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Job Title:  Programme Officer, Strategic Litigation (2 Jobs)    

Organization: Center for Health, Human Rights & Development (CEHURD)

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Program Manager, Strategic Litigation

About US:

Center for Health, Human Rights & Development (CEHURD) is an indigenous, non-profit, research and advocacy organization, whose vision is “To realize social justice in public health systems.” CEHURD works with public, private and civil society organisations to ensure that public health laws are used as principle tools for the promotion and protection of public health of the vulnerable populations in Uganda.

Job Summary: The Programme Officer is responsible for effective, efficient and impactful programme implementation in line with CEHURD’s strategic plan, policies and procedures. They support programme development working in collaboration with other key departments. The job holder provides technical support to staff and key stakeholders for smooth design, implementation and reporting of programme activities and results. They contribute to learning and strategic communication aimed at institutional growth and development. The Officer represents CEHURD in relevant spaces, builds and strengthens partnerships aimed at consolidating organisational visibility, credibility, sustainability and positioning in the area of its mandate.

The job holder will be responsible for advancing access to social justice in health to CEHURD’s target constituencies through strategic litigation, legal review, research, Legal aid and advocacy initiatives.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Litigation (30%)

• Develop and implement strategic litigation plans aligned with CEHURD’s mission and objectives. Identify and select legal cases that have the potential to advance health rights and contribute to
• broader advocacy goals.
• Conduct legal research and analysis to support litigation and advocacy efforts
• Build and sustain a network of legal experts that contribute to CEHURD’s strategic litigation agenda.
• Prepare legal documents, including complaints, briefs, and other court submissions, ensuring accuracy and adherence to legal standards.
• Make court appearances and diligently follow up on court and related processes. Advocate for implementation of court judgements

Legal Aid provision (20%)

• Conduct inquiries into alleged human rights violations, gathering evidence, and documenting cases of abuse.
• Gather evidence and conduct legal research to inform any possible litigation cases or policy review processes.
• Provide legal support to victims of human rights abuses, including advice on legal recourse and representation in court proceedings.
• Investigate and file strategic cases tackling issues and legal barriers affecting Key Populations, People Living with HIV and Other Vulnerable Populations.
• Draw up legal documents for the purposes of protecting the rights and interests of the clients and/or presenting their cases before any judicial or quasi-judicial body.
• Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for the purposes of explaining the law to clients
• Spearhead mobile legal aid camps at subcounty, district and sub-national level for most at risk populations, People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and other priority populations.
• Establish and sustain a national network of legal aid service providers both public and private practice with knowledge and capacity to provide legal support services to risk populations, PLHIVs and other priority populations.
• Support community actors (expert clients, paralegals, stigma and discrimination monitors and peer groups) at local and district levels in prioritised locations.
• Provide legal representation in courts of law to legal aid clients.
• Advise clients on all legal issues, especially those related to the protection and realization of their health and human rights.
• Conduct periodic clients meetings to advise them on the progress of their cases. Keep documentation and an updated database of legal aid cases.
• Establish and maintain an online and physical filing system for legal aid cases.
• Undertake appropriate referrals, maintain a record and feedback mechanism of the referrals from network of legal aid service providers and maintain an updated database of referral network.
• Represent clients in all legal proceedings, including but not limited to arbitrations, negotiation, settlement meetings, court proceedings, and other legal forums.

Programme leadership and implementation (20%)

• Implement programme workplans and budgets in line with the relevant strategic objective(s) of CEHURD.
• Develop interventions that contribute to strategic litigation and legal aid while recognizing the intersectionality across technical areas of CEHURD.
• Nurture innovations, approaches and models for programme and institutional growth.
• Position CEHURD within relevant local, sub national, national, regional and global spaces.
• Support project staff, interns and volunteers under the department and other CEHURD staff to understand programme commitment and contribute to the realization of set results.
• Contribute to resource mobilization to a tune of not less than 30% of your total budget. Contribute towards ensuring timely, quality, and accurate Programme reporting.
• Document all stages of the litigation process, maintain accurate records, and prepare regular reports for internal and external stakeholders.
• Manage the budget allocated for strategic litigation activities, ensuring efficient and effective use of resources.
• Collaborate with the Monitoring and Evaluation team to establish indicators and mechanisms for tracking the impact of strategic litigation.
• Take active participation in CEHURD planning, review and learning activities.

Project Management (10%)

• Manage projects assigned in line with the Programme strategic objective (s) and CEHURD strategic plan.
• Prepare project reports as required by the donor in accordance with approved templates.
• Work with project staff and partners (where applicable) to develop workplans and budgets for the assigned projects.
• Where applicable, review partner reports, provide them with timely feedback and prepare consolidated reports for submission to the donor.
• Co-ordinate and / or implement project activities in line with approved plans and budgets.
• In conjunction with the Project Accountant, review monthly financial tracking reports to ensure their accuracy.
• Liaise with M&E Office to ensure compliance with all project M&E requirements including partner obligations.
• Enter project data into the institutional information and management system (database).
• Monitor expenditures on project budgets to ensure compliance to donor and institutional requirements.
• In conjunction with the procurement team, prepare and implement the respective project procurement plan.
• Maintain electronic and paper filing systems up to date for the designated project. Identify and escalate project related matters to management.
• Identify gaps and areas for future programme development arising from project implementation and learnings.
• Undertake smooth project close out in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

Advocacy (5%)

• Spearhead engagements and capacity development sessions with accredited court mediators to improve access to justice for Key Populations (KPs), People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and Other Vulnerable Populations (OVPs).
• Conduct Trainer of Trainers’ (TOTs) for paralegals, para social workers and peer leaders on patient rights, Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA), human rights principles, mechanisms for redress and responsibilities, safety and security.
• Collaboratively work with the District Human Rights Committees to address human rights barriers at district level through quarterly District Human Rights Committee (DHC) meetings and semester dialogues.
• Facilitate engagements with health workers, parasocial workers, Civil Society Organization (CSO) leaders at regional levels to re-in force non-discriminatory service provision.
• Integrate strategic litigation efforts with broader advocacy and community empowerment initiatives to amplify the impact and create synergies with other programs.
• Coordinate with relevant stakeholders, including affected communities, legal partners, and advocacy groups, to build support for litigation efforts.
• Design and operationalize innovative public and community engagement initiatives that promote access to justice including legal aid camps, media outreach, awareness and feedback campaigns.

Capacity Building and Technical Support (5%)

• Provide and/or coordinate technical support to CEHURD’s stakeholders to enhance understanding of legal processes and health rights.
• Develop and implement technical assistant packages for strategic litigation such as training manuals, facilitators guides and evaluation tools.

Learning and communications (5%)

• Document and disseminate best practices and lessons from the projects including success stories in line with donor requirements, CEHURD communication strategy and guidelines.
• Collaborate with CEHURD communications team to regularly produce strategic communication through articles, blogs, tweets, photos, or interviews.
• Attend relevant conferences and present papers/workshops
• Stay abreast of legal developments, precedents, and judgments related to health rights, integrating this knowledge into ongoing and future litigation strategies.
• Evaluate the impact of strategic litigation efforts on health policies, laws, and practices, and use findings to refine future strategies.

Networking and representation (5%)

• Build/ strengthen and sustain working relationships with relevant partners that contribute towards realising access to social justice and human rights, including legal professionals and human rights organisations.
• In collaboration with relevant CEHURD departments and teams, participate in strategic spaces and platforms to uplift social justice and health rights issues for attention.
• Professional representation of CEHURD in line with institutions code of conduct, values and policies
• To undertake other duties within CEHURD as may be assigned.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Law
• Post Graduate Diploma in Law with a valid practicing certificate.
• Post graduate training in Project planning and Management, human rights, public health, social sciences, gender studies, monitoring and evaluation and related fields is an added advantage.
• Experience in strategic litigation and/ or provision legal aid services Experience in human rights work
• Advocacy, research and court experience is an added advantage Computer literate and proficient in MS office
• Good oral and written communication skills.
• Proficiency in multiple Ugandan languages is an added advantage
• Willingness and ability to travel frequently to project sites and work in remote or rural areas.

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send their applications clearly indicating the position/title to the Human Resource and Administration manager via email only to support@cehurd.org

Deadline: 30th April 2024

NB: Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. Women are encouraged to apply.

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