World Learning’s Democracy Fellows Program (DFP), and The United States Agency for International Development, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, Office of Regional Sustainable Development, Democracy and Human Rights Team (USAID/LAC/RSD/DHR), seeks a Democracy Fellow to work within the DHR Team.
Overview
The LAC Office of Regional Sustainable Development (LAC/RSD) provides strategic, technical, and programmatic leadership to USAID’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean on a range of technical fields. LAC/RSD has approximately 35 employees organized into five technical teams, one of which is the Democracy and Human Rights Team (LAC/RSD/DHR). LAC/RSD/DHR provides technical expertise, strategic leadership and field support to the LAC Bureau and its sixteen overseas Missions. Team members serve as the Bureau’s senior technical experts on democratization issues, including elections and political processes, good governance, civil society development, and citizen security, rule of law and human rights.
In the Latin America and Caribbean region, high rates of crime and violence, more than any other factor, undermine citizen support for democracy. Finding the right solutions requires expertise in integrating security sector reforms with rule of law, justice, human rights, community-level development, and programs for at-risk youth. No other USG agency is capable of working on all of these issues in an integrated fashion. As such, LAC/RSD/DHR provides personnel and programmatic support to high-profile multilateral regional security initiatives [such as the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), Merida Initiative (Merida) and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI)], as well as to the increasing number of USAID Missions engaged in security sector reform and the nascent fields of community policing and other crime and violence prevention programs.
DHR staff are responsible for relations with internal partners in Missions, technical bureaus, and other parts of the LAC Bureau, and for relations with external partners, including those working on rule of law issues, including: the Organization of American States (OAS); the Inter-American Coalition for Prevention of Violence (IACPV); U.S. Federal Judiciary; U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ); and the U.S. Department of State Bureaus of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL); Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL); Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization (S/CRS); and a wide range of private and public sector oganizations with significant experience in rule of law programming. The DHR Team has a staff of three senior professionals, and is supervised by a Team Leader, who reports to the RSD Office Director.
Responsibilities
The Democracy Fellow will serve in a senior position as a technical expert on security sector issues and/or the rule of law and human rights, with a focus on assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Specific tasks include:
1. Expert technical leadership: The Fellow serves in LAC/RSD and is responsible for providing technical advice and leadership on a range of programs, which could include legal reform programs, security sector reform, crime and violence prevention and human rights. These programs include improving judicial independence, strengthening of legal institutions, legal framework development, reform of criminal and civil justice systems, transitional justice, legal reform advocacy, crime and violence prevention, police and security sector reform, access to justice, and human rights. The Fellow will provide technical leadership services to the LAC Bureau and its constituent offices and Missions in Washington and in the region.
2. Field Support: The Fellow will advise USAID Missions on rule of law strategies and programs, and may also participate in broader democracy and governance assessments at a country or regional level. The Fellow will lead and/or take part in design, development, monitoring, and evaluation of rule of law strategies and programs. Frequent travel to the field is anticipated for strategy development, consultations, assessments, and monitoring. During these temporary duty assignments, the Fellow should be able to work in the Spanish language when meeting with host country officials in Latin America. The ability to speak French at a professional level is highly desirable.
3. Other: The Fellow will provide other work as requested by the Team Leader. These may include:
- Contributing to LAC/RSD/DHR programs and initiatives related to democracy and governance in general;
- Serving as the Team’s backstop or liaison for several countries;
- Attending, organizing, and making presentations at meetings, conferences, and workshops;
- Advocacy for the Bureau’s rule of law agenda through leadership of or representation on inter-agency or donor committees;
- Briefing senior Bureau, Embassy, and Agency senior staff;
- Preparing position and briefing papers; and
- Other services as requested.
Eligibility Criteria
The Fellow should have the following qualifications:
- U.S. Citizenship is required;
- Completion of a law or graduate degree. Although other degrees will be considered, a JD is preferred, and a JD/LL.M is desirable;
- At least 7 years of professional experience practicing in related fields of law and/or equivalent experience managing, designing, and/or evaluating justice sector and core rule of law development activities on behalf of an international organization, the U.S. government, or an NGO. Core rule of law areas include: judicial independence, reform of legal institutions, security sector reform, legal framework development, crime prevention, reform of criminal and civil justice systems, transitional justice, legal reform advocacy, police reform, access to justice, and human rights;
- Knowledge of the Latin America and Caribbean region, and in particular its legal and political systems. Special consideration will be given to applicants with knowledge of and experience with Haitian legal and political systems;
- Professional level fluency in Spanish equivalent to the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute rating of 3/3 in speaking/reading. The ability to communicate in Spanish at a professional level about rule of law issues is required. The ability to communicate in a professional level in French is highly desirable;
- Experience managing and/or working successfully with teams;
- Strong written and oral presentation skills.
Interested candidates should send a complete application to:
Democracy Fellowship – Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean Division
Senior Security Sector, Rule of Law & Human Rights Advisor
World Learning
Democracy Fellows Program
1015 15th Street, NW
7th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
1015 15th Street, NW
7th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
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