CESR seeking graduate-level research intern: Summer 2013

The Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) is now seeking a dynamic graduate-level intern to assist the organization in its research projects over summer 2013. Applications will be received until Friday March 8, 2013. Information on how to apply is provided below.



Organization's mission and activities:

Established in 1993, the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) is an international NGO based in New York that works for the recognition and enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights as a tool for promoting social justice and human dignity. We seek to influence policy through an interdisciplinary approach to monitoring economic and social rights violations, integrating socio-economic analysis in advocacy efforts to make the international human rights legal framework operational. We work in collaboration with local and international NGOs, social scientists, legal and development experts, policy makers and human rights practitioners to provide tools for strengthening human rights analysis and advocacy at the local, national and international levels. 

The Center’s current work seeks to address the gaps between the legal recognition of economic and social rights and the widespread lack of compliance with them in practice and contributes to address the gaps between development and human rights in practice. Our areas of work are:

1. Human rights responses to the financial and economic crisis: challenging complacency about the ongoing impacts of the crisis, questioning the causes of the crisis, and integrating human rights into the core of crisis responses;
2. Human rights in development: building convergence between human rights and development, especially in the post-2015 MDG review process;
3. Bridging enforcement gaps: utilizing various judicial and non-judicial accountability mechanisms to ensure the implementation and enforcement of ESCR rights in practice;
4. Rights monitoring: arming social justice advocates with new methods and practical tools for exposing economic and social rights violations and demanding accountability for denials and violations of economic and social rights.

Internship specific responsibilities: 



The research carried out by the graduate-level research intern(s) will contribute substantively to the Center’s work in some mix of the areas mentioned above, depending on the interest and expertise of the candidate selected.

Qualifications:



Required

• Recently completed, or in pursuit of a law or graduate degree in a related field, especially human rights law and/or international development;
• Consistent attention to detail;
• Capacity to read, write and communicate in English;
• Strong writing and communication skills, including an ability to clearly explain complex technical issues in an accessible language and synthesize and evaluate data;
• Knowledge of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights;
• Experience in conducting research, both quantitative and qualitative;
• Capacity to work independently.

Highly desirable

• Capacity to read, write and communicate in Spanish or Arabic;
• Background knowledge on human rights monitoring methodologies;
• Background knowledge of applied macroeconomics and statistics;
• Experience with communications for social justice;
• Experience developing online resources and/or familiarity with interactive web-based or other technologies for use in social justice advocacy, such as wikis, video and audio podcasts, social networking sites, etc.
• Familiarity with resource centers and databases, especially on socio-economic and development data from various international agencies and trusted sources, such as UNSTAT, the World Bank, WHO, regional and NGO databases, Demographic and Health surveys, among others;

Hours and location: 



Summer interns generally work full-time for 2-3 months. Although we are eager to negotiate a relatively consistent schedule, the days and hours of work are flexible. We can only accept candidates which can already count on their own funding. The intern will be based at CESR’s New York office (162 Montague Street, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201).

Application procedure:

If you are interested, please send your resume and a cover letter explaining your interest and specific qualifications to internship@cesr.org. Please indicate the areas in which you are interested in working. Please send your application as soon as possible, but certainly before Friday March 8, 2013. We will accept applications on a rolling basis until positions are filled. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interviews..

Staff positions

There are currently no staff positions open. Please check back with us soon.