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.

Generation Equality was initiated to disrupt decades of under-investment and lack of progress on gender equality implementation. The initiative intends to support the achievement of the SDGs and the realization of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action on women’s rights. With the intersecting challenges to gender inequality of COVID-19, the climate crisis, growing conflicts and intensified economic and political instability, the initiative aims both to stop reversals in women’s and girls’ rights as well as accelerate concrete progress.

Generation Equality was launched in 2021 at events in Mexico and France, and in the presence of Heads of State, VIPs, CEOs and civil society and youth leaders and activists. Initially conceived as a five-year initiative, work will continue through and beyond 2026 to enroll new commitment makers, press for collective action on gender equality and ensure accountability.

A Coordination Hub has been established in the Office of the Executive Director to foster, promote and enable a whole-of-organization approach to UN Women’s role as convenor of Generation Equality in line with the Phase II Project Document. The Hub coordinates the timely and quality delivery of project results through effective and efficient management and oversight of the project: systematic planning; monitoring, reporting and evaluation; resource management; operations support; knowledge management; internal and external coordination, communications and stakeholder engagement; cross Action Coalitions/Compact collaboration; localization; partnerships and resource mobilization. It liaises with UN Women’s leadership, senior management and Regional and Country Offices, and promotes a coordinated approach to political outreach and advocacy opportunities.

Under the direct supervision of the Coordination Specialist at the Generation Equality Coordination Hub, the Project Coordination Intern – Generation Equality will support the Generation Equality project planning and implementation, and coordination of stakeholder engagement.

Description of Responsibilities

Support planning and coordination of Generation Equality stakeholder engagement

• Support coordination of multi-stakeholder engagement across regions, constituencies and thematic areas within Generation Equality and in the context of the commemoration of the 30^th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
• Support the organization and coordination of in person and virtual events, webinars, learning sessions and meetings with internal and external stakeholders.
• Provide timely support, including participation in events or meetings and drafting and providing high quality and relevant inputs to planning documents, meeting minutes, concept notes, background documents, guidance notes, talking points, briefs, and presentations for internal and external engagements.
• Support liaising with colleagues for effective information flow and knowledge exchange, including capturing project results, drafting stories for internal and external updates, supporting process flows and conducting necessary follow-ups

Support Generation Equality project coordination and implementation

• Support financial and programmatic monitoring and reporting exercises.
• Provide operational support for the preparation of request for procurement, consultancies and payments in line UN Women polices and guidelines.
• Support documentation of progress and results against the Generation Equality Phase II Project Document.

Learning objectives:

• Increase understanding of UN Women’s work and the UN system
• Increase knowledge of women’s rights and gender equality
• Increase knowledge regarding multi-stakeholder initiatives
• Increase knowledge regarding project coordination and management
• Work as a team member in a multicultural setting

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: 

• Possesses substantive knowledge in the area of gender equality and women’s empowerment, human rights and sustainable development.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and use systems and processes in order to achieve results.
• Strong communication skills (oral and written) and ability to synthesize information in a highly compelling manner.
• Ability to be a self-starter with demonstrated ability to work independently ant take initiative, handle documents with confidentiality and develop strong institutional relations.

Qualifications

Education:

• University studies in one of the following disciplines: gender issues, political affairs, international relations 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: 

• 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.)

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements