IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Opens Selection Process for the Executive Secretary Position
September 25, 2020
Announcement Number: EO/30/20
IACHR Press Office
[email protected]
Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announced that it is now receiving applications for the competitive process to select the person who will lead the IACHR Executive Secretariat, as was first announced on September 17, 2020. The IACHR Executive Secretary is an official of the General Secretariat of the OAS (GS/OAS) who is selected by the IACHR and appointed by the OAS Secretary General. As a consequence, they are subject to the rules and regulations of the GS/OAS and the Statute and Rules of Procedure of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The person occupying this position reports to and works in coordination with the IACHR and is based at the OAS headquarters in Washington, DC.
The process for selecting the Executive Secretary will follow the procedures set out in Article 11 of the IACHR Rules of Procedure. Applications will be received from September 25, 2020, through November 8, 2020, through an online system. On December 3, 2020, the IACHR will select a group of three to five finalists. On December 5, 2020, the names and resumes of these finalists will be published on the IACHR website to enable OAS member states and civil society to submit observations regarding their candidacies.
The finalists will be asked to send two short videos of up to 2 minutes each to be published on the IACHR website and social media channels in which they explain the experience that makes them suitable for the position and their proposed course of action should they be elected as the new Executive Secretary. After observations have been received from states and civil society, the finalists will be interviewed in person by the plenary of the IACHR in February 2021, at a date and place to be determined depending on health and safety conditions.
The IACHR will select the most qualified candidate and submit their name to the Secretary General, proposing that they be appointed for a four-year term in office that may be renewed just once, in accordance with Article 21 of the IACHR Statute and Article 11 of its Rules of Procedure. The chosen candidate will take up the position on March 16, 2021.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
No. 233/20