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 is the central stakeholder in advancing global norms and standards for gender equality and the empowerment of women. The UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office (ECARO), established in Istanbul, Türkiye, in early 2014, supports national gender machineries and cooperates with UN and public, private, and community-level non-UN institutions to empower women and advance gender equality across the region.

Countries in Europe and Central Asia have made significant strides in promoting gender equality, despite facing economic challenges and traditional gender stereotypes that limit women’s full participation in political and economic life. UN Women focuses on priority areas that are fundamental to women’s equality and can unlock progress across the board. The key areas of work include:

• Women’s Leadership and Political Participation: Promoting women’s leadership and participation in all spheres of life, working with national governments, civil society, and international actors.
• Economic Empowerment: Enhancing women’s economic empowerment by promoting their ability to secure decent jobs, accumulate assets, and influence institutions and public policies.
• Ending Violence Against Women: Addressing the root causes of violence, raising awareness, and ensuring gender-sensitive protection services for survivors.
• Peace and Security: Enabling women’s participation and influence in all aspects of peace and security and humanitarian action to prevent and resolve conflicts and ensure access to justice and protection from discrimination and human rights violations.
• Gender-Responsive Planning and Budgeting: Advocating for transparent national planning and budgeting that provides adequate public financing for gender equality.

And other key functional areas such as:

• Data Statistics
• Communications
• Strategic Partnerships, Intergovernmental and Normative Engagement
• Humanitarian & Climate Response
• Partnership and Resource Mobilization
• Human Resources (Recruitments, HR Analytics, Matrixes & Dashboarding)
• Operations (Administrative, Finance/Budgets, Procurement & Travel, Security & OHS)

UN Women Europe and Central Asia Office is developing a roster of qualified interns. This is not a recruitment, but based on the roster, UN Women can recruit interns as the need arises.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the designated supervisor, the intern will work in close collaboration with UN Women team in areas related to her/his specialization to contribute to the overall goals of the UN Women mandates and support the implementation of programmes activities, operations, and administrative functions of the Regional and Country Offices were necessary.

Learning objectives:

1. Obtain knowledge on how gender equality is promoted in UN Women activities.
2. Gain valuable work experience, a path towards future career.
3. Learn and support women to increase their self-agency and acquire new skills in areas of specific interest.

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:

• Excellent research, writing, analytical, and organizational skills.
• Ability to work effectively in collaborative settings.
• Ability to multi-task and address competing priorities.
• Ability to produce high-quality deliverables in a timely manner.
• Proficiency in the use Microsoft Office; familiarity with basic design applications an asset.

Required Skills and Experience

Applicants to UN Women Internship Programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:

a) Be enrolled in a postgraduate degree programme (such as a master’s programme, or higher);

b) Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent);

c) Be enrolled in a mandatory national service programme of which the internship may form a part;

d) 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.

A person who is the child or sibling of a UN Women personnel is not eligible to apply for an internship. An applicant who bears any other family relationship with a UN Women personnel is eligible and may be engaged as an intern, provided that the intern must never be assigned to the same work unit of the related personnel or be placed under the direct or indirect supervision of the same.

Other Requirements

• Sound Analytical Writing Skills;
• Interest in Gender issues;
• Strong Research skills
• Excellent communication skills in English (spoken and written);
• 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 are eligible to 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 motivation letter and completed and signed P.11 form with their application indicating their available timeframe for the internship programme
• 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.)

Disclaimer: UN Women does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process.