Human Rights Officer – UN OHCHR Regional Office

About the role

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Regional Office for Central America is seeking a Human Rights Officer to support the implementation and monitoring of international human rights instruments in Panama City. Reporting to the Head of the Central America Regional Office, the officer will lead early‑warning activities, emergency response, and coordination with UN and non‑governmental partners.

Key responsibilities

• Lead early‑warning and prevention efforts, including analysis, remote monitoring, and partnership development.
• Provide rapid emergency response capacity for human‑rights and humanitarian crises.
• Review, monitor and evaluate implementation of international human‑rights instruments and treaty‑body recommendations.
• Support treaty‑established bodies, special procedures and extra‑conventional mechanisms.
• Prepare human‑rights sections of reports for the General Assembly, Human Rights Council and other UN bodies.
• Integrate human‑rights and gender perspectives into UN and NGO programmes, and assist in programme design and evaluation.
• Maintain up‑to‑date information on substantive human‑rights issues and advise on appropriate actions.
• Coordinate with other UN sectors, international organisations and governments on policy and coordination matters.
• Assist partners in developing training programmes on human rights, international humanitarian law, democracy and the rule of law.
• Lead team coordination, staff planning and budgeting in consultation with the Chief of Office.
• Train and supervise junior staff and perform other related duties as required.

Required profile

• Strong knowledge of a wide range of human‑rights issues, including mainstreaming, prevention and gender dimensions.
• Familiarity with institutional mandates, policies and procedures of human‑rights organisations.
• Understanding of the Central American regional context.
• Ability to evaluate and integrate information from diverse sources and assess impact.

Required skills