SweFOR is looking for an Advocacy Coordinator for our international accompaniment programme in Latin America

Would you like to work with protection human rights defenders in Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico? Do you have experience in advocacy with national authorities and international human rights promotion and protection organisations, networking, and knowledge of the situation of human rights defenders in the region? Apply for the position of programme advocacy coordinator in Colombia by 12 January 2026 at the latest!

The Swedish Fellowship of Reconciliation (SweFOR) is a Swedish non-violent, ecumenical organisation founded in 1919 that works for peace and justice. SweFOR promotes a culture of peace and non-violence around the world, encouraging peaceful conflict resolution and respect for human rights and international humanitarian law.

Our international accompaniment programme Servicio de Paz, aims to bring protection and expand the scope of action for human rights defenders with offices in three Latin American countries: Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico (Chiapas).  Our main working method is comprehensive international accompaniment, through preventive presence or physical accompaniment, advocacy with legal duty bearers and other relevant actors, strategic communication, and strengthening the capacities of the organisations we accompany in non-violent and differentiated self-protection. Due to the nature of our mandate, it is important that the people we employ are not citizens of the country where they work.

Role description:

The advocacy coordinator for SweFOR’s peace service programme is responsible for developing and coordinating partnerships, programme networks and political advocacy actions to preserve and expand SweFOR’s capacity for dialogue and action at national, regional and international levels, with the aim of generating political costs for attacks on human rights defenders and expanding their scope for action.

The position involves working at the overall programme level, targeting regional and international target groups, leading the project’s advocacy actions in Colombia and providing strategic support to colleagues in Mexico and Guatemala who work in advocacy.

Main tasks:

• Support ongoing monitoring of the political, institutional and human rights context in Colombia and Latin America.
• Identify opportunities and windows of advocacy relevant to the project in Colombia.
• Facilitate spaces for dialogue and coordination between accompanied organisations and legal duty bearers and other relevant actors with a focus on Colombia.
• Develop and maintain strategic relationships with embassies, diplomatic missions, international organisations, human rights mechanisms and international advocacy networks.
• Assess the political and security impacts of advocacy actions.
• Together with territorial teams and accompanied organisations, design and coordinate political advocacy actions and dialogue with state actors at the national and territorial levels to help position concerns related to the protection of human rights defenders.
• Identify, develop and maintain relevant alliances and networks for strategic communication linked to the advocacy of the Programme and the project in Colombia.
• Prepare information/support material for advocacy actions targeting groups in Sweden, Europe and the US and, when necessary, participate in meetings with SweFOR members.
• Plan, implement, document, monitor and report on advocacy and political support actions in Colombia.

Requirements:

• Share SweFOR’s values of peace, justice and building a society free from violence
• University degree in social sciences or related fields (political science, law, international relations, etc.).
• Proven experience in advocacy work with national authorities and international human rights promotion and protection organisations in one of the programme countries, particularly Colombia
• Excellent interpersonal skills for establishing and developing strategic alliances and contacts
• Knowledge of international human rights law, both the universal and inter-American systems, and international humanitarian law
• Knowledge and experience with the Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
• Experience working with human rights defenders and a strong sensitivity and commitment to the situation they face.
• Ability to work with diverse groups.
• Spoken and written languages: C1 level in Spanish and English.

Meriting:

• Experience in protection, particularly protection through presence and/or international accompaniment
• Experience in strategic development work

Other requirements:

• Given the focus, mandate and type of work, only one non-Colombian person will be hired.
• Ability to work flexible hours, including weekends, and availability for travel based on the needs of the programme.

Conditions and duration of contract:

The contract is full-time and runs until 31 October 2026, with the possibility of renewal subject to funding. It is desirable to start as soon as possible. SweFOR is undergoing internal changes, so responsibilities and duties may be subject to change.

Application:

Please send your application in Spanish (cover letter and CV, including two work references) to rekrytering@krf.se by 12 January 2026 at the latest, with the subject line “programme advocacy coordinator”. Only applications that meet the requirements will be processed, and only those who move on to the next stage of the selection process will be contacted.