The American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Human Rights is the ABA’s focal entity for critical human rights concerns in the United States and around the world. The ABA Center for Human Rights (the Center) works to promote and protect human rights worldwide by mobilizing lawyers to defend threatened advocates, protect vulnerable communities, and hold governments accountable under law.
The ABA CHR Justice Defenders Program is seeking a paid, part-time consultant with expertise in international labor rights norms, union-side labor law, and/or the regulation and practice of industry-level unions to run a training for local labor lawyers in coastal Ecuador. This is a short-term consultancy based around a 3-day trip to Ecuador in mid-late July and would include the necessary advance research and preparation. The Program will facilitate the consultant’s travel to Ecuador. The Program will also accept applications for pro bono work.
1) Background
The Justice Defenders Program coordinates pro bono legal assistance to human rights advocates working in difficult environments and vulnerable circumstances. The Justice Defenders Program’s global reach enables it to help human rights defenders in virtually any country.
The Justice Defenders Program has recently launched its Labor portfolio, which coordinates assistance to labor rights defenders and aims to advance labor rights and improve working conditions. The Labor portfolio has been supporting an industry-level union. The consultancy would support the efforts of this union to engage in collective bargaining practices as well as support the efforts of additional industry-level unions to advocate for regulations for industry level unions and their engagement in collective bargaining.
2) Responsibilities
- Design and prepare 1-2 days of training(s) for local lawyers on international labor rights norms and industry-level unions and collective bargaining
- Optional: a similar training on the UN or Inter-American Human Rights System
- Optional: a training on the ILO supervisory system
- Present the training in Guayaquil, Ecuador in July/August 2022 (specific dates TBD and somewhat flexible based on consultant’s schedule)
- Report to ABA Justice Defenders Legal Advisor for Labor Rights and Corporate Accountability to discuss interventions, expected deliverables, and timelines
- Other tasks as necessary and as agreed upon between the contractor and the ABA
How to apply
- Please send the following documents in a single PDF to chr.opportunities@americanbar.org and copy April Artrip at april.artrip@americanbar.org
- Statement of interest detailing your experience working on ILO supervisory systems and/or industry-level unions as well as your experience with training and capacity building. Maximum 1 page.
- Resume or CV
- Hourly and/or daily rate
- Level of proficiency in Spanish
- Ability to travel to Guayaquil, Ecuador for 3 days in July (specific date availability and unavailability preferred)
- Application deadline: May 31, 2022. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.