Internship Support for the Gender and Youth programmes

Background

The IPU is the global organization of national parliaments. It was founded in 1889 as the first multilateral political organization in the world, encouraging cooperation and dialogue between all nations. Today, the IPU comprises 179 national Member Parliaments and 13 regional parliamentary bodies. It promotes democracy and helps parliaments become stronger, younger, gender-balanced and more diverse. It also defends the human rights of parliamentarians through a dedicated committee made up of MPs from around the world. Twice a year, the IPU convenes over 1,500 parliamentary delegates and partners in a world assembly, bringing a parliamentary dimension to global governance, including the work of the
United Nations and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In the field of gender equality, the IPU works to promote a stronger participation of women in Parliament and strengthen parliamentary action on gender equality, in particular on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

In the field of youth empowerment, the IPU works to enhance youth participation and empower young parliamentarians. 

Tasks 

Under the supervision of the Manager of the Gender partnership programme and the Youth participation programme, the intern will contribute to:

Gender equality

• Carry out research on women in parliament
• Support data collection, data entry and data verification on women in parliament, women’s parliamentary caucuses and gender equality parliamentary committees
• The preparation of the Parliamentary Meeting and IPU side-events on the occasion of the CSW (March 2020), the Forum of Women MPs (April and October 2020) and the 13^th Summit of Women Speakers of parliament (August 2020)
• The drafting of concept notes, papers and speeches
• Support the organization of meetings and other activities in selected parliaments
• Follow debates of the CEDAW sessions to be held in Geneva in 2020 and process data received from parliaments on their engagement on CEDAW review processes

Youth participation

• The organization of the Forum of Young MPs (April and October 2020), the Global Conference of Young MPs and other youth related meetings and events in 2020
• The drafting of concept notes, papers and speeches
• Research on youth participation in national parliaments, including by supporting data collection and verification
• Support the preparation and implementation of campaigns for youth participation
• Support the organization of meetings and other activities in selected parliaments
• The preparation of social media messages for the International Youth Day (August 2020) and other activities related to promoting the visibility of IPU youth related work and events

Occasional ad hoc assignments related to the work of the two programmes may also be required

Work implies frequent interaction with the following:

IPU staff, IPU members, UN partners

Requirements

• University degree in law, political science, international relations, or related fields;
• Experience in gender equality research or work would be an asset;
• Experience in youth participation research or work would be an asset;
• Knowledge of the functioning of national parliaments would be an asset;
• Good research and analytical skills;
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team;
• Excellent writing skills in English or French, as well as a good knowledge of the other language.  Knowledge of Spanish, Arabic and/or other languages will be appreciated;
• General computer skills (MS Office applications, Internet).

Period of internship

From March to December 2020

Working hours

37.5 per week.

Remuneration

The IPU will pay the intern a monthly allowance of CHF1500