Purpose of the consultancy
Protect Humanitarians and Alliance UA CSO are implementing a project with the strategic goal of developing and advocating for enhanced Duty of Care of humanitarian organizations for their humanitarian personnel in Ukraine. The legal component of this project aims at developing legislative proposals, policies, and legal studies aimed at integrating the Duty of Care into Ukrainian legislation, strengthening the knowledge of legal protections and providing access to legal information for humanitarian personnel, and developing cooperation and partnerships with stakeholders in Ukraine. To achieve this goal, we are seeking a highly qualified legal researcher.
Key Responsibilities
The legal researcher will be responsible for conducting the following activities:
- International Standards and National Legislation on Duty of Care:
- Conduct a comparative analysis of international standards on Duty of Care (e.g., Sphere Handbook, IASC MHPSS Guidelines) and their applicability to the Ukrainian context.
- Thoroughly review current Ukrainian legislation related to Duty of Care, including Ukraine’s Law on the Mental Health Care System, labour legislation, and legislation on civil protection.
- Identify gaps, conflicts, and outdated norms and laws that impede the full implementation of Duty of Care in Ukraine.
- Develop a legal study and policy proposals for enshrining Duty of Care into Ukrainian legislation.
- Legal Status and Protection of Humanitarian Personnel:
- Analyze the existing protection of humanitarian personnel under Ukrainian law, including its correlation to international humanitarian law.
- Provide a scientific justification for the necessity of a legal definition for the status of humanitarian personnel in Ukraine.
- Analyze international experience, the benefits, and risks of the recognition and protection of humanitarian personnel in domestic legislation.
- Develop proposals for enshrining the rights, duties, guarantees, and status of humanitarian personnel into Ukrainian legislation.
- Remedies, Compensation and Insurance Mechanisms
- Research legal remedies, justice and accountability mechanisms (incl. judicial and administrative mechanisms) that can be accessed following incidents involving humanitarian personnel in Ukraine.
- Research and develop a mapping of legal actors working on justice and accountability in Ukraine, including for violations against humanitarian personnel
- Research and develop a mapping of existing social and medical insurance mechanisms for death, long term invalidity, mental health and psychosocial support, … (e.g. for veterans) in Ukraine.
- Develop well-founded proposals for creating or improving compensation mechanisms and mandatory insurance systems for humanitarian personnel.
- Institutional Approaches and Interaction with other Entities:
- Analyze cooperation opportunities and mechanisms between CSOs, organizations working on justice and accountability, and particularly state services and departments that can ensure justice and accountability (Ombudsman, criminal prosecutors, …).
- Engage and coordinate with Ukrainian actors working on justice and accountability to establish cooperation opportunities.
Deliverables
- Develop a legal study and policy proposals for enshrining Duty of Care into Ukrainian legislation
- Develop a legal information brief and training materials on the protection of humanitarian personnel under Ukrainian law that includes:
- Legal status and protection of humanitarian personnel under Ukrainian law;
- Legal remedies, justice and accountability mechanisms (incl. judicial and administrative mechanisms) in Ukraine that can be accessed following incidents affecting humanitarian personnel.
- Social and medical insurance mechanisms in Ukraine that could be accessed by humanitarian personnel..
- Produce a concrete proposal for creating or improving compensation mechanisms and mandatory insurance systems for humanitarian personnel in Ukraine
- Produce a comprehensive mapping of legal actors dealing with justice, accountability, and legal remedies in Ukraine, such as civil society organizations and state actors (e.g. Ombudsman and criminal prosecutors), for referrals and cooperation in cases of violations against humanitarian personnel.
- Established contacts and cooperation with Ukrainian actors working on justice and accountability.
Supervision
The consultant will be supervised directly by the Legal Officer of Protect Humanitarians. The consultant will be hosted in the offices of the Alliance UA CSO in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Qualifications and Experience
- Education: Master of Laws degree with deep knowledge of Ukrainian labor law, criminal law, administrative law, and/or domestic human rights law. Knowledge of public administration is desired. Knowledge of international humanitarian law and international human rights law is an asset.
- Experience: Strong experience in scientific and legal research, analytical work, law-making activities and legal reform, and legal training. Experience in humanitarian affairs and law is desired.
- Skills: Ability to work with large volumes of information, analytical and critical thinking, and excellent writing skills.
- Personal Qualities: High level of self-organization, attention to detail, initiative, and responsibility.
- Additional: Experience in the humanitarian field will be a plus.
Language: Fluency in written and spoken Ukrainian and English required
How to apply
Interested applicants should submit the following:
- A detailed CV (max. 2 pages).
- A cover letter highlighting relevant experience and motivation (max. 1 page).
- A sample of your previous work related to the subject.
- A description of the approach, methodology and modalities for implementing the assignment.
- An action plan to meet the deliverables and the proposed monthly rate.
- Contact details of two professional references.
Submit applications to legal@protecthumanitarians.org a test by 30 September 2025, with the subject line: “Application: Legal Researcher on Duty of Care and Legal Protection of Humanitarian Personnel in Ukraine”. Only applicants who submit all required documents will be considered. Depending on the results of the recruitment process, it is possible that more than one consultant will be selected.
Protect Humanitarians is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from qualified individuals from diverse backgrounds and regions.