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. UN Women envisions a world where societies are free of gender-based disScrimination, where women and men have equal opportunities, where the comprehensive economic and social development of women and girls is ensured so that they can lead the change that they want to see, where gender equality and women’s empowerment are achieved, and where women’s rights are upheld in all efforts to further development, human rights, peace and security. ESARO provides programmatic support and oversight to Multi and Country Offices (M/COs) and collaborates with regional institutions to achieve the objectives.

Unit/ Project Background:

UN Women's Knowledge Management and Research Unit at ESARO employs a systematic approach to knowledge management in order to become a learning organization which is recognized as a leading knowledge broker in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) within the region. To achieve this vision, the unit actively creates opportunities, develops and uses systems, products and approaches to support knowledge management and promote research, generation of evidence, data generation and evidenced based policy advocacy with M/COs, governments, regional economic communities, partners and stakeholders. The unit leverages on the available innovative Knowledge Management opportunities to enhance the ability of UN Women’s achievement of gender equality and empower all women and girls including full enjoyment of their human rights in the region. To do this, the unit also deploys Knowledge Management strategies in programmatic and operational work ensuring that women participate in and benefit from governance systems, and that women have improved income security, live in a world free from all forms of violence and contribute to building sustainable peace as well as being resilient in crisis. The unit has recently finalized a Knowledge Management Strategy which shall guide all related interventions for the UN Women strategic period 2022-2025. The Strategy will guide the regional knowledge management and research interventions as a critical enabler in sustaining and advancing the momentum for GEWE in the context of agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development and the Africa Union agenda 2063.

The unit is led by a Knowledge Management and Research Specialist based in Nairobi- Kenya. As part of its work, the unit, undertakes quality assurance on all knowledge products produced by UN Women in the region. It also hosts a knowledge hub which is a one stop platform for disseminating internal knowledge in the region.

As part of the wider vision of youth programming, UN Women would like to create an opportunity for learning for young scholars in university or who have just graduated. It is for this reason that we are recruiting an intern who will be trained on the various aspects of project delivery listed in the TOR.   

Duties and Responsibilities

  • Update the knowledge hub with relevant resources from the region;
  • Support the creation of a gender data subsite on the UN Women Africa website and ensure it is updated with relevant content;
  • Map out the relevant regional and global gender data and information portals and ensure they are reflected in the gender subsite created on the Africa website;
  • Support with planning and execution of related knowledge events, seminars  and dialogues;
  • Any other duties that may be assigned by the supervisor from time to time.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Increased understanding of UN Women’s work and the UN system;
  2. Learning different aspects of knowledge management and research and international environment;
  3. Increased knowledge in women’s rights and gender equality, specially on knowledge management and research;
  4. Work as a team member in a multicultural setting.

At the end of the internship, the intern should have a clear grasp of the issues of knowledge management and research, including the issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment in terms of progress, challenges and untapped opportunities.

Competencies

Core Values:

  • Respect for Diversity
  • Integrity
  • Professionalism

Core Competencies:

  • Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
  • Accountability
  • Creative Problem Solving
  • Effective Communication
  • Inclusive Collaboration
  • Stakeholder Engagement
  • Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies: , https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

  • Demonstrated skills in marketing, ICT, research, analytical and writing skills;
  • Attention to detail.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • University studies in one of the following disciplines: Social Science, Business Management, or other relevant subjects;
  • 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; or
  • Be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship program which is part of a degree programme and undertake the internship as part of the program requirements.

Language:

  • Excellent communication skills (written and oral) in English are required.

Renumeration:

Interns who are not in receipt of financial support from other sources such as universities or other institutions will receive a stipend from UN Women to partially subsidize their basic living costs for the duration of the internship.

Application Information:

  • All applicants must submit a completed and signed P.11 form with their application.
  • Due to the high volume of applications received, we can ONLY contact successful candidates.
  • Successful candidate will be required to provide proof of enrollment in a valid health insurance plan at the duty station of the internship, proof of school enrollment or degree, a scanned copy of their passport/national ID and a copy of a valid visa (as 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.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks.