Call for the position of Coordinator for Human Rights and Solidarity

The Executive Committee (EC) hereby issues the call for the position of Coordinator for Human Rights and Solidarity at the European Students’ Union (ESU). According to ESU´s Standing Orders, the Coordinators are expected to be the responsible experts for issues that are of priority to ESU on a constant basis. 

The Coordinators have to report on their activities to the Board of ESU twice a year during the Board Meetings. Between the Board Meetings, they are accountable to the Executive Committee, which has to make sure that their activities follow the Plan of Work. 

According to the Standing Orders, point 9.1, the mandate of a Coordinator is described in the call issued by the Executive Committee and shall not be longer than two years. The Executive Committee hereby opens a call with a mandate of the Coordinator for Human Rights and Solidarity lasting for 6 months from January 1st 2021 to June 30th 2021. 

According to the point 9.1 of ESU’s Standing Orders, the Coordinator for Human Rights and Solidarity shall: 

• Provide support when answering solidarity requests in cooperation with the EC
• Work on the promotion of the Students’ Rights Charter and prepare ESU’s actions for the International Students’ Day 
• Develop policy content and represent ESU in other topics pertaining to the field of Human Rights according to what the EC mandates them to. 

According to the ESU’s Plan of Work January-June 2021 the following tasks fall under the responsibility of the Coordinator: 

• Coordinating solidarity requests. 
• Working on developing policy for the Students’ Rights Charter together with ESU’s Task Force. 
• Providing information and expertise for enhancing advocacy on the topic of inclusion of people with migrant and refugee background in Higher Education. 
• Representing ESU in topics pertaining to the field of Human Rights 
• Ensuring that all ESU activities are of a high ethical standard according to human rights. 
• Sharing information and creating shared working spaces to support national students’ unions interested in the creation of local/regional Students at Risk schemes.
• For more information on the working areas as decided by ESU’s Board, candidates are welcome to take a reference of ESU’s Human Rights and Solidarity Strategy, the Students’ Rights Charter, ESU’s Refugees Welcome Publication, TMF’s Project Portfolios and ESU’s 2019/2020 Plan of work and ESU’s Plan of Work January-June 2021.

Candidates are expected to have a genuine interest in contributing to the development of the European Students’ Union on this field and have the appropriate knowledge, experience and capacity for carrying out the mandate and tasks as outlined above.

ESU Coordinators are entitled to receive a monthly allowance of 400 EUR. All expenses related to coordinators performing their duties (like attending internal ESU events, going for external representation) will be covered by ESU in accordance with internal ESU rules (Financial Standing Orders, rules of Procedure). 

In addition to specific knowledge while taking into account the nature of the Organisation and its working culture, it is important, that the applicants are aware of following competences required to perform successfully in this position: 

• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines, 
• Ability to work as an active, reliable team-member on multiple tasks simultaneously, 
• Ability to work and communicate effectively as part of a multicultural team,
• Ability to deliver oral and written presentations on this policy area, 
• Ability to work independently and mostly through online channels, 
• Good spoken and written English language skills. 

Being a Coordinator in ESU entails a considerable commitment, both in terms of time and workload. This position requires a dedication of at least 20-25 hours per week on ESU related work including responding to online communication regularly. The person is expected to work from home, but be available for frequent travel. It is required that the written motivation of the applicant reflects the experience in response to the above-mentioned criteria. 

In case of being selected, the coordinator must be available to attend the physical handover with the entire team or in the online format, in case of lack of travelling possibilities due to the restrictions caused by COVID-19. The handover will take place between the 14th and 18th of December 2020. Availability during all days is required.

Selection procedure: 

The selection procedure has to be described according to the internal motion 9dxvii passed at BM70 in Bergen. 

According to the Standing Orders, point 9.2, the Coordinators are selected by the Executive Committee. The EC will put up a selection committee consisting of current and incoming members of the Executive Committee (EC). When composing a selection committee, the EC should ensure regionally and gender balanced composition, as well as expertise of the members. The committees are agreed by the EC on proposals of the Presidency. 

The committee will evaluate the applications according to the criteria described in this call, and organise Skype interviews with the candidates. Interviews will be conducted by the selection committee. After the interview, the notes of the interview must be made available to the Executive Committee. If needed, the Executive Committee can request to conduct additional interviews for clarifications or ask to fulfill tasks in order to examine the competences of the applicants. 

The selection committee after the evaluation of the application documents and the interviews, and if needed, additional interviews and/or tasks, makes a recommendation to the Executive Committee: 

1) To select one of the candidates; 

2) To select none of the candidates and reopen the call; 

3) To choose between the candidates evaluated as being equally strong by the selection committee. These might be all or only some of the applicants. 

The Executive Committee members are able to vote in favour or against for the recommendation made by the selection committee, or abstain. In case there has been a recommendation for one candidate, which has been refused by the EC, the EC can decide to vote for another candidate or to reopen the call. In case none of the candidates has been recommended by the selection committee, but the EC votes against reopening the call, the EC shall select one of the candidates. 

In case where the selection committee makes equally strong recommendation to some or all of the candidates, the Executive Committee members are able to vote in favour of one of the recommended candidates, against all of the recommended candidates or abstain in the decision – if none of the candidates is selected here, the call will be reopened. After the selection is finalised, the EC is informing the candidates, if they have been selected, and the Board will be informed by a report about the selection (requirement according to the IM 9dxvii BM70) as well as the documents will be made public to the Board at this point of time 

(requirement IM BM 70), in order to prevent pressure on candidates and decision making bodies at an earlier stage. 

Selection criteria: 

• Knowledge and experience in the area of human and students’ rights and in the student movement, 
• Ability to demonstrate ideas for developing the position and work it entails,
• Ability to work as an active and reliable team-member on multiple tasks,
• Ability to work independently, 
• Ability to deliver oral and written presentations on the policy area, 
• Good spoken and written English language skills. 

Application procedure: 

Candidates are required to send: 

• Their Curriculum Vitae 
• Their Motivation Letter 
• A nomination letter from one of the ESU member organisation (including associates) will be looked upon favourably. 

According to the Internal motion 9dxvii passed by the Board at BM70 in Bergen, in order to increase the transparency, the documents involved in the selection process will be made accessible to the ESU Board after the selection process is concluded. 

Applications must be submitted in writing to the ESU Executive Committee. Therefore candidates shall send their full application by email to ec@esu-online.org or hand it personally to the ESU secretariat. The deadline for submitting applications is the 22nd of November 2020, 23:59 CEST. The applicants should be available for a Zoom interview in the last week of November 2020. 

In case the applicants are applying before the deadline, they can also be called for an interview before the closing of the deadline. We suggest the applicants apply as early as possible so the selection process can go as quick as possible. Should any explanation or further details be needed, please feel free to contact us on hacks@esu-online.org 

Download the PDF version of the call on this link.