Background

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's Peace, Security and Humanitarian Section is responsible for providing technical support to UN Women Country Offices in a number of areas, including conflict prevention and peacebuilding, justice sector and security reform, promoting women's political participation and mainstreaming gender issues into governance reforms. It has global components but is grounded in country-level activities. The Section supports UN Women to fulfill its coordination mandate in the area of peace and security and UN system efforts to promote improved monitoring and reporting on the implementation of global commitments on women and peace and security, including as set out in Beijing Platform for Action and in Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), and subsequent resolutions and relevant Statements by the President of the Security Council.

 To enhance the participation and leadership of women in building a peaceful, stable and prosperous Africa as envisioned by Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Agenda, the Office of the African Union Commission (AUC) Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security and UN Women are undertaking a project, with the support of the Federal Republic of Germany, titled the  “Women’s Leadership Initiative for Stability in Africa.” It aims to operationalize the “African Women Leaders Network” (AWLN), an initiative that seeks to enhance the role and leadership of women in the transformation of Africa, in line with Agenda 2063 and the Global Sustainable development Agenda 2030. The project will support various streams of work including the coordination and operationalization of the thirty-six AWLN National Chapters, including providing funding towards the implementation of their Plans of Action and supporting and coordinating their convening and exchanges of good practices.

 

 AWLN serves as a continental platform to galvanize women’s leadership towards lasting peace and sustainable development, the promotion of gender equality, and women’s empowerment in all sectors and at all levels, building on, and working with, existing women networks. AWLN also serves as a practical instrument to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) at the regional level. The network looks to increase women’s participation in decision-making through peer learning and mentoring, enhanced solidarity, advocacy, and capacity-building, among other strategies. To date, the African Women Leaders Network continues to grow through the national chapters at the country level who contribute to expanding and operationalizing the network. AWLN activities and advocacy are based on the Network’s six pillars: peace and security, governance, finance, agriculture, youth, and social mobilization, which are advanced through the Network’s National Chapters.

UN Women is seeking to recruit two interns to work with the AWLN secretariat in support of the implementation of a women's leadership project. The interns will report to the AWLN Policy Analyst.

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Responsibilities

  • Support the preparation of the AWLN IGR, including planning and scheduling meetings.
  • Support the engagement with AWLN youth caucus and relevant stakeholders such as members of the National chapters and AWLN Group of friends.
  • Prepare background information for resource mobilization initiatives.
  • Support the drafting of IGR material including CN, agenda, logistic notes.
  • Support in procurement processes, including compiling supporting documents.
  • Liaise with interpreters and other conference team members.
  • Support in preparing reports of various coordination meetings and events.
  • Support in the drafting of the IGR roadmap and tracking and following-up of pending tasks.
  • Support in organizing workshops, conferences, forum, coordination meetings and other events.
  • Facilitate the sharing of best practices, lessons learned, and success stories from youth members and chapters.
  • Perform any other duties as required.

 

Learning goals include:

  • Increased familiarity with the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda, especially as it relates to AWLN, and the work of UN Women in HQ (Head Quarters), Regional and Country offices towards its achievement.
  • Increased knowledge on gender equality and women’s empowerment principles.
  • Increased familiarity with UN Women and the AU’s work within the UN System.
  • Enhanced knowledge of AWLN, its mission and women’s leadership in Africa.

 

Competencies

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:

http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

 

Functional Competencies:

 

  • Knowledge in international development or peace and security, particularly the AU's mission, goals, rules, and regulations and its working partnership with the United Nations.
  • Ability to think and work logically and work precisely with attention to detail.
  • Excellent research and analysis capabilities.
  • Ability to write clearly and concisely.
  • Sound judgment and proven ability to work harmoniously with staff members of different national and cultural backgrounds.
  • Ability to work independently and meet tight deadlines in a high-pressure environment.
  • Excellent communications skills.
  • Proficiency with graphic design applications, Microsoft SharePoint, and HTML a plus.

 

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications

Education:

  • University studies or have graduated with a university degree in one of the following disciplines: international relations, international development, gender studies or another similar field.

 

  • Meet one of the following:
  • 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 two-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.
  • Working knowledge of another UN language is an advantage, especially French.

 

 

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.
  • The 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.