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. Placing women’s rights at the centre of all its efforts, UN Women leads and coordinates United Nations System efforts to ensure that commitments on gender equality and gender mainstreaming translate into action throughout the world.

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.

Unit/ Project Background:

The Executive Office is responsible for providing vision, strategic planning and establishing priorities, leading the senior management team, leading advocacy as a global voice for women, building coordination in the UN Common System, providing overall management and oversight and ensuring accountability to governance bodies. UN Women’s communication and advocacy efforts support the positioning of women’s empowerment and gender equality as key issues on the international and national agendas and establish UN Women as a reliable partner of choice and as a thought leader on the issue. This entails showcasing its leadership as an advocate and knowledge provider on gender equality, a provider of results-oriented, impactful interventions on the ground, and a skilled facilitator of normative and UN coordination processes.

This advert is for the purposes of filling multiple internship positions in the Executive Office and elsewhere at the headquarters of UN Women in New York.

A specific set of tasks are mutually agreed upon between the intern (s) and their manager to be undertaken in an agreed period and normally drawn from the following two broad work plans (a final Terms of Reference may include one or more of the listed responsibilities below):

1. Provide support in research, project and/or program design, management and evaluation aiming at:

• contributing to formulation of communication and advocacy strategies for improving information sharing and advocacy on women's rights;
• undertaking gender analysis to highlight gender biases in decision making;
• determining opportunities to increase women's inclusion and participation;
• identifying, documenting and following-up lessons learned from UN Women, UN agencies and other stakeholders’ continuing experiences with the management of knowledge;
• evaluating the extent to which the recommendations of international conferences have been implemented; or

2. Assist in the development and maintenance of partnerships with governments, civil society, private sector, UN and international agencies through:

• preparing relevant documents for meetings, seminars and workshops with local development practitioners, donors and stakeholders;
• building synergies with other interventions on gender and governance, rule of law, civil society engagement and local governance;
• collaborating with key partners and stakeholders in research and development of strategies to increase women’s participation in local governance.

Learning Objectives

• Increased understanding of UN Women’s work and the UN system; 
• Learning different aspects of work in an international environment in the assigned field of work; 
• Meeting and networking with UN Women colleagues in other units;
• Working as a team member in a multicultural setting.

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: http://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-employment-values-and-competencies-definitions-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to learn quickly;
• Exceptional attention to detail;
• Proven ability to manage multiple tasks with varying complexity;
• Ability to adapt in a constantly-changing and fast-paced environment;
• Excellent written, verbal, & interpersonal communication skills as well as exemplary customer service skills;
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment;
• Ability to exercise good judgment, use discretion, work with limited supervision;
• A self-starter; able to anticipate issues and propose solutions.

Education:

• The intern must have studies in Gender studies, Development, International Relations, Public Administration, Economics, Programme Management, Communications or other similar subjects at the university level.
• The intern must be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher); or 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 another UN language is 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 a resume/CV, two letters of recommendation, proof of health insurance and school enrollment, copy of passport or national identification, and a copy of visa (if applicable)

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 defined in (a) or (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;

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 positions in the professional and above category 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