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The Swiss National Council © The Swiss Parliament
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Internship in the Executive Office
Background
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the world organization of national parliaments. It is the oldest political multilateral organization in the world, dating back to 1889. The IPU promotes the peaceful settlement of conflicts through political dialogue and negotiation. Its mission is to work for stronger parliaments and better democracies. Its current membership stands at 178 Member Parliaments.
The Executive Office is composed of the Executive Assistant, the Chief of Staff and the Senior Adviser to the Secretary General. The Office provides backstopping to the Secretary General in the performance of his duties.
The intern would be required to support the administrative functioning of the Executive Office, inter alia by:
- Providing backstopping to the Secretary General in terms of correspondence inflow and outflow;
- Assisting with the preparations and activities associated with the two-three annual sessions of the IPU’s governing bodies;
- Attending bilateral meetings with the Secretary General for the purpose of drafting notes for file on the discussions;
- Drafting of correspondence in English and French;
- Providing orientation and administrative support to the IPU Committee on Middle East Questions;
- Providing administrative support for ad hoc bodies and events;
- Providing logistical support to the IPU President; and
- Preparing the IPU Secretary General’s and President’s official missions.
Given the sensitive nature of matters dealt with by the Executive Office, the selected intern will be expected to display discretion and respect confidentiality. The intern should be able to communicate orally and in writing in English and French, the IPU’s two official languages. Knowledge of Arabic or Spanish would be an asset.
Tasks
The intern should assist in carrying out all the tasks assigned to the Executive Office as part of the team. The workflow will depend on the schedule of meetings and missions. The intern will also be called upon to attend IPU Assemblies in Geneva.
Any other tasks deemed suitable by the Chief of Staff and Executive Assistant.
Location
The internship shall be carried out at IPU Headquarters in Geneva.
Length of internship
The internship should ideally last for roughly six months, after which it may be renewed or filled by another intern.
The internship should start from Monday 1 August 2018 and end on Friday 25 January 2019.