WILPF Women, Peace and Security Fellowships
Apply for a WILPF Women, Peace and Security Fellowship
Description
The Women, Peace and Security Programme of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) offers fellowships for the period of 4-6 months through our New York City UN office.
The fellow will work closely with WILPF staff on monitoring, research and outreach support on Women, Peace and Security issues at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The fellow will monitor Security Council debates and UN events, research and draft policy analysis and update monitoring analysis and other content to the website. The fellow will contribute to social media outreach, website maintenance, and publication of WILPF's Women, Peace and Security Monitor newsletter.
This competitive fellowship is aimed primarily at young people interested in women, peace and security issues related to disarmament and women’s human rights. The experience offers an opportunity to research and write about women, peace and conflict issues and gain experience with grassroots communications and non-governmental organisation management in the context of the United Nations work.
The incoming fellow should be:
highly self-motivated and well-organised;
work well both independently and as part of a team;
open-minded, flexible and not afraid to take initiative; and
able to prioritise and complete multiple tasks on tight deadlines.
The fellowship requires initiative, creativity, flexibility, and commitment to WILPF’s mission, while maintaining WILPF’s high professional standards. This is a paid opportunity.
Opportunities
WILPF generally hires interns/fellows to join the NY WPS team during three different periods annually: January-May, May-August, and September-December. We accept rolling applications for all of these internship periods.
**We will next be hiring for an intern/fellow to start in January/February 2021 with the possibility of remote work depending on developments with the COVID-19 pandemic**
Qualifications
Strong interest in working for a feminist, anti-militarist organisation and dedication to feminist values;
Background or strong interest in issues related to women, peace and security, including but not limited to gender and militarism, sexual violence in conflict, women's roles in decision-making, women’s participation in conflict prevention, peace processes and post-conflict peacebuilding;
Currently be enrolled in a graduate programme (e.g., MA, MS, JD, LLM, PhD) or recently graduated with studies in fields such as international relations/affairs, international law, political science, public policy and administration, human rights, international development, international security, and gender studies;
Exceptional oral and written communication skills and attention to detail;
Strong communications background preferred with working knowledge of traditional media (press releases, events) and social media (Facebook, Twitter);
Ability to commit to at least 4 full days per week;
Ability to speak additional languages (especially French, Spanish or Arabic) strongly preferred, but not required.
As a feminist, anti-militarist membership organisation, WILPF is dedicated to building a global movement in the pursuit of peace and the fulfilment of human rights. We welcome applications from people of colour, feminists from the Global South, LGBTQ people, individuals from conflict-affected and diaspora communities, and people with disabilities. We believe that experience comes in many different forms, and also encourage individuals who may not meet all of the listed qualifications to apply if they feel that they would be a good fit for the fellowship.
Expectations
The fellow will work four days per week in the WILPF UN office (or remotely dependent on the COVID-19 guidelines) and will have a key role in programmatic work. The fellow’s work will be guided by the Programme Manager.
We expect a fellow to contribute as part of a team to other WILPF projects.
All interns/fellows are also responsible for a certain amount of general office work which they will be trained on, including updating the WILPF/PeaceWomen website, attending meetings, taking notes and performing general support and administrative tasks.
How to Apply
To be considered for the internship/fellowship, applicants should submit the following in ONE SINGLE document:
CV or Resume, indicating education, relevant past activities and experience;
Cover Letter (1 page, single-spaced), including start/end dates & days/week available;
2 References, including names and contact information and/or a letter of recommendation from an academic or field professional;
Writing Sample (no more than 5 pages), preferably addressing an issue related to women, peace and security, that demonstrates ability to write in short, clear and concrete language (may be an excerpt of longer work);
The subject of the email should be: “[Last Name, First Name] WILPF WPS Fellowship Application”, and all documents should be combined into ONE (1) SINGLE document ( PDF or DOCX file). Please send your application to peacewomen@wilpf.org.
No phone calls please.
- 2020
Gayathri Nagasubramaniam is the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Fellow at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom from India. She holds a Master’s in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute, Geneva and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics from St.Stephen’s College, Delhi. In her Master’s thesis, Gayathri unpacked the influence of transnational advocacy network and in particular its feminist actors on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). She argued that the role played by feminist actors (such as WILPF) in the network was crucial for the gender-sensitive outcome of the treaty’s text.
Before joining WILPF, Gayathri interned at a wide range of NGOs in India and in Geneva and undertook research and communications tasks in the field of international relations, security, education and social innovation. Gayathri worked with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons as the content intern, where she focussed on communication and advocacy for the TPNW. She also worked with the Young Leader’s Initiative as a leadership facilitator for girls’ education in rural India (to name a few experiences). In her spare time, she enjoys doodling, reading, and binging shows on Netflix. Gayathri is excited to join WILPF’s WPS team and looks forward to learning more about the WPS agenda, disarmament, multilateralism and advocating for feminist peace.
Dani Philipson is the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Fellow at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and a Fulbright scholar from Mexico City. She holds a Master’s of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and two Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and International Relations from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico. At Harvard, she was the co-chair of the Gender Policy Union and a Women and Public Policy Program Summer Fellow. For her Master’s thesis, Dani conducted research on how to advance and enhance civilian law enforcement at the local level to help end militarization in Mexico.
Prior to WILPF, Dani worked in the Senate of the Republic of Mexico where she was a policy advisor for the President of the Mexican Senate. In the Senate, she focused on military and police reform, as well as drug policy reform. In her free time, Dani teaches a G.E.D. Social Studies course in Harlem and works as a part-time consultant for a project on femicide in Northern Mexico. She is delighted to be part of the WILPF team, where she looks forward to expand her knowledge on the WPS agenda, multilateralism, conflict-resolution, demilitarization and disarmament with a gender perspective as a means to promote feminist peace.
- 2019
Senem Kaptan, PeaceWomen Fellow
Senem Kaptan, PeaceWomen FellowSenem Kaptan is the Women, Peace and Security Fellow at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Senem’s long-standing interest in gender and militarism culminated in a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Rutgers University, where she conducted an eighteen-month ethnographic field research, analysing the trials of military officers accused of treason and coup plotting in contemporary Turkey. Prior to her doctoral work, Senem completed her M.A. in Cultural Studies at Sabanci University, where her research focused on the experiences of mothers of soldiers serving in conflict zones during Turkey’s long-standing Kurdish conflict. Senem has presented at various national and international conferences on matters related to gender, nationalism and militarism as well as having extensive academic publications on these issues. During her time with WILPF, Senem looks forward to furthering her knowledge about and gaining experience in the advocacy work that advances the Women, Peace and Security agenda at the local and global levels through monitoring, analysing and reporting on United Nations Security Council meetings as well as conducting outreach and research.
Sarah Kenny Werner joins WILPF/PeaceWomen from New York City, New York. Sarah holds a Masters of Arts with Honours in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh and SciencesPo. In her dissertation, she argued for a radical feminist revisioning of international relations theory and practice. After working as a litigation paralegal at a corporate law firm, she designed and taught “Fine Arts in a Democratic Context” in Harlem. This course, an extension of her dissertation, develops technical skills and fluency in art history to explore the concepts at the heart of political systems (such as equality, justice, and freedom). Sarah is excited to join the WILPF team as a United Nations and Security Council Monitor Fellow, where she looks forward to expanding her knowledge of the women, peace and security agenda and monitoring, analysing and reporting on its progress in the Security Council. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys reading, dancing, and creating art.
