Independent United Nations Experts Of The Human Rights Council, With Extensive Professional Experience In Human Rights At UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Secretariat of the Human Rights Council is now accepting applications for the following vacancies:

1. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, member from Africa

2. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, member from North America

3. Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order*

4. Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Mali*

5. Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence*

6. Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association

7. Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination, member from African States

* The appointment of this mandate holder will be made provided the mandate itself is extended by the Human Rights Council.

These unremunerated United Nations expert positions established by the Human Rights Council are expected to be filled at the Council’s 55th session (26 February – 5 April 2024), with the appointments to be made at the end of that session. Individuals seeking appointment should have extensive recognized professional experience and expertise in the field of human rights, with an emphasis on the particular human rights issues to which the positions relate.

The “special procedures” of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. Special procedures are either an individual (called “Special Rapporteur” or “Independent Expert”) or a working group composed of five members, one from each of the five United Nations regional groups: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and the Western European and other group. These experts are appointed by and report to the Human Rights Council.

Candidates eligible for the vacancies in Working Groups are only nationals of States belonging to the specific regional groups for which specific vacancies have been advertised. Please refer to the list of the United Nations regional groups of Member States at https://www.un.org/dgacm/content/regional-groups.

Members of expert mechanisms are selected and appointed by the Human Rights Council in the same way as special procedure mandate holders. For members of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), candidates need to represent one of the indigenous sociocultural regions for which vacancies have been advertised. Please see additional information on EMRIP.

The work of independent mandate holders is unpaid. Those appointed as mandate holders serve in their personal capacities. They are not United Nations staff members, they are not based in United Nations offices in Geneva or at another United Nations location, and they do not receive salary or other financial compensation, except for travel expenses and daily subsistence allowance of “experts on mission”. Their specific functions are defined in the HRC resolutions creating or extending their mandate. Candidates must be available to perform effectively the functions of the mandate and to respond to its requirements, such as participating in Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva and General Assembly sessions in New York, travelling on two country visits per year, drafting reports according to established deadlines, organizing and participating in consultations and meetings, addressing allegations of human rights violations with all concerned, providing advice to States and other stakeholders on issues related to their mandate and engaging with a variety of stakeholders. Candidates should be able to dedicate an estimated time of four to six months per year to the work of a mandate depending on its workload.