| Position: | Project Coordinator | |
| Location: | Location: Brussels or working remotely from another EU country | |
| Type of contract: | Consultancy contract, 125 days over 24 months (max. daily rate 185 EUR, incl. any taxes and contributions) | |
| Duration: | Duration: 1 September 2023 – 31 August 2025 | |
| Application Deadline: | 23 June 2023 |
The European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) is looking for a part time Project Coordinator (further: Consultant) to manage and implement the project Strategic Litigation as a Gateway to address the rights of Persons with Disabilities in the European Union (LITI-GATE), with a starting date on 1 September 2023. The Consultant will have a contract with ENIL for 125 days, over the period of 24 months. A more detailed schedule will be available after the kick off meeting in September 2023, though we expect the Consultant to be available for the entire project duration. The Consultant will be based in Brussels or another EU country, with the ability to travel occasionally to meetings or events in one of the project countries. The Consultant will be responsible for paying their own taxes and social contributions, with the proof that these were paid provided to ENIL.
We are looking for an enthusiastic individual, ideally a disabled person, who is very well organised, likes to work in a team, pays attention to detail, and is great at communicating about human rights to a wide audience, including disabled people and their organisations. Some legal knowledge, or experience of strategic litigation (in any role), would be an asset.
Project description
The LITI-GATE project aims to promote enforcement of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights with strategic litigation activities to address breaches of the fundamental rights of persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities. Specifically, the project aims to:
- improve knowledge on how to conduct strategic litigation for the benefit of persons with disabilities;
- develop practical guidance on how to use EU Charter of Fundamental Rights for strategic litigation;
- build capacity of national and regional stakeholders on how to conduct strategic litigation; and
- strengthen cooperation between national and regional organisations of persons with disability (OPDs), victim support organisations and relevant EU networks to enforce the Charter for persons with disabilities victims of fundamental rights breaches.
This will be accomplished through the combined implementation, with the participation of persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, of activities to:
- develop an adaptable and practice-oriented strategic litigation guidebook as well as accessible information to access to legal and support services (WP2);
- develop and pilot an adaptable and practice-oriented training programme to build capacity of civil society organisations (including organisations of persons with disabilities and victim support organisations) and lawyers on how to use the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in strategic litigation for the benefit of persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities. The training programme will include a mentoring programme to exchange practices and obtain first-hand experience in strategic litigation cases (WP3); and
- promote multistakeholder cooperation, exchange and ownership between civil society organisations (OPDs, victim support organisations) and legal practitioners (ombudsman, lawyers, etc.), with regional events (LABs), podcasts and an international symposium (WP4-5).
The project is led by Victim Support Europe (VSE) and involves partners from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Belgium (ENIL). It is co-funded by the European Union.
1. Requirements for the job
Essential skills
- Excellent understanding of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the EU Fundamental Rights Charter and the Independent Living philosophy
- Strong project management skills (incl. budget monitoring and keeping of timesheets)
- Strong organisational skills
- Strong writing skills
- Strong communication skills
- Strong networking skills
- Computer literate
- Excellent language skills: English
Essential experience
- Experience of working in the non-profit sector (as a staff member or a volunteer)
- Experience of working on projects
- Experience of using social media
- Experience of creating podcasts
- Experience of translating information into Easy to Read
- Knowledge of accessibility standards (for documents, websites and events)
- Experience of organising in person and online events (booking venues, catering and other logistics, using Zoom, arranging interpretation)
- Ability to work independently, without much supervision
- Ability to comply with strict deadlines
Desired experience
- Familiarity with ENIL’s work
- Previous experience of working on the topics covered in the project: strategic litigation, capacity building of disabled people and their organisations, creating accessible materials for disabled people
- Previous experience of providing peer support and/or delivering training
Other
- Ability to travel occasionally within the EU (among the project countries)
2. Responsibilities
The LITI-GATE Project Coordinator will be responsible for the following:
Project management
- Representing ENIL in the LITI-GATE project, by attending project meetings and events (online and in person)
- Assisting with the organisation of events or meetings in Brussels
- Overall responsibility for the following project deliverables: International LABs, European trainings, accessible project materials, accessible strategic litigation materials, podcasts
- Budget monitoring
- Contributing to project reporting and external evaluation
- Reporting to the rest of the ENIL team and network, by attending regular online meetings for the ENIL staff and contributing to the Members’ Mailing, Newsletters and other reporting
Working on project deliverables
- Contributing to the mapping EU laws and strategic litigation practices, which are of specific relevance to disabled people, including those with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, and women, as well as to research on the relevance of the Charter for disabled people
- Contributing to the development of a training tool for legal professionals, with guidance on how to conduct strategic litigation and how to ensure support for disabled people engaged in it
- Organising an International LAB (a half-day webinar), to enable mutual learning, exchange of practices and capacity building for ongoing national and cross-border cooperation, between lawyers, civil society organisations, NGOs, DPOs., victim support organisations to address fundamental rights breaches through strategic litigation and enforcement of the EU Charter
- Contributing to International LABs organised by other partners
- Summarising findings and recommendations from the International LABs
- Organising an online regional training (a two-day event), aimed at building capacity of DPOs and disabled people on how to use the EU Charter for strategic litigation
- Dissemination of project deliverables through ENIL’s network, as well as among national authorities, lawyers, disabled people and their organisations, and on social media.
- Creating a database of contacts and e-mail lists for dissemination of project deliverables
- Creating an accessible project informational leaflet
- Providing guidance to project partners on how to design accessible strategic litigation materials for persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities and litigators, in their countries
- Creating a podcast series to increase awareness on fundamental rights breaches against disabled people
- Organising an international symposium in Brussels for project partners, international experts and NGOs, DPOs and EU authorities to launch project deliverables and raise awareness on EU Charter violations against disabled people
- Contributing to other project deliverables, as requested and time permitting
How to apply:
Please send your CV and a motivation letter (explaining how you meet the job requirements) and your daily rate to secretariat@enil.eu as soon as possible and not later than 23 June 2023. Please indicate in the subject of the email that the application is for the post of the LITI-GATE Project Coordinator. Shortlisted candidates will be notified within a week of the applications deadline and will have an online interview during the following two weeks. Disabled persons are strongly encouraged to apply for this post.
