows Program for Angola and Mozambique

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa and the Open Society Justice Initiative are pleased to invite applications for the Human Rights Fellows Program for the 2008–2010 session. The deadline for applications is September 17, 2007.

This program was launched in 2003 by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa and the Justice Initiative, in collaboration with Conectas Human Rights, the Open Society Foundation for South Africa, and civic organizations in South Africa, Mozambique, and Angola.

The fellows program is 20 months in duration and involves both academic study and practical experience in human rights and public interest advocacy. Up to six human rights lawyers and activists from Angola and Mozambique will be selected to participate. Candidates must be nominated by a human rights nongovernmental organization based in Angola or Mozambique.

Program Description: For the first eight months of the program, fellows will reside in Brazil and complete a four-month non-degree course of study at the Catholic University of São Paulo, followed by a four-month internship in a nongovernmental organization based in Brazil.

The study course at the Catholic University of São Paulo runs from February to June 2008. Fellows will audit 3–4 courses, including a special "Human Rights in Practice" seminar specifically designed for the fellowship. The seminars will provide a practice-oriented, interdisciplinary overview of law reform issues, democracy-building, civil society, and the promotion and protection of human rights. Each fellow will be expected to propose a project relating to human rights or other public interest law issues, which he or she will research in connection with the seminar. The project should be related to the needs and priorities of the applicant's nominating nongovernmental organization, but may change over the course of the semester, in response to the input of other students. The seminars will ideally result in project plans that can be further modified during the remainder of the year to fit the particular needs of nominating nongovernmental organizations. Conectas Human Rights will supervise the fellows during the four-month course, and provide them with certificates at the end of their stay in Brazil. A respected professor in the course will serve as academic advisor. The course does not provide students with either a master's or a specialization degree.

From July to October 2008, fellows will participate in internships at human rights, legal services, or other public interest law organizations in Brazil. To the extent possible, internships will be selected according to each fellow's particular interests. Conectas Human Rights will coordinate the placement of fellows in internships.

After the first eight months, fellows will return to their home countries, where they will spend at least one year working with their nominating nongovernmental organizations on human rights and public interest advocacy issues. The work may include the provision of legal services or human rights training/education and the initiation of strategic litigation or legal reform campaigns.

The Justice Initiative and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa will cover each fellow's coach airfare to and from Brazil. During the eight months of the first year of the program, while fellows are residing in Brazil, the Justice Initiative and Initiative for Southern Africa will provide each fellow with a monthly stipend, a textbook allowance, medical insurance, and rent. The amount of the stipend will be calculated to cover the expenses of one person living in Brazil and participating in the program for no more than an eight-month period. The Justice Initiative and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa will pay each fellow's salary for his/her work with his/her nominating nongovernmental organization for one year, after successful completion of the eight month in Brazil and fellow's return to his/her home country. Fellows' salaries are defined by the Justice Initiative and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa. These two organizations will provide the salary amount to the nominating nongovernmental organization in the form of a grant.

Please note that the Justice Initiative, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, Conectas Human Rights and the Catholic University of San Paulo will not provide any financial or logistical assistance for family members accompanying fellows to Brazil, including assistance with securing suitable family housing. In addition, Conectas Human Rights requires evidence of financial support for accompanying family members. Providing such evidence will be the responsibility of the applicant.

Qualifications: Applicants must work with and be nominated by a human rights oriented nongovernmental organization. Applicants should have a university degree and a strong commitment to human rights or public interest law. Applicants will be selected for the program on the basis of their experience and their potential to contribute to the development of the field of human rights or public interest law in Angola or Mozambique. The feasibility of an applicant's proposed role in his or her nominating nongovernmental organization will also be considered. Legal background is a preference but not a requirement for the program. Selection decisions will be made, and accepted candidates informed, by mid-October 2007.

Once selected, fellows will be required to contractually commit to one year and eight months of service in the program.

Application Procedure: Applicants must submit a completed program application form. Applicants should also identify a project that he or she would like to design during the first semester of the program. Projects should demonstrate practical significance to the work of the nominating nongovernmental organization.

Each applicant must also arrange for his or her nominating nongovernmental organization to provide a nomination letter to the Justice Initiative and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, to be sent together with other application documents to the addresses below. In the nomination letter, the nominating nongovernmental organization should indicate its need for a lawyer or a human rights activist, such as the applicant, on its staff and should specify what type of work the applicant will engage in while working for the nominating nongovernmental organization. The nominating nongovernmental organization should also contractually commit to hiring the applicant for at least a one-year period after his or her return from the eight-month training program in Brazil, and this should be indicated in the nomination letter. The nomination letter should specify the gross monthly salary (to be fixed by Justice Initiative and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa according to usual nongovernmental organization salaries in the given country), inclusive of all income taxes, social security, and other wage-related payments payable by the individual or organization, that will be offered to the applicant by the nongovernmental organization in the event that he or she is selected for the program. (This gross monthly salary amount would be provided by the Justice Initiative and Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa to the nominating nongovernmental organization in the form of a grant.) The applicant should also provide at least one recommendation in addition to the nomination letter. Additional recommendations and information on the profile of the nominating nongovernmental organization are also encouraged.

Electronic submission of application materials (via e-mail) is strongly encouraged. However, an original application must also be submitted through regular mail. INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. If an application is submitted without one of the required components, it will be disqualified unless the applicant can justify why he or she cannot obtain the required information.