Included here are bulletin boards or compilations of listings related to international public interest work. This list is a good place to begin your job search for both internships and post-graduate opportunities. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, therefore, we encourage you to check your favorite organizations’ sites. If at any point you decide you need more general information about the international public interest law field, come to the PILC office. We have resources to assist you. Good luck!
General
ABA-Section of International Law, Human Rights Committee E-Brief,
http://www.abanet.org/dch/comadd.cfm?com=IC950000&pg=3
Weekly newsletter with organization profiles, job listings, and human rights news.
American Society of International Law, http://www.asil.org/internships-fellowships.cfm
Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), www.awid.org/jobs
Weekly listing of gender-related vacancies; often includes human rights jobs.
Communication Initiative, www.comminit.com/vacancies.html
Designed to facilitate communication among development professionals (legal and non-legal).
DevNet Jobs, www.DevNetJobs.org
Job listings in the development field, including many related to human rights.
Foreign Policy Association, www.fpa.org/jobs_contact2423/jobs_contact.htm
Weekly jobs newsletter.
Human Rights Blog, www.humanrightsblog.org/listings
Human Rights Job Board, http://www.hri.ca/jobs.aspx
Human Rights Jobs, www.humanrightsjobs.com
Some jobs open to all, others are for members only.
Human Rights Resource Center, www.hrusa.org/field/joblinks.shtm
Links to numerous job pages at NGOs and inter-governmental organizations.
Human Rights Tools, http://jobs.humanrightstools.org
Idealist (Action without Borders), www.idealist.org
Comprehensive listing of public service positions, both legal and non-legal, in over 140 countries. This is an especially good site for post-graduate job listings. Searchable by subject matter, country, type of position, and other categories.
Microfinance Gateway, www.microfinancegateway.org/content/jobs
Job listings may be non-legal, but good for people interested in development or micro-finance.
One World, http://us.oneworld.net/jobs
Pambazuka News (Africa-focused), http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/
Peacebuilding Portal, http://peacebuildingportal.org
Created by the United Nations, a database of NGOs working searchable by region, country, theme and type of organization focusing on human security, peacebuilding & conflict.
PSLawNet, www.pslawnet.org
Can search organizations, jobs, fellowships and internships (paid and unpaid) throughout the world. Has better coverage of some countries than others.
ReliefWeb, www.reliefweb.int/vacancies
Lots of field positions for mostly humanitarian and some human rights jobs.
Information on Funding International Public Interest Work
Foundation Center, www.foundationcenter.org
A wealth of information on funding agencies and foundations, including application details, program priorities and past funding. Excellent databases available for free in their libraries in several cities including New York (see website for locations), and online for subscribers.
United Nations Internship Programme, www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/sds/internsh/htm/funding.htm
Country by country links of potential resources for interning at the UN.
Finding and Funding International Public Service Opportunities, http://www.pslawnet.org/uploads/Finding-Funding_International_Opps_-_2009.pdf
Report with organization links, information on international opportunities with the federal government, and other opportunities.
Human Rights Funders Group, www.hrfunders.org
Information on foundations that support human rights group, and a searchable database.
International Jobs With the Federal Government
General resource is http://lawschool.westlaw.com Click on Job Postings, then Law Student Jobs Online, then Federal Careers for Attorneys).
Offices with high concentration of international work:
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/acda/
The agency’s legal department offers a fellowship for which law students are eligible.
Central Intelligence Agency, www.cia.gov
Law graduates are hired for the Legal Honors Program, and 2Ls for a paid summer clerkship.
Department of Defense, www.dod.gov
Law students are hired for paid summer legal internships.
Department of Homeland Security, http://www.dhs.gov/xabout/careers/
Law graduates are hired for the Honors Fellowship Program, and several internship programs are available.
Export-Import Bank of the United States, www.exim.gov
General Counsel’s office hires very small number of law students for summer internships.
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, www.ustr.gov
Overseas Private Investment Corporation, www.opic.gov
U.S. Agency for International Development, www.usaid.gov
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, www.usace.army.mil
The office hires 5-10 law graduates each year for its Civilian Honors Law Graduate Program.
U.S. Department of Justice, www.usdoj.gov
Students with international interests should consider the following DOJ constituent groups: Antitrust, Civil, Criminal, the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), Office of International Affairs and the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review.
U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov
The Office of the Legal Adviser hires law students and graduates through Early Interview Week. Some of the Department work provides overseas placement or domestic work on international issues. The office also coordinates U.S. government recruitment efforts for the UN, Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe, Organization of American States and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
U.S. International Trade Commission, www.usitc.gov
U.S. Trade and Development Agency, www.tda.gov
Offices with more limited involvement with international work:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, www.usda.gov
U.S. Department of Commerce, www.commerce.gov
Commodities Futures Trading Commission, www.cftc.gov
Congressional Research Service, www.loc.gov/crsinfo
Federal Reserve Board, www.federalreserve.gov
Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection, www.ftc.gov
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, www.nrc.gov
Securities and Exchange Commission, www.sec.gov
Office of International Affairs investigates enforcement problems, promotes cooperation among international bodies, and works on treaties. Law graduates are hired for the Advance Commitment program.
U.S. Department of Transportation, www.dot.gov
The Office of General Counsel has a small Office of International Law. The Honors Attorney Program is offered every two years for graduating law students.
U.S. Department of the Treasury, www.ustreas.gov
Coordinates U.S. recruitment efforts for the Inter-American Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Monetary Fund and World Bank.. The Office of General Counsel hires graduates for its Legal Honors Program, with the possibility of assignment to handle legal issues for the Office of International Affairs which promotes economic growth and stability.
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, www.uscirf.gov
Inter-Gevernmental Organizations
International Criminal Court, http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/Recruitment/
Preference to citizens of States parties, so Americans beware!
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, http://www.ictr.org/default.htm
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, http://www.icty.org/sections/AbouttheICTY/Employment
JPO Programs, www.jposc.org/content/programme/other_programmes-en.html
JPO programs open junior professional positions with UN agencies to nationals of specified countries. Certain governments sponsor JPO positions for their nationals, and some sponsor positions for nationals of developing nations. JPO programs for US citizens are listed at http://www.state.gov/g/prm/c25774.htm
PAE-REACT, www.paegroup.com/career-react
This is the contractor paid by the US State Department to select US citizens for seconded jobs with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
United Nations, https://jobs.un.org/Galaxy/Release3/vacancy/vacancy.aspx
Check under “Human Rights,” “Legal,” and “Humanitarian Affairs.”
For information on the competitive exam, see www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/examin/exam.htm.
UN Development Program, www.undp.org/jobs
For information on UNDP Leadership Development Program, see www.undp.org/lead.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/AboutUs/Pages/WorkStudyOpportunities.aspx
Theoretically the High Commissioner’s vacancies are all listed on the UN site, but in reality there are often jobs here that are never posted to the main site.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c48e.html
Information on external vacancies at http://www.unrefugees.org/atf/cf/%7BD2F991C5-A4FB-4767-921F-A9452B12D742%7D/employment(1).pdf
International professional roster at http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c497.html
UNICEF, www.unicef.org/employ/current.htm
General Note: field offices of different agencies are increasingly creating their own websites that may have job information as well as more specific information on staff and activities, so it is a good idea to search for these sites as well. E.g. UNHCR in Sri Lanka is www.unhcr.lk, UNIFEM’s office for East and Southeast Asia is www.unifem-eseasia.org, and the OSCE in Bosnia is www.oscebih.org
Selected U.S. Based International NGOs
American Bar Association Rule of Law Programs, http://www.abanet.org/rol/opportunities/opportunities-home.shtml
Center for International Environmental Law, www.ciel.org/Join/Join_Jobs.html
Center for Reproductive Rights, www.crlp.org/ab_employment.html#lc
Global Rights, www.globalrights.org/site/PageServer?pagename=wwcd_index_44
Human Rights First, www.humanrightsfirst.org/about_us/about_us.htm
Human Rights Watch, www.hrw.org/jobs
International Center for Transitional Justice, www.ictj.org/en/about/jobs/index.html
International Committee of the Red Cross, www.cicr.org
International Crisis Group, www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=1152&l=1
International Rescue Committee, www.theirc.org/jobs/index.html
Open Society Institute, www.soros.org/about/careers
