[hr-education] 2001 NEWW Legal Fellowship Programme

NETWORK OF EAST-WEST WOMEN

2001 NEWW LEGAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Overview

The Network of East-West Women (NEWW), an international women's advocacy
organization, announces the 2001 Legal Fellowship Program for recently
graduated women attorneys from Central and Eastern Europe, the Newly
Independent States and the Russian Federation (CEE/NIS/RF) interested in
pursuing a career in women's human rights advocacy in CEE/NIS/RF.  The
Fellowship Program is one component of NEWW's current legal advocacy and
public policy programs aimed at articulating and enforcing laws and
policies that strengthen women's legal status in their respective
countries.  The Legal Fellowship Program is supported by the Ford
Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Jurzykowski Foundation, and
other donors.

The goal of the Legal Fellowship Program is to help bridge the gap between
theory and practice by providing selected women attorneys from CEE/NIS/RF
the opportunity to acquire additional skills needed to work effectively on
women's rights in their own countries.  This is the fourth year of the
Program, and NEWW expects to select eight applicants for participation in
the 2001 Program.

The 2001 Program

The Legal Fellowship Program is a sixteen-month program.  The first four
months (mid-August December 2001), are spent in the U.S. where fellows
complete an intensive training experience with a human rights organization
that undertakes legal challenges and conducts policy analysis on various
women's human rights issues.  During this period fellows also participate
in a law school course on international human rights.  Every effort is
made to match each fellow with an organization that is conducting work
related to the fellows specific interest areas.  Past U.S. host NGO s
include Human Rights Watch/Women's Rights Division, International Human
Rights Law Group, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, the Battered
Women's Justice Project, Equality Now, Parliamentarians for Global Action,
and Women Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE).

The U.S. portion of the Program will be followed immediately by a one-year
follow-on project to be implemented in the fellows home country.  Each
fellow designs and fundraises for her project during her time in the U.S.  
with the support of NEWW's staff and her host organization.  The project
will be implemented with the on-going support of NEWW's staff as well as
support from the fellows NGO at home and her U.S. host organization.

Stipend

The fellowship includes travel to and from the fellowship site in the
United States, short-term medical insurance, and a stipend to cover room
and board expenses during the U.S. portion of the program.  Housing is
arranged in an international student house or similar student
accommodations.  In some cases fellows live with families in their host
city.  NEWW also provides small seed grants for fellows one-year follow-on
project.  Additional funding will be raised for the follow-on project by
each fellow in conjunction with NEWW's staff.

Application Materials
  
Applicants must submit the following materials in English:

*CV;

*Evidence of fluency in English (TOEFL or school records with English 
translation.  Do not send original documents.);

*Two letters of recommendation in English, or accompanied by English 
translations, including all current contact information for the letter's 
author.  All written recommendations will be verified in-person by local 
NEWW contacts, or via telephone by NEWW's staff;

*A personal statement that should include:
         *The applicant's particular interests within the field of women's 
rights.  The applicant should discuss in detail her work with women's 
organizations in her home country;
         *A discussion about the applicant's future plans, expectations
for this experience and/or reasons for applying to the Legal Fellowship Program;

*A signed declaration that if selected for the Program, the applicant will 
complete the entire sixteen-month Program.  Also, the applicant must 
declare that she will return home to work within her country for one full 
year at the end of the U.S. portion of the program.  No exceptions will be 
granted.

*A country briefing paper that should provide an overview of the current 
situation of women's human rights in the applicant's country.  The paper 
should discuss the various women's rights issues currently facing women in 
the applicant's country, what efforts/initiatives are presently underway
to address these issues, and what the applicant believes should be done in the 
future to address these issues.

Selection Criteria
In order to be considered for participation in this Program, the applicant 
must have the following qualifications:

*Attorney from Central and Eastern Europe, the Newly Independent States or 
the Russian Federation.

*Graduated from law studies within the last five years.

*Demonstrated commitment to women's human rights advocacy.

*Currently working with an established women's NGO in the applicant's 
country that is committed to supporting the fellow s follow-on project.

All applicants meeting the above criteria will be given serious 
consideration.  The international selection committee consists of NEWW 
Executive Director Erin Barclay, an attorney, members of the Board of 
Directors, and former NEWW legal fellows.  Applications will be carefully 
reviewed by the entire committee.  Following review by the committee, 
between fifteen and twenty applicants will be selected for in-person in 
March/April 2001.  Final selections will be made by the end of April 2001.

Time Table
  Application Deadline:  March 15, 2001
  In-Person Interviews:  to be completed by April 15, 2001
  Notification:   May 1, 2001
  Program Starts:  August 1, 2001
  Program Ends:   December 16, 2001

Completed application packets should be sent by email to 
ebarclay@neww.org.  If email is not possible, please send the complete 
application packet by regular mail to Erin Barclay, Executive Director, 
Network of East-West Women, 1761 S Street., N.W., Suite LL-12, Washington, 
D.C. 20009.  Please advise Erin Barclay by email when the application has 
been posted by regular mail.

For more information about the Network of East-West Women, see our web page 
at http://www.neww.org.




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