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.

Women’s political participation is one of UN Women’s primary areas of work, recognizing the role of women’s leadership in strong and stable democratic processes and inclusive societies. It is covered under the Entity’s Strategic Plan 2022-2025 Impact Area 1 – Participation and Governance in Public Life: “Women and girls participate in leadership and decision making and benefit from gender responsive governance”. One of the key initiatives to accelerate gender equality in this thematic area is to monitor progress in achieving the 50/50 gender balance in decision-making at all levels through data collection and dissemination for SDG indicators under the custody of UN Women, including SDG indicator 5.5.1b (women’s representation in local government).

As part of this work, UN Women’ political participation team at HQ (a) has developed and updates annually a series of country profiles on local government; (b) monitors legislative changes in electoral systems and gender quotas; (c) compiles and analyses data on women’s political participation; (d) has developed methodological guidance on measuring women’s political participation and key types of data sources; and (e) produces research and data-driven analysis and knowledge products. The information, data, and knowledge products developed are widely disseminated through the Women in Local Government website, which will be renewed in 2024, to respond to users’ needs for more comprehensive information and trends.

Within this framework, UN Women is seeking to recruit an intern to provide support to legislative and data monitoring undertaken by women’s political participation team at HQ and the renewal of the Women in Local Government Website. Under the supervision of the Policy Specialist on Local Government, the Intern will support ongoing work on key niche areas on women’s political participation including on: (i) representation in local government; (ii) electoral information and data on women’s political participation; and (iii) women’s participation in political processes, including women’s suffrage.

Duties and Responsibilities

Responsibilities:

• Support the updating of the Women in Local Government Website, by monitoring legislative changes on local government organization, reviewing new legal provisions, and by formatting and uploading information on the website.
• Support a world mapping of types of electoral information and data on women’s political participation, by reviewing electoral laws and information disseminated by electoral management bodies.
• Undertake research on different areas related to women’s political participation, as needed, including on women’s suffrage.
• Provide support to other activities in the women’s political participation area, including the organization of meetings on the topic, as needed.

Learning objectives:

• Increased knowledge of women’s political participation, local government organization, and electoral systems.
• Improved knowledge of global processes related to women’s political participation data, including SDGs and international guidelines.
• Exposure to a wide range of policy work and creation of knowledge products related to governance and participation in political and public affairs that are developed within the Governance and Participation Section of UN Women.  

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/en/about-us/employment/application-process#_Values

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge on gender equality and political participation
• Ability to produce well-written policy and/or research documents
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary team
• Keen interest in inclusive participation issues and gender equality.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• University studies in one of the following disciplines: Political Science, Social sciences, Law, Human Rights, International Relations, Gender Studies, or similar field 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 two-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, UN Women can ONLY contact successful candidates.
• The 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.

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.)