The FCO are recruiting - a little window dressing never goes amiss.

Human Rights Adviser

One Full-time/One Part-time

Circa £60,000 pa (pro rata for part-time slot) 24 month consultancy contract (with possibility of extension)
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is seeking to contract two London-based Human Rights Advisers to work in its Human Rights, Democracy and Governance Group. In these important roles you will provide policy advice on human rights, democracy and good governance issues and strategy; and expert support for FCO programmes and projects in these areas. We expect the part-time slot to focus on evaluation of and support for FCO-funded programmes and projects; and running and participating in FCO training programmes on human rights issues and help produce training materials. We expect the full-time slot to focus more on developing democracy, rule of law and governance work. But both roles will involve providing broader advice and expertise. And both will involve developing and maintaining contacts with other Whitehall departments, such as DfID, and a wide range of outside organisations and academic institutions working in relevant areas.

You will be expected to have extensive knowledge of relevant standards, instruments and organisations, and relevant experience of working with civil society, government and/or international institutions.

One appointment is full-time (based on 8 hours per day including meal breaks). The second appointment is part-time (24 hours per week based on 8 hours per day including meal breaks). Your appointment will be on the basis of an initial two-year contract based on standard FCO terms and conditions, with the possibility of extension thereafter. The start dates are negotiable but would be expected to begin around February 2006.

Only British citizens who have resident in the UK for at least 2 of the previous ten years, one year of which must have been a consecutive twelve-month period, will be eligible to bid for this contract.

Potential applicants for one or both roles should contact Andrew Leach for an invitation to tender and further details of the terms of reference.

Still, shouldn’t be cynical. Jack Straw does have previous for respecting human rights, just not lately. Having said that, the FCO like to give with one hand while taking with the other:

“One of the things that is done with intelligence that comes from liaison partners, obviously an assessment is made about its provenance,” said Straw.

“Because it does not follow that if it is extracted under torture, it is automatically untrue.But there is a much higher probability of it being embellished.”