Background

UN Women Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

Project Background

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most widespread violation of human rights worldwide, globally affecting around one in three women in her lifetime. Regional evidence suggests that a similar ratio applies in the Asia-Pacific region. Forms of VAWG may vary, and there are variations across sites, however, current available data indicates that South East Asia is the region with the highest prevalence rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) - 37% and second highest rate of IPV and non-partner sexual violence combined – 40%. The Western Pacific Region had 25% and 28% respectively, though some countries in the Pacific have rates of up to 69%. The data also showed that exposure to violence is high among 15-19 year-olds, indicating that the experience of violence often starts early in women’s relationships.[1]

The overall goal of this project is to reduce levels of VAWG in Asia and the Pacific.  The theory of change (ToC) for this goal is: If (1) an enabling legislative and policy environment in line with international standards on EVAWG, including for ending impunity and other forms of discrimination is in place and translated into action; (2) if transformative social norms, attitudes and behaviors are promoted at community and individual levels to prevent VAW; (3)  and if decision-makers across sectors are committed to invest in essential services informed by global guidelines and evidence on the costs of VAWG and its response; then (4) there will be a reduction in violence against women and girls in Asia-Pacific; because (5) violence is being prevented before it happens or re-occurs, and those experiencing violence receive quality services to recover and rebuild their lives.

The purpose of this internship is to support knowledge building, sharing and documentation efforts as well as to support the management of projects. The intern will receive overall supervision from the Programme Specialist – Ending Violence against Women (EVAW).

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­“Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence”, WHO, 2013

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Responsibilities & Learning Objectives:

Research, Knowledge Management and Documentation:

  • Provide concurrent research and documentation support for ongoing initiatives and briefing notes;
  • Conduct literature reviews (peer-reviewed and grey literature), and prepare summary of findings on; various sectoral/thematic issues related to Ending Violence Against Women;
  • Collate and organize knowledge resources and facilitate dissemination of resources;
  • Assist in preparation of knowledge resources, communications and background material for internal and external use, including fact sheets on thematic issues;
  • Review and edit submitted knowledge products such as narrative reports, research reports, evaluation reports etc. for projects on Ending Violence against Women.

Project Management Support:

  • Facilitate data and information collection in close collaboration with the EVAW Programme Manager pertaining to ongoing projects;
  • Assist in day to day management, documentation and reporting on project activities;
  • Provide technical and logistical support for organizing workshops, meetings and consultations with relevant stakeholders;
  • Participate in various meetings with UN Women, with partners and other stakeholders and prepare notes/meeting minutes;
  • Update EVAW Unit Database for consultants.

Deliverables:

  • Undertake ongoing research and process documentation for the Unit, including research reports, briefing notes and programme narratives;
  • Knowledge Resources and communications material including for websites and social media developed;
  • Update database for Knowledge resources and partners;
  • Provide support for organising trainings/events/meetings.

Learning Elements Required as a Part of the Internship:

  • Increased understanding of UN Women’s work and the UN system;
  • Increased substantive knowledge of Violence Against Women in the Asia Pacific Region;
  • Increased knowledge related to programme implementation, documentation and management;
  • Meeting and networking with UN Women colleagues in other units;
  • Work as a team member in a multicultural setting.

Competencies

Functional Competency:

  • Strong commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women, with demonstrated experience of researching or working on violence against women;
  • Strong research and writing skills, with strong analytical skills and creative thinking;
  • Ability to think and work logically and work precisely with attention to detail;
  • Initiative, sound judgment and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with staff members of different national and cultural backgrounds;
  • Previous work experience (also volunteer experience) from the non-profit sector is an advantage.

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

Integrity:

  • Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

  • Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Respect for diversity:

  • Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
  • Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Core Competencies:

Accountability:

  • Held colleagues and team members accountable for planned goals and competency standards;
  • Practiced giving and receiving constructive feedback.

Client Orientation:

  • Proactively informed clients, preventing loss of time and errors;
  • Responded to questions, resolved problems, and helped provide accurate information to clients;
  • Identified, understood, and addressed client needs.

Commitment to Learning:

  • Learned about agency, its processes, structure, challenges, and environment;
  • Contributed to knowledge sharing.

Communication:

  • Produced communication products (written and oral)
  • Interpreted key messages for and from clients with cultural sensitivity

Planning and Organizing:

  • Developed work plans;
  • Implemented activities in a timely manner, met deadlines.

Teambuilding:

  • Coordinated work and roles with other team members;
  • Supported goals of the team;
  • Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • The intern must have studies in international development, gender studies, social sciences, or other similar subject at the university level;
  • Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
  • Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor's level or equivalent); Have graduated with a university degree and, if selected, must commence the internship within a one-year period of graduation.

Language:

  • Excellent communication skills (written and oral) in English are required; Working knowledge of another UN language a distinct advantage. 

Interns are not financially remunerated by UN Women.

Application Information:

  • UN Women will only be able to respond to those applications in which there is further interest;
  • Selected applicants must provide the internship application, two letters of recommendation, proof of health insurance and school enrollment, passport, and visa (if applicable).

Note:

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.

UN Women Internship Policy:

Applicants to the United Nations internship programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:

  • Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
  • Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent); 
  • Have graduated with a university degree (as (b) above) and, if selected, must commence the internship within one year.  
  • UN Women internship programme does not provide a salary or remuneration for the internship; 
  • All the expenses connected with the internship will be borne by the intern, sponsoring Government or institution; 
  • UN Women accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship; 
  • The intern is responsible for obtaining necessary visas and arranging travel to and from the duty station where the internship will be performed; 
  • The intern must provide proof of enrollment in a health insurance plan, proof of school enrollment, a scanned copy of his/her passport, two letters of recommendation, and application.