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.

At headquarters, the Peace, Security and Resilience (PSR) Section leads on UN system-wide coordination on the Women, Peace and Security agenda, provides technical and financial support to the peace and security work of UN Women country offices, and implements global initiatives to promote women’s rights in conflict-affected and peacebuilding contexts. Within the PSR Section, the Justice and Protection Cluster supports efforts to prevent and address sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and reproductive violence, by generating knowledge, providing expertise, building partnerships, facilitating dialogue and strengthening the capacity of actors engaged on rule of law, transitional justice, CRSV and other protection efforts.

Under the supervision of the Policy Specialist, Rule of Law and Transitional Justice, the Intern will support UN Women’s work on gender-sensitive transitional justice, rule of law and protection. This includes: UN Women’s policy engagement and knowledge development on justice and protection; implementation of UN Women’s global programming on transitional justice and rule of law; UN Women’s participation in interagency groups, including the Inter-Agency Task Force on Transitional Justice, the UN Global Focal Point on Rule of Law, the UN Action Network and country-focused interagency task forces.

Description of Responsibilities

Support policy development and knowledge building and sharing on justice and protection:

• Support ongoing UN Women research projects on justice and protection; and
  • Support preparation of inputs to annual reports of the Secretary-General on women, peace and security, and on the rule of law activities of the UN.

Support implementation of UN Women’s global programming on transitional justice and rule of law, including the UN Women-UNDP Gender Justice Platform and the UN Women SGBV Justice Experts Deployment Programme:

• Participate in meetings with country offices and programme partners; and
• Support preparation of narrative reports to donors and partners.

Participate in interagency fora and other coordination mechanisms on justice and protection, and the WPS agenda:

• Support UN Women’s participation the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Transitional Justice (IATF-TJ), the UN Global Focal Point on Rule of Law (GFP) and the Rule of Law, Coordination and Resource Group (ROLCRG), and the UN Action Network including by providing feedback on documentation, preparing UN Women’s feedback and inputs, liaising with relevant UN Women country offices to prepare for country-specific meetings and missions, and taking notes at meetings.

Learning objectives: The intern is expected to learn about UN Women’s normative, programming and coordination role on justice and protection issues; develop a strong understanding of good practice for gender-responsive transitional justice and rule of law, and emerging issues on these topics at the global level; and strengthen their research, writing and communication skills through written and oral projects.

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 of transitional justice, rule of law, and CRSV/SGBV prevention and response
• Knowledge of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law
• Ability to interact with partners 
• Ability to perform qualitative and quantitative policy research
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice

Qualifications

Education:

• University studies in one of the following disciplines: law, international affairs, gender studies 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:

• 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.)  

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 based on 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 credentials (s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)