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:

Economic empowerment is one of the priority areas of UN Women. UN Women works with Governments and multilateral partners (UNDP, ILO, World Bank, regional development banks) to promote women’s economic empowerment and increase their access to economic opportunities, especially for those who are most excluded.

Around the world, a record number of women are now migrating to seek work and better lives. For many, migration yields these benefits; for others, it carries dangerous risks, such as exploitation in domestic jobs, and vulnerability to violence. Migration policies and practices have been slow to recognize these risks and take steps to make the process safe for women, and protect their labour and human rights. During the 19 September 2016 UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants, global leaders agreed on the New York Declaration (A/71/150) which launched the preparatory processes towards the development of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration (‘Global Compact for Migration’) in 2018.  The Global Compact was developed by member states during six rounds of intergovernmental negotiations, and was finalized in July 2018. It will be formally adopted at an international conference in Morocco in December 2018.

UN Women has been involved at every stage of the process leading to the development and eventual adoption of the Global Compact for Migration. We have been actively engaging with governments and other stakeholders in an effort to ensure that the human rights of all migrant women and girls are promoted and protected at all stages of migration, and that the Global Compact for Migration upholds the commitments to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as outlined in the New York Declaration.

To support our advocacy efforts, UN Women serves as the substantive Secretariat for the Expert Working Group for addressing women’s human rights in the global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration (more information available at: https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/who-we-are/initiatives/expert-working-group-migration) which was established in January 2017. Under the leadership of UN Women, the group works to mobilize support from Member States and other stakeholders for a gender-responsive Global Compact for Migration. This is being achieved through strategic advocacy, expert engagement, and capacity building to ensure that the linkages between gender and migration are effectively addressed in the Global Compact for Migration.

Further, UN Women is a member of the Global Migration Group (GMG). The GMG brings together heads of agencies to promote the wider application of all relevant international and regional instruments and norms relating to migration, and encourages the adoption of more coherent, comprehensive and better coordinated approaches to the issue of international migration. In order to support the implementation of the intergovernmentally negotiated Global Compact for Migration, the UN Secretary-General has decided to establish a UN Migration Network, which will succeed the existing Global Migration Group. The modalities of this Network will be outlined during a framing conference to be held in October 2018.

• Support UN Women’s role as the Secretariat for the Expert Working Group on addressing women’s human rights in the Global Compact for Migration (EWG), including: assistance in planning, organizing and implementing side events, meetings, and workshops; taking minutes; drafting background notes and talking points; coordinating with other EWG members; and developing substantive inputs on the gendered dimensions of migration for UN documents;
• Support UN Women’s work in relation to the Global Migration Group, including: participating in meetings; taking minutes; drafting background notes, talking points and other documents; and doing background research;
• Support with project proposals and resource mobilization efforts, including: compiling countries’ migration profiles; providing background research; drafting and editing relevant documents;
• Support with the drafting of a guide/policy brief on Gender and Migration; and
• Any other relevant tasks related to the migration portfolio.

Core Values:

• Integrity
• Professionalism
• Respect for diversity

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 of gender and migration;
• Strong writing, research and analytical skills;
• Capacity to plan, prioritize and deliver tasks on time;
• Familiarity with the Global Compact for Migration desirable;
• Knowledge of the work of the UN human rights treaty bodies, in particular CEDAW and CMW desirable.

Education:

• The intern must have studies in Gender, Migration, Human Rights 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 are required; Working knowledge of another UN language a distinct 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 within a one-year period of graduation.

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;