UN Women: Intern, Coordination Support, Office of the Deputy Executive Director (DEDO), New York, United States of America

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.

The Office of the Deputy Executive Director (DEDO) provides strategic and coordination support to the Deputy Executive Director for Normative Support, UN Coordination and Programme Results. DEDO works across UN Women's divisions, country and regional offices, and inter agency mechanisms to advance coordination on the organization's normative, inter agency and programmatic priorities. Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Executive Director and the direct supervision of the Special Assistant, the intern will provide coordination support across five priority workstreams: the Young Women and Girls Strategy, UN Women's Middle East response, follow up to the Inter Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) Strategic Leadership Group, and support the coordination of the Africa strategy with UN Women's Liaison Office to the African Union. 

Across all 4 workstreams, the intern's role will consolidate and track information on behalf of the Deputy Executive Director's Office, and wherever possible the intern will draw on existing meetings, minutes and trackers already in circulation. The incumbent will also ensure a short digest from the consolidated trackers is shared back with contributing teams, so the trackers are a resource for them as well as for the Deputy Executive Director's Office.

Description of Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Executive Director and the direct supervision of the Special Assistant, the intern will provide coordination support across the following areas:

1. Young Women and Girls Strategy 
•    Support the Global Youth focal point with the review and finalization of the Young Women and Girls Strategy, including compiling comments from divisions and country and regional offices, and draft communications plan
•    Maintain a consolidated tracker of partner engagement related to correspondence on the Strategy as follow up from DED’s bilateral engagements.

2. UN Women Middle East Response
•    Support internal coordination of UN Women's Middle East response, including follow-up with the relevant sub working groups.
•    Maintain a coordination tracker of action points, decisions and pending items across the sub working groups.
•    Assist in compiling situation updates and briefing notes for the Deputy Executive Director's Office.

3. IANWGE Strategic Leadership Group
•    Support follow up to Strategic Leadership Group meetings, including tracking commitments, action points and outstanding correspondence.
•    Assist with the finalization and circulation of the Terms of Reference and related documentation.
•    Support preparation for subsequent Strategic Leadership Group engagements, including RSVP tracking, scheduling and briefing materials.

4. Africa Strategy Coordination
•    Maintain a coordination tracker between the Deputy Executive Director's Office and UN Women's Liaison Office to the African Union, covering scheduled engagements, joint initiatives and pending action points.
•    Track key African Union processes, summits and decision points relevant to UN Women's Africa strategy and gender equality priorities ahead of the AU Summit.

Key Deliverables:

•    A consolidated comments matrix and coordination and logistics plan supporting finalization of the Young Women and Girls Strategy and UN Women's engagement in CSD.
•    An up to date coordination tracker for the Middle East response, covering action points, decisions and pending items across the sub working groups.
•    A finalized Terms of Reference and updated action tracker for the IANWGE Strategic Leadership Group, reflecting follow up from the meeting and subsequent engagements.
•    A consolidated Africa strategy coordination tracker for the Deputy Executive Director's Office, covering engagement with the AU Liaison Office, key African Union processes and decision points, and outstanding action items.
•    A final handover note summarizing outstanding actions and status across all 4 workstreams.

Learning Objectives:

The internship offers direct exposure to inter agency coordination, multilateral process support and executive office operations at UN Women, including hands on engagement with the Deputy Executive Director's Office on live coordination priorities.

Competencies :

Core Values:

• Integrity;
• Professionalism;
• Respect for Diversity.

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 Values and Competencies Framework: 

Functional Competencies:

•    Strong drafting and coordination skills, with the ability to track multiple concurrent workstreams and deadlines.
•    Ability to work with discretion on sensitive and time bound diplomatic and inter agency correspondence.
•    Sound understanding of, or strong interest in, multilateral processes and UN intergovernmental mechanisms (CSW, CSD, ECOSOC).
•    Strong organizational skills and attention to detail in scheduling, logistics and document management.
•    Ability to work independently and collaboratively across teams under tight timelines.

Qualifications

Education:

•    University studies in one of the following disciplines: international relations, political science, gender studies, public policy, or other relevant subjects 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:

•    Fluency in English is 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: 

• Due to the high volume of applications received, UN Women 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).  

Statements :

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.

Diversity and inclusion:

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.)

Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.