EU Advocacy Assistant and Policy Analyst At Border Violence Monitoring Network

The Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) is an independent network of NGOs and associations that monitors human rights violations at the external borders of the European Union and advocates to stop the violence exerted against people on the move.

The advocacy team of the Network has a multi-targeted approach. Our team works collectively to bring evidence of mass human rights violations to relevant EU, UN and national fora, to hold governments accountable and to establish pushbacks and the rights of people on the move as an international priority.

The EU Advocacy Assistant and Policy Analyst will work closely with the Head of Advocacy to focus on EU level avenues to realise these aims. This is achieved through providing briefings to key stakeholders on specific topics, providing feedback on legislative proposals through the Commission’s Have Your Say Initiative, and engaging with other Brussels oriented groups doing the same work. Additionally, some files relating to the EU’s New Pact on Migration are followed more closely to facilitate long-term advocacy actions such as tabling amendments and working in close-knit coalitions to provide voting recommendations. In line with this, long form policy analyses should be written to facilitate these actions.

This role provides a high degree of autonomy with the ability to help shape key advocacy outputs and therefore would suit a candidate who is driven and self-motivated. The person will work closely with the Network’s other working groups to utilise information being fed from the Field and Research teams in order to inform and guide advocacy actions at the EU level. The person is also required to participate in the Open Assembly, which is the main decision-making forum of the Network. As well as this, they share in the work of the General Coordination team, which sees to daily tasks in the Network. BVMN’s goal is to help end border violence as part of a movement that values human dignity and respect; these values are also fundamental to how the Network itself is organised.

Commitments:

To the Advocacy Working Group:

• Attending weekly Advocacy Working Group meetings and Advocacy Coordination meetings – facilitating and note-taking where needed
• Co-managing the email address of the advocacy team
• Regularly following the schedule of the European Parliament and its committees and highlighting emerging advocacy opportunities to the team
• Taking a lead in coordinating any policy analyses on behalf of the Network
• Taking a lead on amendments to EU legislative documents
• Coordinating the production and editing of the Black Book of Pushbacks and other relevant publications
• Facilitating country visits by EU and UN delegations to countries where member organisations operate
• Writing letters of concern to the European Commission
• Feeding back to the Have Your Say initiative of the European Commission
• Reaching out to new stakeholders and the Commission to build an ally base
• Support in volunteer recruitment, onboarding, and general care and wellbeing during their time spent with the Advocacy Working Group
• Possibility to represent the Network with the public, policymakers, journalists, etc

To the Network:

• Attending General Coordination meetings and Open Assemblies
• Participation in other planned activities – structural planning, burnout prevention sessions, mediation sessions etc.
• Supporting with feedback reports and calls to donors
• Supporting in formulating funding proposals based on advocacy work, goals and targets
• Tracking the implementation rate of the Advocacy project goals
• Feeding back key advocacy achievements to other Working Groups in the General Coordination meetings and focal points in Open Assemblies
• Maintaining close collaboration and open communication with Field and Research & Investigations Working Groups to ensure harmonious and cohesive outputs
• If or when needed, supporting/filling in gaps in general BVMN admin e.g. recruitment, email updates, sending out links for Open Assemblies and General Coordination meetingswhere necessary

Required:

• Excellent command of spoken and written English
• Ability to work independently/autonomously whilst being adaptable and reactive to rapidly changing situations
• Some demonstrable experience of engaging with EU institutions and legislative procedures
• Experience in coordinating and publishing advocacy reports and policy analyses
• Align with the anti-fascist, anti-racist, queerfeminist values of the Network and strive to work in a collective dynamic

Desired:

• Experience in coordination of grassroots/civil society projects, including in field-based work
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant subject (e.g. Political Science, International Relations, Social and Public Policy)
• Strong writing skills in one of the following languages: Greek, Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Arabic, French, Farsi, Turkish, German
• Experience in public speaking at conferences and events
• Experiencing liaising with journalists and the press to ensure attention to advocacy actions

What we offer:

• 800€ starting monthly salary for a 20 hour/week contract
• Flexible working hours and ample holiday time
• Strong opportunity to gain high-level advocacy experience
• Work-related travel to Brussels, Strasbourg and/or operational areas of the BVMN
• An opportunity to work in a horizontal network of over 11 partner organisations
• Opportunities for autonomous project leadership and new projects