Background

Re-Advertised - Those who previously applied do not need to re-apply.

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.

As a standard-setting organization, the United Nations has a particular responsibility to lead by example in ensuring the equal and active participation of women at all levels of the UN system. This is also necessary for integrating a gender perspective into UN policies and programmes. UN Women is mandated to lead, coordinate and promote the accountability of the UN system for women’s equal representation.

Unit/ Project Background:

The Office of the Focal Point for Women in the UN System at UN-Women/Gender Parity Team (hereafter Gender Parity Team) at UN Women Headquarters in New York is seeking a full-time Gender Parity Intern to support the work of the Team. The mandate of the Gender Parity Team is to support the implementation of the UN Secretary-General’s System-wide Strategy on Gender Parity which was launched in 2017. The Strategy supports to accelerate the progress in achieving the General Assembly mandated goal of 50:50 gender balance at all levels in the UN system and creating enabling working environments to achieve and retain parity. Leveraging from UN Women’s coordination mandate, the Gender Parity Team supports entity-specific implementation plans for gender parity system-wide, leads and coordinates the Gender Focal Point network in the UN System, and engages in gender parity and enabling environments related policy work. Therefore, the internship will provide an excellent insight to UN system-wide work. The Gender Parity Intern will be responsible for supporting to monitor the system-wide progress in creating enabling environments, analysing, reporting and content creation, and drafting UN system-wide communications.

UN Women is mandated to lead, coordinate and promote the accountability of the UN system for women’s equal representation.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision and guidance of the Senior Adviser and Focal Point for Women in the UN System, the intern will assist the efforts to improve gender parity and create enabling environments within the United Nations’ System.
Internship activities will include:

  • Assisting in mapping of and building database on the best practices of creating enabling environments;
  • Researching of innovative approaches for creating enabling environments;
  • Supporting the UN system-wide implementation of the Enabling Environment Guidelines, Supplementary Guidance and the Field-specific Enabling Environment Guidelines;
  • Recording the impact of the implementation of Enabling Environment Guidelines and the Field-specific Enabling Environment Guidelines,
  • Providing support to the Gender Focal Point Network, such as organizing capacity-building sessions and the Global Annual Meeting,
  • Taking minutes and notes, and assisting in drafting and editing reports and advocacy materials. 

The internship will provide excellent learning opportunities through participating in engagements with various stakeholders, both internal and external to the UN.

Competencies

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: https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/Headquarters/Attachments/Sections/About%20Us/Employment/UN-Women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf

Functional Competencies:

  • Familiarity with and interest in gender parity/equal representation of women and men and enabling working environments/organizational culture;
  • Ability to communicate orally and in writing (in English), in a clear and concise manner;
  • Self-starter and team player with a high sense of responsibility in order to balance multiple responsibilities and accomplish given duties on time;
  • Initiative, sound judgement and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with colleagues of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • University studies in one of the following disciplines: gender studies, social studies, communications, political science, public policy, and/or diplomacy or other relevant subjects is required;
  • Meet one of the following:
  1. Be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
  2. Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor's level or equivalent);
  3. Have graduated with a university degree and, if selected, must commence the internship within a one-year period of graduation, or
  4. Be enrolled in a postgraduate professional traineeship program which is part of a degree programme and undertake the internship as part of the program requirements.

Language:

  • Excellent communication skills (written and oral) in English are required;
  • Working knowledge of another UN language is an advantage.

 

Renumeration:

Interns who are not in receipt of financial support from other sources such as universities or other institutions will receive a stipend from UN Women to partially subsidize their basic living costs for the duration of the internship.

Application Information:

  • All applicants must submit a completed and signed P.11 form with their application.
  • Due to the high volume of applications received, we can ONLY contact successful candidates.
  • Successful candidate will be required to provide proof of enrollment in a valid health insurance plan at the duty station of the internship, proof of school enrollment or degree, a scanned copy of their passport/national ID and a copy of a valid visa (as applicable).
  • Male candidates and those from the Global South are strongly encouraged to apply

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.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need. 

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application. 

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)