Research and Advocacy Intern Ending Violence against Women

Background

UN Women 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.

 

Project Background:

Violence against women and girls (VAWG) is one of the most widespread violations of human rights worldwide, globally affecting around one in three women in her lifetime. Regional evidence suggests that a similar ratio applies in the Asia-Pacific region. Forms of VAWG may vary, and there are variations across sites, however, current available data indicates that South East Asia is the region with the highest prevalence rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) – 37% and second highest rate of IPV and non-partner sexual violence combined – 40%. The Western Pacific Region had 25% and 28% respectively, though some countries in the Pacific have rates of up to 69%. The data also showed that exposure to violence is high among 15-19-year-olds, indicating that the experience of violence often starts early in women’s relationships.

 

The overall goal of UN Women’s work on ending VAWG in Asia and the Pacific is to reduce rates of VAWG in the region.  The theory of change (ToC) for this goal is: If (1) an enabling legislative and policy environment in line with international standards on EVAWG, including for ending impunity and other forms of discrimination is in place and translated into action; (2) if transformative social norms, attitudes and behaviors are promoted at community and individual levels to prevent VAW; (3)  and if decision-makers across sectors are committed to invest in essential services informed by global guidelines and evidence on the costs of VAWG and its response; then (4) there will be a reduction in violence against women and girls in Asia-Pacific; because (5) violence is being prevented before it happens or re-occurs, and those experiencing violence receive quality services to recover and rebuild their lives.

United Nations Secretary-General’s Campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women

The United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign calls on governments, civil society, women’s organizations, the private sector, the media and the entire UN System to join forces to end violence against women and girls, with a focus on five main outcomes:

• Adoption and enforcement of national laws to address and punish all forms of violence against women and girls in line with international human rights standards
• Adoption and implementation of multi-sectoral national plans of action that emphasize prevention and are adequately resourced;
• Establishment of data collection and analysis systems on the prevalence of various forms of violence against women and girls;
• Establishment of national and/or local campaigns and the engagement of civil society in preventing violence against women and girls and supporting victims of violence against women and girls; and
• Systematic efforts to address sexual violence in conflict situations.

 

The Asia-Pacific UNiTE is the regional component of the UNiTE Campaign, aimed at strengthening efforts and partnerships to end violence against women and girls in the Asia-Pacific region.  The Regional UNiTE Secretariat is housed within the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.

 

The purpose of this internship is to support the Ending Violence against Women team in the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific to assist country offices and partners, which involves knowledge building, sharing and documentation efforts as well as to support projects and interventions in the area of VAWG. The intern will receive overall supervision from the Programme Manager – Ending Violence against Women and Girls (EVAWG). 

 

Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence”, WHO, 2013

Duties and Responsibilities

Research, Knowledge Management and Documentation:

• Provide research and documentation support for ongoing and future initiatives and briefing notes;
• Collect and organize information regarding progress and status updates regarding countries in the Asia and the Pacific region;
• Conduct literature reviews (peer-reviewed and grey literature), and prepare summary of findings on various sectoral/thematic issues related to EVAWG;
• Collate and organize knowledge resources and facilitate dissemination of resources;
• Review and edit submitted knowledge products such as narrative reports, research reports, evaluation reports etc. for projects on EVAWG.
• Support the update of the mapping of violence against women data information in Asia-Pacific

Project Management Support:

• Facilitate data and information collection in close collaboration with the EVAW Programme Manager pertaining to monitoring ongoing projects;
• Assist in documenting, visualizing and reporting on project progress and results;
• Participate in various meetings with UN Women partners and other stakeholders and prepare notes/meeting minutes.

Communications and Documentation:

• Support to the team to draft and share stories and showcase programme activities to promote EVAW;
• Assist in preparation of knowledge resources, communications, presentations and background material for internal and external use, including briefs on thematic issues as well as updating content for websites and social media;
• Coordinating with UN Women Communications Unit on press releases, opinion pieces and social media messaging;
• Draft/and or conduct interviews and collect quotes from EVAW partners in the Region, and/or at EVAW-related workshops and events;
• Support planning for communications activities during thematic days, such as on International Women’s Day, and planning for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence;
• Provide communications-related support related to ending violence against women.

Deliverables:

• Research on prevention indicators and measurements
• Update the regional mapping of EVAW laws, policies, data
• EVAW team monitoring and tracking systems, database updates
• Data visualization- such as country-wise accomplishments, reach, changes to the regional EVAW mapping, etc-
• Develop planning materials such as timelines that will visualize progress, achievements, etc
• Collect, package, summarize completed events, and inform the web team about materials to post together

 

Learning Elements:

After completing this internship, the Intern will have:

• Increased understanding of UN Women’s work and the UN system;
• Increased substantive knowledge of VAWG in the Asia Pacific Region;
• Increased knowledge related to programme implementation, documentation and management;
• Increased work experience in communications for the international development sector, under the leadership of senior professionals offering mentorship in this area;
• Increased pool of professional contacts through networking with UN Women colleagues and other UN colleagues throughout the UN System;
• Experience of working as a team member in a diverse, multicultural setting.

Competencies

Core Values:

Integrity:

• Demonstrate consistency in upholding and promoting the values of UN Women in actions and decisions, in line with the UN Code of Conduct.

Professionalism:

• Demonstrate professional competence and expert knowledge of the pertinent substantive areas of work.

Respect for diversity:

• Demonstrate an appreciation of the multicultural nature of the organization and the diversity of its staff;
• Demonstrate an international outlook, appreciating difference in values and learning from cultural diversity.

 

Core Competencies:

Accountability:

• Held colleagues and team members accountable for planned goals and competency standards;
• Practiced giving and receiving constructive feedback.

Client Orientation:

• Proactively informed clients, preventing loss of time and errors;
• Responded to questions, resolved problems, and helped provide accurate information to clients;
• Identified, understood, and addressed client needs.

 

Commitment to Learning

Communication

• Produced communication products (written and oral);
• Interpreted key messages for and from clients with cultural sensitivity.

Planning and Organizing

• Developed work plans;
• Implemented activities in a timely manner, met deadlines.

Teambuilding

• Coordinated work and roles with other team members;
• Supported goals of the team;

• Demonstrate informed and transparent decision making.

Functional Competency:

• Strong commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women, with demonstrated experience of researching or working on gender issues;
• Strong research and writing skills, with strong analytical skills and creative thinking;
• Ability to think and work logically and work precisely with attention to detail;
• Initiative, sound judgment and demonstrated ability to work harmoniously with staff members of different national and cultural backgrounds;
• Previous experience (also volunteer experience) from the non-profit sector is an advantage.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• The intern must have studies in international development, gender studies, social sciences, or other subject relevant to this position, at the university level.
• Meet one of the following:
  1. Be enrolled in a postgraduate degree programme (such as a master’s programme, or higher);
  2. Be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (such as bachelor’s degree or equivalent);
  3. Be enrolled in a mandatory national service programme of which the internship may form a part;
  4. 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.

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 ) with Resume and Cover Letter for application.
• Interested candidates are invited to submit electronic applications via the job announcement page on https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_jobs.cfm, not later than 04 February 2024
• Due to the high volume of applications received, we 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).

 

Note:

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.)  

 

*The UNDP application system allows only one attachment. If you submit your application through the UNDP application system, please combine all the required documents in one file before uploading on the job site. Applicants with incomplete submission will not be considered.*