Apply for a PeaceWomen Fellowship/Internship - 2016

United States of America

PEACEWOMEN FELLOWSHIPS/INTERNSHIPS - 2016

Apply for a PeaceWomen Fellowship/Internship

Are you interested in peace, disarmament, and gender justice? Join our team!

The PeaceWomen Internship and Fellowship Programme, based in New York City, is an unpaid position offered to current graduate students, recent graduates or professionals with expertise and background in gender, human security, and international peace and security issues.

  • Fellowships are offered in periods of 9-12 months (at least four days/week)
  • Internship is offered as shorter-term, in periods of 4-6 months (at least four days/week)

This programme targets young professionals and academics interested in the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda in an effort to provide professional development skills and opportunities for engagement with civil society on the implementation of the WPS Agenda at the local, national, and international level. Categories currently being recruited are:

- Security Council Monitoring Fellow (August or September start date)

- National Action Plan Monitoring Fellow (August or September start date)

- Communications Fellow (January start date)

Organisation

PeaceWomen is a programme of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), the longest-serving women's peace organization, founded in 1915. PeaceWomen has three pillars of work: Accountability, Inclusive Participation and Conflict Prevention. Our work includes a wide range of tools and projects, from policy advocacy at the United Nations (i.e. Security Council; General Assembly) to capacity building and outreach on a local level, including with WILPF sections and partners; the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security, and others.

We work to advance the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda through our mission, team, partners, strategy, and outreach. PeaceWomen advocates for complete stigmatisation of militarisation; holistic implementation of the WPS Agenda and a feminist foreign policy; and accountability through monitoring and evaluation of international entities and systems.

PeaceWomen Projects

Fellows will be responsible for at least one of the PeaceWomen projects, while also working together across the board as part of a the PeaceWomen team. Projects include:

Security Council Monitoring: The SCM Research Fellow is the project lead for PeaceWomen's Security Council Monitor project, which provides comprehensive and up to date information on all Security Council debates and other action addressing issues of Women Peace and Security. The fellow attends and monitors Security Council debates and related events, writes policy analysis, posts monitoring information on the website, and provides PeaceWomen staff with information allowing timely and relevant interventions or advocacy with UN Member States. The fellow collects monitoring information about the Council including on upcoming missions and countries on the Council's agenda with particular focus on countries where there are peace support operations. They participate in PeaceWomen's Women Peace and Security lecture series and have access to related events and policy discussions through the UN and civil society community.

National Action Plan (NAP) Monitoring: This project includes maintaining and developing PeaceWomen's Member States section of PeaceWomen.org to provide consistent and comprehensive information about national and regional action plans (NAPs and RAPs) and on translating global commitments on Women Peace and Security to practice. The position involves working with PeaceWomen staff to provide information that allows timely and relevant advocacy by WILPF sections and national partners to strengthen action and impact.

UN Monitoring: This project includes monitoring key UN forums around implementation of SCR 1325 outside of the Security Council, including the the annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and General Assembly (GA), as well as other UN outcomes and statements (e.g., Post2015 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)s, Peacebulding Commission, Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations). It includes maintaining and updating SCR 1325 related resources for all relevant policy documents from each entity with analysis of their implementation efforts on PeaceWomen.org. It also includes supporting broader WILPF development of programming and project work on environment, militarism, and gender issues.

General research and website support: All interns and Fellows will be also responsible for maintaining regional and thematic sections of the PeaceWomen website. Fellows will post resources, initiatives and events to their respective sections and share via social media daily, as well as responsible for maintaining the World Map section of the website. Each Fellow is provided with a regional assignment. The regions and countries are listed online.

Communications: Communications fellows edit our monthly news publication, format and help write and edit reports, oversee social media and social strategy, and assist in producing press releases and other communications materials.

Qualifications

  • Currently be enrolled in a bachelor's (BA, BS) or graduate program (MA, MS, PhD) or recently graduated with studies in international relations/affairs, international law, political science, public policy and administration, human rights, international development, international security, feminist theory, gender studies, or a related field (for the communications fellowship, a communications, journalism, digital marketing or related degree is highly regarded);
  • Experience in feminist/gender analysis and specific expertise on issues related to gender and conflict is highly regarded; willingness to fill gaps in knowledge and/or experience through additional study is a positive;
  • For the communications fellowship, applicants must have demonstrated experience in journalism, communications, web publishing, marketing or a related field;
  • Experience and/or demonstrated interest in policy analysis and research on international security is also highly regarded;
  • Background and/or demonstrated interest in the United Nations system, including experience gained as a result of academic study or experiential learning activities such as Model United Nations;
  • Experience in event management and coordination, including strong organisation, time management, and people skills with passion, flexibility, resourcefulness, and effective people skills
  • Applicants must be fluent in written and spoken English with high level of writing proficiency;
  • Applicants must be able to commit to at least 4 days per week for a minimum of 9 months (as a Fellow) and 4 months (as an Intern)
  • Computer proficiency in Windows environment (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) and familiarity using Google Docs; content management system (CMS) experience is a plus;
  • Strong communication and interpersonal skills and ability to work quickly and efficiently; and
  • Ability to speak additional languages, such as French, Spanish or Arabic an asset, but not required.

Please note that we are unable to provide work visas for this position.

How to apply

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis beginning in April 2016.

All applicants must submit AS ONE PDF document the following:

1. Resume: indicating education, relevant past activities and experience

2. Cover Letter (1 page, single spaced), including availability (start/end date and days/week).

3. Contact information for 3 references.

4. Writing Sample that highlights understanding and knowledge of issues relating to women, peace and security (no more than 5 pages and in English please).

Please submit your application to:grace@peacewomen.org

Please include a subject line of "PeaceWomen 2016 Fellowship Application" and attach all application materials as a single PDF. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until slots are filled; please be sure to indicate which category you wish to apply for.