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 work in Kyrgyzstan is aligned with its corporate priority areas: promotion of women’s economic empowerment; elimination of violence against women and girls, engagement of women in all aspects of peace and security processes; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. As a part of the United Nations Country Team, UN Women supports the government and civil society in the implementation of international commitments on women’s rights and gender equality.

Unit/ Project Background:

The global collaborative initiative of UN Women, FAO, IFAD, WFP and led by UN Women in Kyrgyzstan "Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women" (ARWEE) is under implementation since November 2014 and is expected to complete in March 2018. The programme aims at  achieving the following three results: (I) increasing income, strengthening livelihoods and food security of rural women, through improved agricultural productivity; (II) enhancing leadership skills and participation of rural women in the formulation of policies and service delivery systems at the local and central levels; and (III) creation of a more gender-responsive policy environment conducive to the economic empowerment of rural women. The programme has provided direct assistance to over 3,000 rural women in 45 villages across four provinces of Kyrgyzstan. In 2016 the programme has integrated the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) methodology in the target communities to support gender-transformative changes within households through engaging men using participatory planning tools. Trainings have been conducted for a network of 38 champions, who will further disseminate GALS tools for change of gender roles and redistribution of reproductive duties within the households. The use of GALS is aimed at the following:

• Transform power relations within families and communities. Particularly, it helped to address power relations between women, increasing understanding and equitable cooperation between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law.
• Engage men in programme implementation and get their buy-in to any transformation process, ranging from a more balanced household to income generating activities.
• Support participants to overcome stereotypes regarding women’s ability to engage in income generating activities.

Community champions were identified to learn and subsequently teach the methodology. Since GALS is a participatory process that empowers participants, bottom-up facilitation techniques played a key role in the transformation process of champions and of people they shared the methodology with. Champions were selected from among RWEE group members and activists mainly on the basis of interest, and purposely included a mix of ages, education levels and backgrounds. This was in order to adapt the methodology to the needs of all participants – and potential participants – of the programme. It did not target existing leaders, as the main point was to demonstrate and empower people from all backgrounds and to show that everybody can learn and use the methodology to change their lives – and also teach others. The methodology was scaled up through a voluntary pyramid scheme: one champion trained at least five people. These in turn will have to train another three, who train another three and so on in a chain.

Champions trainings consisted in sharing tools for simple and effective visioning and planning methodology, incorporating SWOT analysis and clear strategy implementation steps that can be tracked and adapted for different levels of education, different types of objectives (life, business, leadership) and used as a coherent ‘learning system’ linking all levels from individual to household to cooperative, community and local government. Moreover, these tools mainstream gender learning to promote change in issues such as domestic violence and unpaid care work. GALS provides a methodology to put these issues in the centre of the discussion with men as well as women, and trigger self-reflection and action planning and implementation at individual, household and community levels. Thereby strengthening the core activities for women’s economic empowerment.

UN Women implements the JP RWEE with its implementing partner NGO Community Development Alliance. The staff of the partner act as the trainers of GALS and conduct regular monitoring to oversee the quality of the dissemination process, use participatory M&E tools for tracking progress, and adapt the tools to the context of Kyrgyzstan. Currently the team is working on the manual documenting the methodology and its tools in a simple to understand language as a step-by-step guide for gender equality practitioners. The manual is expected to be finalized in February 2018 in the Kyrgyz language. Despite a significant progress in the use of GALS and initial anecdotal evidence on the transformative potential of GALS tools in the households, there has been no data collected on the outcomes of GALS process in a methodologically sound and consequent manner. GALS process is still in its initial phase and needs further refinement and adaptation to the context of the country’s regions. Early results of introducing GALS have demonstrated positive changes in the reduced unpaid work of women and family members’ higher recognition and assumption of some care duties in the households, in joint planning of purchases and investment, joint discussion and women’s better influence over decisions related to capital investments or planning household economy, in creating a safe space for touching on sensitive issues, in encouraging children to dream and plan for their dreams, in better inter-generational conversations and understanding, as well as use of household income for women’s practical needs, such as time saving technologies.

UN Women Country Office in Kyrgyzstan is seeking one or two interns to assist in the knowledge management efforts. The Knowledge Management Intern will be tasked in collaboration with UN Women and NGO Community Development Alliance to support data collection in the fields, develop the data collection methodology and tools, analyse and document the results in an analytical report and case studies, and adapt and finalize the manual on GALS methodology in the English language, including the M&E methodology.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance and supervision of the RWEE Programme Manager of UN Women Country Office in Kyrgyzstan, the intern will provide support to the implementation of the overall knowledge management strategy, and specifically documentation and finalization of GALS methodology.  This includes the following:  

• Support development of the knowledge management Action Plan of the Country Office for 2018-2021, and implementation of its activities during internship period;
• Familiarize herself/himself with the available resource on the GALS methodology globally, best practices and its application, and the manuals, reports and data available on the introduction of GALS in Kyrgyzstan;
• Develop data collection methodology and tools for developing an analytical report on the progress, achievements, challenges, and recommendations for improving the effectiveness of the GALS process in UN Women’s projects. Develop 3-5 case studies documenting the outcomes of GALS in individual households, analyzing factors supporting and hindering the uptake and effectiveness of GALS tools and process;
• Analyze and provide recommendations on the replicability of the methodology in the context of peacebuilding efforts in the country;
• Discuss the findings and recommendations with the team of GALS practitioners and trainers, including UN Women and NGO CDA, and agree on the additions and amendments to the draft GALS manual;
• Finalize the GALS manual in English based on the research conducted and discussions with the GALS practitioners.
• Contribute to knowledge management and information sharing with the Gender Theme Group.

Learning Objectives:

• Increased understanding of UN Women’s work and the UN system;
• Strengthened research skills in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Improved analytical, documentation and knowledge management skills;
• Work as a team member in a multicultural setting.

The internship offers students the opportunity to acquire direct exposure to UN Women’s work. It is designed to assist a student in using her/his communication and management skills to assist the organization in organizing its work and ensuring it is made readily available. . In case of field travel within the country of assignment in relation 

Competencies

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.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing 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:

Ethics and Values:

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Self-management and Emotional Intelligence:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards other.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Continuous Learning and Knowledge Sharing:

• Encourage learning and sharing of knowledge.

Appropriate and Transparent Decision Making:

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competencies:

• Excellent research, writing and organizational skills;
• Ability to multi-task and address competing priorities.
• Strong computer skills with the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point are required.
• Skills and experience in conducting sociological research and developing research methodology and tools, preferably on issues related to gender equality and women’s empowerment;
• Basic knowledge and experience in gender analysis and gender mainstreaming in the development and/or humanitarian context is required.
• Experience in generating analytical reports, using quantitative and qualitative methods, would be an asset.
• Experience in developing communications products would be an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• The intern must have studies in social work, gender studies, international development, social sciences, or other similar subjects 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 Kyrgyz and/or Russian is an 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:

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

(a)    Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);

(b)    Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent);

(c)    Have graduated with a university degree (as (b) above) and, if selected, must commence the internship w

2.) UN Women internship programme does not provide a salary or remuneration for the internship;

3.) All the expenses connected with the internship will be borne by the intern, sponsoring Government or institution;

4.) UN Women accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship;

5.) The intern is responsible for obtaining necessary visas and arranging travel to and from the duty station where the internship will be performed;

6.) Interns are not eligible to apply for, or be appointed to, any post in UN WOMEN during the period of the internship or for six months immediately following the expiration date of internship;

7.) 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