Background

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 center 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. It provides strong and coherent leadership in support of Member States' priorities and efforts, building effective partnerships with civil society and other relevant actors.

UN Women recognizes equality between women and men as a fundamental pillar of a just and democratic society and supports the promotion of equal opportunities for the full participation of women in all aspects of political, economic and public life. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality and works with governments and civil society to de-sign laws, policies, programs and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting.

The United Nations Secretary-General has issued an urgent call to action. The Covid-19 pandemic is already having severe health and socio-economic consequences and as in previous crises, women and girls have been disproportionately affected. The pandemic threatens the hard-won progress made towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. Worse, the crisis can actually reverse gains made towards gender equality, and roll-back progress needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

UN Women supports women’s full and equal representation and participation in all levels of peace processes and security efforts. UN Women’s work on women, peace, and security is guided by 10 UN Security Council resolutions and is bolstered by a number of related normative frameworks, which make up the broader women, peace, and security (WPS) agenda. UN Women is committed to ensuring equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of humanitarian action. and works in crises prevention, preparedness, and response to reduce vulnerabilities, address risks, promote resilience and leverage women’s leadership. Given the disproportionate adverse impacts that the crisis has on women and girls, it is imperative that gender equality concerns are embedded recovery plans.

The organizations continue to draw on their expertise and support in reaching the most marginalized and vulnerable people through diverse initiatives and interventions focused on helping women and girls in conflict, crisis or humanitarian settings cope with the combined challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis and their contextual vulnerabilities. 

Reflective of the above, UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia is seeking to recruit intern to deliver tasks as outlined below.

Duties and Responsibilities

Description of Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision and guidance of the Regional Women, Peace and Humanitarian Specialist, the intern is expected to undertake the following tasks:

• Provide administrative and technical support to programme and policy efforts.
• Support with desk research and compile information and data for preparation of briefing notes, talking points, and reports.
• Provide input to papers, briefs, reports and advocacy products.
• Provide support to knowledge management, communication and visibility products.
• Prepare information and research materials, including creating PowerPoint presentations.
• Work with the team on monthly, quarterly or annual reports.
• Assist with event, meeting or workshop preparation and execution.
• Perform other duties as may be directed by the supervisor. 

Learning Objectives:

• Increase understanding of UN Women’s mandate and the UN system.
• Increase knowledge and understanding of Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action issues.
• Build and develop professional relationships with UN Women colleagues and colleagues from other UN agencies.
• Develop drafting, project management and analysis skills. 

Competencies

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/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/about%20us/employment/un-women-values-and-competencies-framework-en.pdf?la=en&vs=637 

Functional Competencies:

• Strong computer skills with the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, Zoom and/or Microsoft Teams..
• Experience in assisting with preparing information and research materials; including PowerPoint presentations ;
• Basic knowledge and demonstrated commitment to gender equality, women’s empowerment and ending violence against women;
• Experience in supporting gender-related programmes and initiatives at the global, regional or country level would be an asset.
• Ability to think and work logically and work precisely, delivering quality products under tight deadlines;
• Good organizational and planning skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications

Education:

• University studies in one of the following disciplines: gender studies, social sciences, political science, international development, or other relevant subjects is required.
• 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, or 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, especially Russian, 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:

• 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).  

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.