Vacancy for Human Rights Trainee (Rule of Law, Human Rights and Democracy) – ENNHRI
About ENNHRI and the position
ENNHRI is looking for a Human Rights Trainee (Rule of Law, Human Rights, and Democracy) to join our team for six months, starting from mid-February 2026.
ENNHRI is the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions. We bring together 51 member National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) across Europe to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights in the region. Our network provides a platform for collaboration and solidarity in addressing human rights challenges and a common voice for NHRIs at the European level.
At ENNHRI, we work to:
- Strengthen NHRIs by facilitating the exchange of information and good practices and organising capacity-building activities for NHRIs to address human rights and rule of law.
- Support NHRIs with their compliance with the UN Paris Principles during their establishment, accreditation and when they come under threat.
- Connect NHRIs to European institutions by facilitating their engagement with regional mechanisms, raising their visibility and intervening on regional legal and policy developments
We are an international not-for-profit association under Belgian law with a Permanent Secretariat based in Brussels.
We are looking for a Human Rights Trainee (focus on rule of law, human rights, and democracy) to join our team for six months, starting from mid-February 2026. The candidates will play an important role in ENNHRI’s daily work and will be a part of our Human Rights Team.
To apply, please fill out an application form and attach your CV in PDF format (max. 2 pages, in English). Deadline: 5 December 2025 (23:59 CET).
Main duties and tasks
Indicative areas of work of the trainees would include:
- Providing support to ENNHRI’s work in relation to its second outcome of ENNHRI’s strategic plan, including support on:
- Contributing to ENNHRI’s annual Rule of Law Reports, including research, drafting and coordination with ENNHRI members
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- Assisting ENNHRI’s legal work, including analysis of regional human rights standards, drafting of legal briefs, support to third-party interventions, and contributions to the monitoring and implementation of regional human rights conventions.
- Supporting ENNHRI’s thematic work on key human rights issues, including but not limited to securitization and migration.
- Supporting NHRIs and ENNHRI’s participation in and effective contribution to regional human rights mechanisms including by providing support to ENNHRI’s work in relation to rule of law and democracy.
Indicative tasks include:
- Conducting background research; drafting of papers, reports and other written materials; collecting, compiling and analysing information; contributing to the ENNHRI’s on-line tools;
- Monitoring relevant EU and European developments and policy and advocacy work in the field of human rights in Europe;
- Where appropriate, representing ENNHRI and attending (online) meetings with NHRIs and a wide range of European actors;
- Supporting preparation of online and in-person meetings;
- Drafting content for newsletters, website, and social media;
- General administrative tasks including contact and database management, information requests and other membership-related activities.
Required criteria
- Undergraduate or graduate degree in law, political science or a relevant field;
- Sound knowledge of human rights and the related legal and policy frameworks in Europe;
- Demonstrated interest in working with and understanding NHRIs in Europe;
- Excellent research and drafting skills: initial experience conducting research on human rights and drafting articles, reports, statements, etc.
- Professional working level of English;
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
- Excellent organisational skills;
- Ability to work both in a team and on own initiative.
Desirable criteria
- Experience or sound knowledge of the work of NHRIs in Europe;
- Experience working for a membership organisation;
- Experience working in an international environment;
- Experience organising meetings, events, web-meetings and webinars;
- Additional language skills.
Terms of employment
The traineeship will be offered for six months, starting from mid-February 2026. The traineeship is full-time and will be carried out at the ENNHRI Secretariat office in Brussels, where a teleworking policy applies.
ENNHRI will provide the candidate with a Belgian traineeship contract (Convention d’immersion professionelle) with a remuneration of € 1550 / month, and monthly STIB (public transport) pass.
At this point, due to stringent Belgian legislation, only candidates that have right to work in Belgium can be considered for this traineeship.
Application procedure
To apply, please fill out an application form and attach your CV in PDF format (max. 2 pages, in English).
Deadline: 5 December 2025 (23:59 CET). Please note that applications after this deadline will not be considered. Interviews and a written assignment will be held online in December.
ENNHRI strongly encourages you not to use AI tools to develop responses to the application form. Through the written application, we would like to ascertain candidates’ unique perspectives and voice. Therefore, we intend only to consider candidates who provide their own, original application suited to this specific post at ENNHRI. Equally, ENNHRI does not use AI in reviewing applications.
Contact
ENNHRI is an equal opportunity employer. Should you have any additional questions, you may contact Edyta Tuta-Lorenz at edyta.tuta-lorenz@ennhri.org and Oleksandra Zub at oleksandra.zub@ennhri.org.
Contact
For more information about the vacancy, contact:
Edyta Tuta-LorenzÂ
Senior Human Rights Officer
Oleksandra ZubÂ
Advisor
