Background

UN Women 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.

Unit/ Project Background:

UN Women Japan Liaison Office has been established in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan since April 2015. The Office works on extending policy dialogue, holding lectures and public events, and also building partnership. In particular, it is expected to outreach to various actors, including the government, parliaments, private enterprises, academics, NGOs, media and other and to keep them informed about UN Women’s work and role with regards to gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Duties and Responsibilities

Responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the Director of the UN Women Japan Liaison Office, the main responsibilities of the Intern will be to assist work of the UN Women Japan Liaison Office including the following;

  • Assist Japan Liaison Office to research, analyze, plan, develop and manage public and private sector partnership building for mobilizing resources for UN Women
  • Monitor trends and issues which impact gender equality and women’s empowerment and identifying opportunities for UN Women;
  • Conduct outreach activities including formulation of information and tools through SNS and other information platform;
  • Prepare and coordinate various events of the UN Women Japan Liaison Office;
  • Prepare and coordinate high-level visits of UN Women officials;
  • Handle inquiries from students and general publics.

Learning Objectives:

The internship offers students the opportunity to acquire direct exposure to UN Women’s work. It is designed to complement women’s development-oriented studies with practical experience in various aspects of 

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:

  • Ability to translate both ways between English and Japanese;
  • Computer literate in standard software applications (i.e. MS Word, Excel, Power Point);
  • Social media and web design experiences are desirable;
  • Ability to work in a team;
  • Ability to work effectively under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • The intern must have studies in gender, human rights, development or other similar subject 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 and Japanese are required.

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.