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 East & Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) maintains a large presence in the Eastern and Southern Africa region, covering 25 countries, with 12 Country Offices and a Programme Presence in Somalia. In accordance with the UN Women Strategic Note, and in line with the UN Women – African Union Africa Strategy, UN Women works to advance social, economic, and political rights of women and girls, including the right to live free of all forms of violence.

Ending violence against women and girls (EVAWG) remains a priority area for UN Women in East and Southern Africa, as the most widespread violation of human rights. Regional prevalence estimates of women and girls’ experiences of different forms of violence are often higher than global averages.[1] For example, the WHO 2018 prevalence estimates show that 20% of ever-married/partnered women aged 15–49 in Sub-Saharan Africa have experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) in the past 12 months, the highest compared to other regions, while 33% have experienced violence in their lifetime, which is higher than the global estimates of 27%.[2] The ESARO also focuses on women and girls in their diversity, with attention to marginalized, excluded, and underrepresented groups, including, but not limited to rural women, women with disabilities, women living with or affected by HIV, women survivors of violence, women migrants, widows, elderly women among others.

UN Women East and Southern Africa is working to improve the impact of existing programming in the region through strengthening capacities of regional actors on effective approaches for the prevention and response to violence against women and girls (VAWG), improving access to evidence and facilitating learning of what works and enhancing violence against women and girls the role of social influencers and advocates for transforming social norms in favour of gender equality. This requires deepening investments in collaborative partnerships working across multi-level and multi-sectoral programming for EVAWG across Africa.

[1] See: What we do: Ending violence against women | UN Women – Africa

[2] WHO (World Health Organization). 2021. Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates, 2018: Global, Regional and National Prevalence Estimates for Intimate Partner Violence against Women and Global and Regional Prevalence Estimates for Non-partner Sexual Violence against Women. Geneva: WHO, on behalf of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence Against Women Estimation and Data (United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, United Nations Statistics Division and UN Women).

UN Women ESARO seeks to hire an intern to support the EVAW portfolio in these efforts, working under the direct supervision of the EVAW Policy Specialist and in collaboration with the EVAW Community of Practice in East and Southern Africa.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the EVAW Unit to review/conduct violence-against women related research and analysis on advocacy efforts;
• Support the EVAW Unit in planning, organizing and documentation of the EVAW focal point retreat;
• Support the EVAW Unit in conducting a mapping of key non-traditional actors with potential to influence public beliefs around EVAW in East and Southern Africa, identifying entry points for engagement based on lessons learned from UN Women and other actors;
• Support the EVAW Unit in the planning, coordination and roll-out of the 16 Days Campaign in East and Southern Africa, including tasks such as drafting concepts, coordinating meetings, preparing talking points, website articles, developing social media posts, etc;
• Support the EVAW Unit on administrative tasks as required.

Learning goals include:

• Enhanced knowledge on gender equality and ending violence against women and girls;
• Enhanced knowledge on effective advocacy strategies and coordination for EVAWG;
• Enhance knowledge on the programmatic and operational aspects of working at UN Women.

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:

• Demonstrable knowledge of ending violence against women;
• Strong IT skills;
• Demonstrable knowledge of advocacy areas for gender equality in Africa, preferably in East and Southern Africa.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• University studies in one of the following disciplines: gender studies, gender and development, international relations, peace studies, social work or or other relevant subjects is required related field;
• Meet one of the following:

1. Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
2. Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent);
3. Have recently graduated with a university degree (as defined in a and b above) and, if selected, must start the internship within two-years of graduation.

Language:

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

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 UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/employment;
• 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. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)