UNPAID INTERNSHIP - UN Coordination

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, the 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 supports the UN system coordination and accountability mechanisms, and up-scaling of the quality of support provided to Member States in addressing national gender equality priorities. UN Women’s coordination work is supported at the regional level by its Regional Offices – working with the UN Development Group Regional Groups (R-UNDG) and the Regional Gender thematic group (R-GTG). At the country level UN Women supports and works within UN Country Teams.

UN Women Regional Office for West and Central Africa region was established in Dakar, Senegal, in 2014 as a part of the UN Women’s new regional architecture. To support the work in the area of UN coordination, the WCA Regional Office is currently seeking to recruit an intern.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the guidance and supervision of the Coordination and Planning Specialist, the intern will provide the support to the following key tasks in the area of UN coordination:

• Support the R-GTG to prepare the Conference on Gender in Africa on March 8th
• Finalize the mapping on Gender mainstreaming in WCA and the list of contact
• Support the elaboration of the fact sheets and tool kits planned in 2017
• Support the elaboration of the online plateform for knowledge
• Additional support to the Coordination and Planning Specialist in her/his functions

Competencies

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

Integrity

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Cultural sensitivity and valuing diversity

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

Ethics and Values

• Demonstrate and safeguard ethics and integrity.

Organizational Awareness:

• Demonstrate corporate knowledge and sound judgment.

Core Competencies:

Development and Innovation:

• Take charge of self-development and take initiative.

Work in teams:

• Demonstrate ability to work in a multicultural, multi-ethnic environment and to maintain effective working relations with people of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Communicating and Information Sharing:

• Facilitate and encourage open communication and strive for effective communication.

Conflict Management:

• Surface conflicts and address them proactively acknowledging different feelings and views and directing energy towards a mutually acceptable solution.

Functional Competencies:

• Stay composed and positive even in difficult moments, handle tense situations with diplomacy and tact, and have a consistent behavior towards other.
• Excellent research, writing and organizational skills;
• Ability to work with different actors, including through remote contact;
• Ability to multi-task and address competing priorities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• The intern should be pursuing academic studies in public administration, programme management, gender studies, international development, international relations, social sciences or other similar subject at post graduate level.

OR

• Be enrolled in a post 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 and French are required.

Experience:

• Strong computer skills, Word, Excel, Power Point.
• Previous experience with an UN agency will be an asset
• Experience in organizing events and/or training would be an asset.

Conditions of the internship programme with UN Women:

• UN Women will not pay for the internship; all the expenses connected with it will be borne by the intern;

•  UN Women accepts no responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness or death incurred during the internship;

• The Intern must provide proof of enrolment in a health insurance plan;

• The Intern will not be eligible to apply for, or be appointed to, any post in UN Women during the period of my internship or for the six months immediately following the expiration date thereof;

• If applicable, the Intern will be personally responsible for obtaining necessary visas and arranging travel to and from the duty station where the internship will be performed.

  Once the candidate has been selected, the following additional documents need to be submitted:

• If applicable: visa document/scanned passport document if no visa is required;

• Medical insurance document.