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 intern will join the growing UN Women Crisis Preparedness, Prevention and Response team in Geneva, which guides UN Women’s work in gender responsive humanitarian action and crisis response, including disaster risk reduction, preparedness, risk prevention and mitigation, at the global, regional and national levels. Leveraging women’s leadership and building women’s resilience to cope with and recover from the socio-economic impact of crisis is at the very heart of UN Women’s work, as UN Women recognizes that recovery from crisis and lasting peace cannot be achieved or sustained without investment in inclusive community participation and the meaningful engagement of women.

Aligned with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Women’s Second Chance Education and Vocational Learning (SCE) Programme is a solution for those who have missed out on education. It aims to break current trends and provide a comprehensive solution for marginalized women and young women who are at risk of being left behind. This project aims to develop context specific, affordable and scalable learning, entrepreneurship and employment pathways for empowering the world’s most disadvantaged women and young women. It offers women and young women, their families, local communities and societies the benefits of access to educational services which are tailored not only to their needs as learners, but also to their future as earners. The SCE Programme achieves this by leveraging the opportunities of innovative teaching approaches, digital technologies and social networks. 

The Programme will contribute to the following outcomes: i) More marginalized women and young women  access and benefit from high quality educational content, material and learning pathways; ii) More marginalized women and young women benefit from increased employment, livelihood and entrepreneurial opportunities; iii) Fewer marginalized women and young women are disadvantaged and denied education opportunities due to harmful and discriminatory social norms; iv) More marginalized women and young women have improved access to education and employment pathways through enhanced multi-sectoral policy and financing frameworks that enable scaling of successful SCE solutions.

UN Women Internship Policy

  • 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).
  • UN Women internship programme does not provide a salary or remuneration for the internship;
  • All the expenses connected with the internship will be borne by the intern, sponsoring Government or institution;
  • UN Women accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship;
  • The intern is responsible for obtaining necessary visas and arranging travel to and from the duty station where the internship will be performed;
  • 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.

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Responsibilities

  • Support in programme development in areas of crisis prevention, preparedness and response, particularly for the Second Chance Education programme;
  • Support in conducting desk-based research, including a literature review of best practices on SCE for marginalized young women, a catalogue of available content from UN Women and potential partners relevant to the SCE programme and e-learning content mapping and gaps identification;
  • Support with populating SCE web portal with high quality educational content from various UN Women initiatives and partners;
  • Support with Country Office programme roll out, for inception phase, needs assessment, labor market analysis, and finalizing country plans;
  • Support to ensure the timely submission of quality monitoring and reporting activties;
  • Draft, review and copy-edit documents (i.e. concept notes, briefing notes, reports and presentations), including the final SCE programme document;
  • Attend and help organize events and meetings at the United Nations in Geneva;
  • Provide other assistance as required.

Learning objectives

  • Increased understanding of UN Women’s work and the UN system;
  • Learning the work in gender and humanitarian action in an international environment;
  • Meeting and networking with UN Women colleagues in other units;
  • Working as a team member in a multicultural setting;
  • Gaining knowledge relating to online education and learning methodologies, platforms and systems

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles

  • Integrity
  • Professionalism
  • Respect for diversity

Core Competencies

  • Commitment to learning
  • Awareness and sensitivity regarding gender issues
  • Accountability
  • Effective communication
  • Planning and organization skills
  • Inclusive collaboration

Functional Competencies

  • Knowledge on gender and humanitarian action and crisis response and education
  • Strong writing, research and analytical skills
  • Ability to work independently and meet deadlines
  • Familiarity with learning and management web-based platforms

Required Skills and Experience

Education

  • The intern must have studies in social sciences, international development, gender studies, ?education 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); or 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 any of the following languages considered an advantage: French, Spanish, Arabic, Hindi.