Job Opportunity at Asylum Access, Volunteer Legal Advocates
Location
Other Dar es Salaam District Dar Es Salaam
Description
Volunteer Legal Advocates Needed for Asylum Access Tanzania (AATZ)
Asylum Access is an innovative non-profit founded to make refugee rights a reality in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Asylum Access envisions a world in which refugees live safely, move freely, attend school, work and rebuild their lives. Asylum Access believes that when refugees enjoy their human rights they can access effective, lasting solutions.
We build transformative rights-based approaches to refugee response. These rights-based approaches include policy advocacy, strategic litigation, legal services, and community legal empowerment programs. We deploy these approaches in our five countries of operation: Thailand, Malaysia, Tanzania, Ecuador and Mexico.
Position Description
Asylum Access Tanzania seeks applications from well-prepared candidates with impeccable writing skills and a passion for social justice for the position of Volunteer Legal Advocate (VLA). VLAs must commit to at least six months of volunteer service in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Following an intensive training program in international and domestic refugee law and response, VLAs are given the opportunity to engage with asylum law in the Tanzanian administrative system, help refugees assert their full scope of rights, train refugee community leaders and participate in local, regional, and international policy advocacy.
About the Program
In addition to working directly with refugees, VLAs receive over 30 hours of training on refugee law and practice and at least 24 hours of one-on-one mentoring from a refugee rights advocate. To enhance each VLAs experience and promote continuous learning, VLAs participate in regular debriefing sessions that help volunteers to process their experience.
After working with Asylum Access Tanzania, VLAs are connected with an ever-growing global network of refugee legal advocates, policy professionals, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit leaders. The network continuously circulates job openings, research opportunities, refugee news, and more.
Specific VLA duties will depend upon the position. All Volunteer Legal Advocates (VLAs) take an active role in executing one or more of Asylum Access’ four advocacy tools:
Legal Services: Providing legal counsel, advice and/or advocacy on behalf of refugees seeking asylum or the assertion of other legal rights.
Community Outreach: Facilitating community educational activities that promote grassroots refugee empowerment and train refugee community leaders to build the movement from within.
Strategic Litigation: Supporting landmark refugee cases before national and international courts, through research, report writing, and legal strategizing. The Strategic Litigation tool focuses on winning high-impact cases to set new precedent for improved jurisprudence and the respect of refugee rights in future cases.
Policy Advocacy: Advocating for national, regional, and interaction policy change or policy enforcement. May involve engaging with local government and UN leaders on refugee policy issues.
Though each VLA will focus their work on a specific tool, the Asylum Access model requires that all tools be integrated to fully realize refugee rights. Therefore, all VLAs should expect their job responsibilities to overlap with all of the tools. This also ensures VLAs gain comprehensive insight and experience in the refugee rights field.Asylum Access’ Tanzania office fosters a collaborative team environment, to which all VLAs will contribute.
Volunteer Legal Services Position Responsibilities:
Duties may include but not limited to:
Advise refugee clients on the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process and assist them to understand their rightsConduct client intake and screening interviews, assess needs, and determine appropriate next stepsManage RSD caseload diligently and communicate updates with clientsOccasional travel to offices other than your station depending on client demandDevelop unique and innovative legal tactics to assist clients with non-RSD legal needs, including assistance to assert rights to employment, security, education and social servicesDevelop legal and client resources through research on “country of origin” research and refugee law and protocols
Preferred Qualifications
A Bachelor of Laws, JD or equivalent is preferred for Volunteer Legal Advocate PositionPublic policy, International Relations, or International Development degrees will also be considered and sometimes preferred for policy advocacy and community outreach positionsCommunity organizing experience (Depending on years of experience, can override degree requirement for community outreach positions)Demonstrated academic or professional background in human rights is strongly desired
Required Qualifications:
Interest in international human rights and/or refugee rights and/or related topicsAbility to work with diverse individuals and groups. Candidate should be culturally sensitiveBasic working knowledge of Gmail, Google Drive, MS Office and related tools (Docs, Sheets, etc.)Ability to commit to 6 months of full-time work. Candidates with ability to provide 1 - year commitment will be preferred