Civil Society Intern

Contract

This is a Internship contract. It usually requires 0 years of experience, depending on education. More about Internship contracts.

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.

UN Women’s Civil Society Division plays a key role in helping to drive commitment and action on gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment through its partnership and engagement with civil society across the globe. The crucial contribution of civil society organizations in the advancement of gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s rights, the role of civil society and the women’s movement as partners, supporting UN Women’s leadership, is seen as fundamental in the full realization of gender equality, women’s rights, and women’s empowerment. UN Women has a unique and critical role in engaging civil society and partnership building with women’s organizations as stakeholders to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment and the Civil Society Division helps drive this partnership.

The Civil Society Division also aims to support the implementation of the UN Women Strategic Plan (SP) 2022-2025 and promote the rights of women and girls globally through strategic and innovative partnerships with intersectional and intergenerational civil society partners. To appropriately align with SP 2022-2025, CSD has developed an approved Strategic Note that reflects the divisional vision and prioritizes the strengthening of multistakeholder allyship models with civil society at the core, to contribute to a networked, people-centred multilateral system that more effectively supports the rights of women and girls.

This is also in line with Generation Equality, a multi-stakeholder initiative convened by UN Women to catalyse partners, increase investments for gender equality, drive results and accelerate the full and effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Sustainable Development Goals. The initiative also aims to sustain and expand a movement of support for gender equality with civil society and youth leadership and activism at its heart. Generation Equality is fully embedded in UN Women’s Strategic Plan and aims to accelerate the achievement of results contained therein, notably by operationalizing the Strategic Plan’s vision of achieving results through partnerships. Generation Equality is also recognized by the Secretary-General’s “Common Agenda” as an important initiative for the UN system to take stock of and build on.

Under the supervision of the Deputy of the Civil Society Division, the Civil Society Intern will support the strengthening of civil society contributions to the realization and implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, the Sustainable Development Goals Agenda, normative and intergovernmental processes and mechanisms, and their outcomes.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the CSD inputs in the planning and execution of the Generation Equality Mid-Point Moment during the UN General Assembly session
• Support research and the developing of action plans related to the strengthening of civic space and its intersection with gender equality
• Support the strengthening of partnerships with civil society organisations and especially youth led and serving organisations and networks
• Monitor civil society trends in media and to provide consolidated report on such
• Serve as note-taker for strategic meetings

Learning Objectives:

• Increased understanding of UN Women’s work related to global normative processes and public policies.
• Gained knowledge about NGOs working on gender issues and the global Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030 that will stimulate action over the next fifteen years in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet.
• Familiarity with the role of the Civil Society Division of UN Women, the issues it covers and its collaboration and relationship to other parts of the United Nations system
• Familiarity with the functions of the Commission on the Status of Women and its intergovernmental outcomes, including a set of concrete recommendations for governments, intergovernmental bodies and other institutions, civil society actors and other relevant stakeholders, to be implemented at the international, national, regional and local level.

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 partnership development skills
• Familiarity with the UN context and the role of the UN and its agencies, funds and programmes, including in the area of gender equality and human rights, is highly desirable.
• Strong networking, team-building, organizational, communication, public speaking and inter-personal skills.
• Excellent writing and editorial skills in English.
• Capacity to work with diverse partners including governments, civil society, women's groups, UN entities and donors.
• Ability to manage for results, by translating strategy into achievable plans, with established priorities and ability to monitor and introduce adjustments. Self-starter and self-resourcefulness major assets.
• Strong understanding of gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Ability to contribute to team work.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• University studies in one of the following disciplines: _Gender Studies, Social Sciences, International Relations or other relevant subjects is required.
• Meet one of the following:

1. Be enrolled in a postgraduate degree programme (such as a master’s programme, or higher);
2. Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent);
3. Be enrolled in a mandatory national service programme of which the internship may form a part;
4. Have recently graduated with a university degree (as defined in (a) and (b) above) and, if selected, must start the internship within two-years of graduation.

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 enrolment in a valid health insurance plan at the duty station of the internship, proof of school enrolment 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.)