National Internship to support implementation of the Skills4Girls portfolio with UNICEF in Uzbekistan, 3 months (Office based)

Contract

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

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

Assignment Context

Uzbekistan is at a critical demographic juncture. Young people under 30 years old constitute 60% of the population. In two decades, these young people will be the largest labour force Uzbekistan has ever had. With the right investments now, today’s bulging youth population can be the generation that takes Uzbekistan to the next level of socio-economic development. The Government acknowledges the need to accelerate efforts to support young people in marginalized urban, rural or remote areas, through encouraging their participation in decision-making, providing formal and non-formal education opportunities and enhancing labour market inclusion.

School-to-work transition is challenging for most young people, resulting in a high rate of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). After completion of the compulsory secondary education, 56% of young people of 19-24 years of age are NEET - 69% of young women and 33.4% of young men. Young people perceive lack of practical skills and absence of prior work experience as one of the key factors impeding their employment after graduation.

The state of girls and young women is particularly adverse. A substantial gap persists among girls and boys in computer literacy and Internet access and use. Harmful traditional practices such as early and forced marriages persist despite legal prohibitions and considered one of the factors for girls’ drop out from the education system. Deep seated gender stereotypes and norms, highlighting women as caretakers and nurturers keep women socially and economically inactive. Key barriers named by girls and young women to continue their education and find employment are unwillingness of their families, especially husbands and mothers-in-law, and limited mobility within and beyond the country. Those women who are employed work mainly in traditional female sectors. Under-representation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) fields reduces the prospects of skilled employment for young women.

To shift the social gender norms, skills-building programmes should be accompanied by strong communication campaigns targeting not only girls, but also boys, parents, teachers, and society in general.

Work Assignment Overview

The Skills4Girls portfolio currently includes Girls in IT programme being implemented jointly with IT PARK. The Intern’s support to the Gender Specialist and Youth Specialist in implementing the program’s activities, will include, but are not limited to:

1. To support programme activities such as setting up meetings, conducting learning sessions, organizing interviews and focus group meetings and following up on agreed action points with relevant partners. 2. To identify potential influencers and businesswomen in STEM as potential allies and messengers of UNICEF. 3. To support the development of communication materials such as social media postings and human-interest stories for different audiences and platforms, to take photos as needed. 4. To support the organization of knowledge documentation and drafting of reports. 5. To propose innovative ideas for the programme such as sessions and potential speakers for International Girl’s Day and other key dates. 6. To perform other duties assigned by the Supervisors

Special considerations: Data confidentiality: The intern must keep confidential any and all unpublished information made known during the course of the internship and not publish any reports or paper on the basis of information obtained except with the written approval and authorization of UNICEF.

Duration: The duration of an internship is normally between six and twenty-six weeks. The internship can be on a full-time or a part-time basis. The duration of a part-time internship cannot exceed the equivalent of twenty-six weeks on a full-time basis. Interns may take up to 2.5 days per month off work for any reason, including for medical reasons.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Be enrolled in an advanced/undergraduate university degree (Master’s or higher) in Communications and Public Relations Studies or have graduated within the past 2 years.
• Demonstrated interest and/or experience (ideally one year) in communication for social change including gender and disability social norms, youth engagement and skills building.
• A relevant background in managing social media, development of the communication materials and human-interest stories.
• Fluency in English, Russian are required. Knowledge of Uzbek language is an asset.

Eligibility: Applicant must be at least 18 years old. NO immediate relatives (e.g. father, mother, brother, sister) working in any UNICEF office;

Required UNICEF competencies: 1. Integrity and fairness by modeling UN values and ethical standards. 2. Cultural, gender, nationality, religion and age sensitivity and adaptability. 3. Ability to produce high quality technical notes, briefing notes and presentations. 4. Ability to apply and share evidence derived from research.

Flexible attitude and adaptability to rapidly changing circumstances.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for personnel with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the recruitment process and afterwards in your assignment.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles 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.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to selected candidates who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their contracts.