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.

The United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF) is a partnership between the United Nations, Member States, and the civil society, which supports women led and women’s rights organizations working to build peace and provide humanitarian response throughout the world. The WPHF Secretariat provides support to the Funding Board, mobilizes resources from Governments, companies, foundations and individuals, designs funding windows and mechanisms, provides day to day support to Country Offices implementing WPHF programmes, ensures timely and quality monitoring and reporting. The Secretariat’s mandate is also to strengthen stakeholders’ knowledge of and engagement with women, peace and security issues through proper internal and external communications, advocacy and outreach. Finally, the Secretariat provides knowledge management services for the WPHF, and manages the Community of Practice (CoP) for WPHF partners and grantees.

The Communications and Public Advocacy Intern will work closely with the WPHF communications and advocacy teams—under the supervision of the WPHF Communications and Advocacy Specialist—to support the execution of the Secretariat’s communications and social media strategies, including drafting messaging and creating content for WPHF’s global channels. The intern will also work with the Communications and Advocacy Analyst to boost WPHF’s visibility and global reach, identifying opportunities in relevant online conversations and supporting the development of the Fund’s media outreach strategy. Additionally, the intern will assist with organizing events, advocacy campaigns, and activations related to Women, Peace, Security, and Humanitarian Action (WPS-HA), preparing presentations, conducting research, and drafting reports.

Duties and Responsibilities

  • Support the communications team with daily content creation across WPHF’s social media platforms (X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok), newsletters, and event coverage, in line with WPHF’s communications and outreach strategy;
  • Assist in brainstorming and executing social media strategies to amplify relevant campaigns, international days (e.g., International Women’s Day, International Day of Peace), and key WPHF initiatives, ensuring maximum engagement and visibility;
  • Contribute to the scheduling, systematization, organization, and translation of all WPHF social media and communications content;
  • Explore live conversations, calls for action, and social media activations, as appropriate;
  • Support the communications team in drafting, updating, and translating content for the WPHF global website;
  • Assist the communications team in creating an internal database of media contacts and publications relevant to WPHF and its work, in line with the Secretariat’s new media outreach strategy;
  • Support the organization of outreach and advocacy events, as well as other WPHF engagement and missions throughout the year, including preparations for the Women, Peace and Security Open Debate, COP29, CSW, ECOSOC, etc;
  • Assist the advocacy team during meetings and engagements with partners and external stakeholders, including preparing presentations, mapping funding opportunities, and identifying potential partners;
  • Carry out other tasks assigned to support the WPHF secretariat, as required.

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/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • University studies in one of the following disciplines: International relations, gender studies, social and/or political science, international development, human rights, international law or other relevant subjects is required.
  • 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 (minimum Bachelor's level or equivalent);
  3. Have graduated with a university degree and, if selected, must commence the internship within two-years period of graduation; or
  4. 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, especially French and/or Arabic, 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 P.11 form with their application.
  • Due to the high volume of applications received, UN Women 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.

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.)