The Frank Jennings Fellowship was set up to give an opportunity for dedicated and talented individuals to gain experience working for the protection of human rights defenders in an international NGO and at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It is named after Front Line Defenders' former Head of Research who died after a long illness in 2005. Frank made a huge contribution to the development of human rights activism in Ireland and candidates who have some experience of human rights work or study in Ireland will be given priority.

The Frank Jennings Fellow will spend three and a half months at Front Line Defenders 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. Given the current context, it is likely that this Fellowship will begin remotely. If COVID restrictions are completely lifted by the time the Fellow completes their 3.5 months with Front Line Defenders, they will travel to Gevena to begin the six month internship with the OHCHR.

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 OR French (please note we can’t make exceptions to the language requirements). They will have good oral and written communication skills and be computer literate. They will be flexible and co-operative. Some previous work experience with organisations working in the field of human rights would be desirable. They will be a recent university graduate (see note below).